Codifying the Future: Sustainable Design and the Built World

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This project co-funded by the Science, Technology & Society Program and the Environmental Sustainability Program is a study of building codes in the City of Austin. The PI analyzes four historical types of architectural codes -- tacit, representational, economic, and civil -- to assess their potential for including social equity as a publicly acceptable dimension of sustainable development. Each code type has one or more strategies of implementation, employs different technological frames, and relies upon different kinds of authority for implementation. The hypothesis is that civil codes have the most potential for success in legitimizing social equity as a dimension of sustainability. Upon completion of this part of the project, the PI tests a new theory of equitable code-making by drafting an Alley Flat Code for the City of Austin.The broader impacts of the project lie in its combination of transdisciplinary research and community-based teaching, research engagement with underrepresented communities, and its combination of analysis-oriented social sciences with action-oriented design.