Germany's southern Vauban district is the location of what is considered the best model for sustainable urban development. The residential area was built to reflect the ideal green city. The city which hosts about 5000 people was built based on an experimental house that was initially built to test the sustainability of the city. The houses use about half of the energy that conventional houses use. Their human and kitchen waste is processed into cooking gas. Houses with extra energy sell it to the city who in turn sell it as needed. Cars are discouraged and over 70% of the population use green transportation such as bicycles and walking. This keeps the air pollution at an all time low.
This model could be replicated in the United States and a means of sustainable urban development. However, several issues would need to be addressed. The first would be the additional cost of construction. Green homes are estimated to cost at least 14% more than the average home construction. Additionally, the construction industry would need an overhaul of the building technology. The government would also have to deal with public awareness in order to convince its citizens to adopt the green energy lifestyle. This would be challenging given that America is famous for obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
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Urban sociologists could help to deal with this issues in various ways. They could hold forums where they engage the urban planners and demonstrate how the green houses make up for their higher costs. The demonstration can be based on earlier successful models. The sociologists could also form a partnership with environmental conservation bodies. This could raise awareness on the long term benefits of the model and encourage its adoption. Finally, the sociologists could encourage gradual changes to make the transition more gradual.
