Poor Air Quality | Developing a Future Vision
CMU Transition Design, Spring 2019[Issue]
Poor Air Quality in Pittsburgh[Team Resilience]
Ema Karavdic
David Jianxiao Ge
Maple Runmiao Shi
Marysol Ortega Pallanez
Michelle Ming-Chieh Chou
Introduction
This assignment introduces a future and narrative of what the world would look like 2050 if the wicked problem of poor air quality was resolved. We started with the mindsets and attitudes that we identified when completing the MLP to articulate what the core factors were that reinforced the issue of poor air quality. Next, we mapped what the future would look like if this was the total opposite. With this exercise, we articulated the mindsets and attitudes for our preferable 2050 future.
Change of Existing Beliefs, Assumptions and Paradigms in 2050
Future context
The revision of the US constitution states that all men are created equal with the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, mental and physical well-being. Each level of government organization has a dedicated department in charge of initiatives to improve citizen well-being. Residents are motivated and empowered to take good care of their well-being, and they protest when supports are not in place. The U.S. leads the development of well-being infrastructure in the world and influences other countries to do so as well.
Highland Park Wellness Center, located where the zoo used to be, has become a sanctuary for local wildlife and a wellness center. The Wellness Center is focused on prevention and maintenance of wellbeing of the environment, which includes humans. Anyone can make appointments for both their own health or the health of the environment in one totally self-sustained place. The focus is on prevention, relying heavily on natural remedies and empowering people with the right tools to monitor health, moving away from palliative medicine.
The Wellness Center is maintained entirely by volunteers in the community, many of them working to recharge their QualCard. The card is a new payment method established in Pittsburgh that gives all residents a universal maximum pollution amount per person, per month. If residents pollute a lot in a given month and run low on points, they are able to earn them back by volunteering their time to the community and environment.
The local government developed a 2-year-long resident program, in which community members, scientists, researchers, designers, are invited to work as expert advisors to advance policy-making and implementation. One of the outcomes of this program was the Wellness Center, following the mantra we are one with the environment. Citizens understand that if the ecosystem is healthy, they are healthy too.
After seeing this local government initiative, other mayors were inspired to tackle green health in a similar way, establishing a recurrent regional meeting of mayors. They created an open knowledge network that uses city sensors to monitor environmental and citizen health together on a single platform. Community leaders use the open knowledge network to understand how similar neighborhoods have dealt with any problems they are experiencing, learning from each other and feeding back their own findings into the network.
Snapshot Profile
Storyboard and Narrative
Max Neef Needs
What basic needs (according to Max-Neef) are met by our snapshot from the future?
Manfred Max-Neef, Chilean economist in his book Human Scale Development, lays out a taxonomy of fundamental human needs and the ways those needs are and can be satisfied. He divides fundamental needs into existential needs (connected to the existence of humans) and axiological needs (connected to human values). For the sake of this exercise, we focused on the analysis of axiological needs: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity, and freedom.
Max-Neef points out that while needs are universal among humans, satisfiers are very much culture-dependent. In our future scenario, each one of the attitudes and mindsets that have changed by 2050 is directly linked with elements of a system that satisfy synergistically a variety of needs. This way, we are reimagining ‘a Pittsburgh of the future’ in which not only the air quality is good, but the members of the community think of success and wellbeing beyond the measurement of economic growth, but conceive each of their practices have the potential for satisfying human needs in a way that also strives for the betterment of their environment, their city, their neighborhood, and their family.
Fears/Concerns/Hopes/Aspirations
What fears/concerns/hopes/aspirations are addressed in our snapshots?
Fears and Concerns
- Government referring to technological solutions but does not have a clear understanding of the capacities of technology
While always referring to technology breakthroughs for problem-solving, the government has an inadequate understanding of the limitations and potentials of the capacity of technology.
- No real consensus and awareness on the long-term effects of poor air quality
Due to the “invisibility” of the poor air quality problem, as we discussed in the first assignment in which we mapped the problem, people under the current society hold divergent opinions and are not able to realize the serious effect of poor air quality over the long term.
- No cohesive air quality monitoring and visualization system
There does not exist an accessible air quality monitoring and visualization system/platform for people to understand the air they are breathing from overwhelming data and statistics.
- Pittsburgh’s economic structure and development are stable but stagnant, leading to human capital loss
After the “Steel Crisis” during the mid-1980s, Pittsburgh’s economy experienced a successful transition from heavy industry to Medical and Higher Educational Institutions. Due to this new economic focus, Pittsburgh is resilient to the financial crisis, while being relatively stagnant in economic development. As a result, although Pittsburgh has been well developed in higher education, new graduates, who possess knowledge and mindsets valuable to propel changes, are attracted to other cities for career development.
- Relationship between human and ecological system (Environmental)
Currently, we consider ourselves being separated from and even dominant over the ecological system.
- Reactive response to the air quality issues
The government and society respond passively, applying temporary control and relieving measures instead of actively attempt to study and solve the problem.
Hopes and Aspirations
- Green energy (Electrical, Solar, Wind and etc.) replacing fossil fuel
In 2050, green energy completely replaces unrenewable natural resources such as fossil fuels, as we achieved innovations in green energy storage and distribution.
- Transformation of Pittsburgh’s city infrastructure (roads and public transportation) to fit with the green energy system
As a result, the previous infrastructure in Pittsburgh for fossil fuel based energy system and heavy industry are abandoned. New infrastructures for green energy system are developed.
- People adopting more transportation choices
The low cost and high efficiency of green energy commuting methods (such as electrical or solar battery-powered bikes and buses), accompanied by accessible recharging stations, give people more freedom with transportation.
- Grassroots local efforts tackle poor air quality overpowering lobbyists
Everybody contribute voices, and people speak for themselves. Grassroots replace lobbyists to be the driven force for policy-making.
- Decentralization of the city
With well-developed transportation and urban planning for industries, people reside with designed spacings and thereby living closer to the natural environment.
