Navtej S. Ahuja
Professor Maciuika
Shaping the Future of NYC
4 March 2014

            Sustainable development and restoration is the perfect solution to stop the urban monster from destroying the environment. However, in the city where money is God, when does the cost of a sustainable future outweigh the cost of short-term monetary success? Unfortunately, the answer is nearly always.

The talk given by Constance Haydock was filled with innovative ideas that, to put it simply, work. She put emphasis on the fact that most of her ideas in regards to landscape architecture were ones that were functional as well as reasonably priced.

The Sherman Creek is a great example of how properly utilized recovery techniques can be used to create environmentally friendly public spaces. A plan to create a pavilion in which people can learn about sustainability and environmental awareness is now in the making through the “Edgeucation Design Challenge.”  The problem with projects such as these is that they take a long time and tend to be very expensive. The Swindler Cove project alone took years to complete. The question here is not whether the end product is sustainable and valuable, but whether people will be able to look far enough into the future to value the product they will be receiving.

Public funding and private investments will be key to creating enough of these sustainable spaces to have an impact. Integrating these spaces into major urban areas is key to protecting the environment from future harm. Therefore, finding solutions that are not only beneficial to the environment, but also to the wallets of those utilizing them becomes more and more important (e.g. the tar residue used in cement that Ms. Haydock described).

While we can preach the benefits of saving the Earth for future generations, the truth remains that “money talks” and the inability to recognize this cannot bode well for proponents of these techniques. The future needs to be sustainable and practical. Most importantly, in order to achieve either of those, it must first be cost- effective.