Author Archives: bluesteel

Ultra compact cities would be super-efficient

There are two good reasons for building cities with the entire road network under ground. The most obvious is that it would make the city more pleasant to live in. The other reason can be more difficult to spot. It … Continue reading

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EU’s green energy policy causes EU coal use to rise

Europeans have been rather annoyed with Americans over the last decade due to the latter’s total disregard for the need to reduce emissions of climate change gases. However, the funny thing is that USA’s CO2 emissions are falling, while EU … Continue reading

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Cap’n Trade: Effect of additional Emissions reduction programmes will be ZERO

Carbon Tax vs Cap’n Trade – an example EU has currently got a Cap’n Trade scheme going, which oil companies operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) are participating in. One of many problems with such cap and trade schemes … Continue reading

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Making Carbon Taxes politically acceptable

The first argument people raise against a Carbon Tax is often “it’s not politically viable”. While this isn’t really my concern – I’m discussing what we ought to do – it is of course an important detail. Connect the Carbon Tax directly … Continue reading

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A global Carbon Tax would transfer wealth from Oil Producers to Oil Consumers

An interesting observation with regards to a Carbon Tax is that it would mean that oil consuming states would be levying a tax on the world’s oil deposits – effectively transferring some of this natural resource wealth from the world’s … Continue reading

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A Carbon Tax is good for companies

A Carbon Tax is the best way of combating climate change  because it gives firms the most stable and easily predicted operating environment. A stable and predictable regulatory framework reduces risk, and risk is costly. Cap’n Trade gives unpredictable price … Continue reading

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The Carbon Tax: unloved by right and left

Why did the world end up with Cap’n Trade instead of a Carbon Tax to curb climate change emissions? I believe the answer lies in the idiosyncrasies of the political right and left: the left loves taxes but distrusts markets and prefers … Continue reading

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The answer to making international climate change treaties enforceable? A global Carbon Tax

Why are international climate change treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol unenforceable? Is there anything that could be done about it? A Carbon Tax Treaty would enforce itself If we were to agree upon a global “carbon tax” instead, the … Continue reading

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Pudong New Area in Shanghai – a wasted opportunity

In the late 1990s the Chinese government started developing an area of farmland and countryside on the east side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, and a few years later it emerged as an upgraded version of Manhattan with skyscrapers … Continue reading

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Let’s agree upon a Climate Change Tax instead of reduction targets

That discussing a Climate Change Tax will be more fruitful than discussing emissions reductions directly may sound counterintuitive. Why not discuss what matters – the reductions? The problem with emissions reductions is that it is very hard to know how much … Continue reading

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Skywalk with flying cars over the Ultra Compact City

So, you may have concluded that transport will be pretty dreary in an Ultra Compact City, with all travels being done under ground? Well, why not try to liven it up, with skywalks and flying cars? Cable cars are grossly … Continue reading

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How well does an Ultra Compact City do “Eco City”?

Would an Ultra Compact City qualify as an eco-city? Purists may say no, as it is all about making room for cars in a better way. But who would like to don the hair-shirt and live in a city without … Continue reading

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New topic launched: Money Matters!

A new topic has been started under the heading Money Matters, and the two first articles are about bank regulation and climate change policy. Enjoy.

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Article “Building Compact – Really Compact!” published at The Polis Blog

http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/04/building-compact-really-compact.html

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Let’s build cities for people – not cars

http://whatmatters.mckinseydigital.com/cities/let-s-build-cities-for-people-not-cars YES, I CONCUR!

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A forest in the city or a city in the forest?

I once visited Plovdiv, in Bulgaria, and stayed B&B in a communist era housing complex. This was in the late 1990s, and maintenance wasn’t good. In between the blocks there were trees planted, and they hadn’t been pruned for at … Continue reading

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Ultra Compact is Ultra Green

The cities being built now in countries like China or India typically consist of 5-10 storey buildings, normally connected with large but overflowing road networks. With such a setup a lot of land area is lost to roads, and the … Continue reading

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Keeping it Compact means keeping it People-Friendly!

Have you ever walked along the boulevards of Paris or strolled up from Tianmen Square into the Forbidden City? How did it make you feel? Probably as the designers intended – small! Human beings generally like to spend time in … Continue reading

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Organic environments are good for organic beings

Broad avenues, asphalt and wide parking lots are great for steel boxes on wheels. What human beings need, though, is smaller scales, narrow and winding alleys, trees and green grass. However, when we design cities for the automobile to easily … Continue reading

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First post!

So, now these pages are online! Enjoy! 🙂 The planned topics will firstly be the construction of eco cities, or green city planning and green urban development in general. The first articles will be about how very dense, “ultra compact … Continue reading

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