ULTRA-Ex: Positioning Rust-Belt Cities for a Sustainable Future: A Systems Approach to Enhancing Urban Quality of Life

曾经以能源密集型、黑色金属为主的工业，“铁锈带”？东北部和中西部的城市是美国经济的支柱。然而，在过去的50年里，他们的人口和经济急剧收缩，产生了许多社会和生态后果。通过重新设想破败的城市空间并重新连接到区域自然生产能力，锈带城市可能会达到一个更可持续的社会和生态未来。这一合作研究项目将邀请大学学者、政府科学家和当地利益相关者研究城市绿化的过程，以减轻锈带城市“枯萎病”，同时增强这些城市的社会生态新陈代谢。研究人员的目标是使用社会生态新陈代谢理论和行为决策理论来评估典型锈带城市的社会生态新陈代谢是如何随着时间的推移而变化的，以及它对未来外部因素的脆弱性，例如石油供应的限制、气候变化和来自阳光地带的反向移民。他们还将调查通过绿色基础设施强调自然生态系统过程的城市振兴在未来可能如何影响城市/地区和家庭/邻里层面的社会生态新陈代谢。研究人员将与当地政府和公民利益攸关方探讨可能限制向这种新的城市形式过渡的体制和社会制约因素，以及如何将城市生态系统科学从科学界转移到当地行为者。他们还将探讨土地利用和土地覆盖结构和管理的社会生态选择的潜在范围和可能性，以及土地利用和土地覆盖结构和管理如何有助于城市未来的长期可持续性和生活质量。该项目将促进对社会生态新陈代谢框架内城市生态系统物质和能量流动的人类层面的科学认识，特别是与以下必要性有关的：提供可靠的能源以支持城市新陈代谢，并了解替代土地利用和土地覆盖模式将如何影响能源预算和水。和空气质量。该项目将促进对社会生态新陈代谢及其在城市规划中的作用的科学理解，特别是在城市绿化方面；它将提供一个教育工具，培养城市公民对城市动物及其随时间的演变、生态系统服务和生物多样性的兴趣。这项工作的价值并不局限于锈带城市。更广泛地说，该项目将提供关于城市绿色振兴的人文层面的知识，这已成为一项重要的国家倡议，并将提供一套与管理者和决策者一起设计并为他们设计的工具，帮助他们探索替代城市设计和规划政策，以减轻潜在外部事件的影响，纳入区域生态系统生产能力，评估绿色基础设施的物理机会，尊重公民偏好，并教育社区走向城市形式的新范式。该奖项是由美国国家科学基金会和美国农业部林业局联合支持的一项特别竞赛的结果，作为城市长期研究区域探索(ULTRA-EX)奖的资助。

Once dominated by energy-intensive, ferrous-based industries, "Rust Belt"? cities in the Northeast and Midwest were the backbone of the U.S. economy. Over the last 50 years, however, their populations and economies contracted dramatically with many social and ecological ramifications. By re-envisioning blighted urban spaces and reconnecting to regional natural productive capacity, Rust Belt cities may arrive at a more sustainable social and ecological future. This collaborative research project will engage university-based scholars, government scientists, and local stakeholders in an examination of the process of urban greening to mitigate rust belt urban "blight" while enhancing the socioecological metabolism of these cities. The investigators' objectives are to use the theory of socioecological metabolism and behavioral decision theory to assess how the socioecological metabolism of a typical Rust Belt city has changed over time as well as its vulnerability to future external factors, such as restrictions in oil availability, climate change, and reverse migration from the Sunbelt. They also will investigate how city revitalization emphasizing natural ecosystem processes via green infrastructure might affect socioecological metabolism at both the city/regional and the household/neighborhood levels in the future. The investigators will explore with local government and citizen stakeholders the institutional and societal constraints that may limit transitioning to this new city form and how urban ecosystem science can be transferred from the scientific community to local actors. They also will explore the potential range of socioecological options and possibilities of land-use and land-cover structure and management and how it can contribute to long-term future sustainability and quality of life in Rust Belt cities.This project will advance the scientific understanding of the human dimensions of urban ecosystem material and energy flows within the socioecological metabolism framework, particularly as related to the necessity of: providing reliable energy sources to support urban metabolism and understanding how alternative land-use and land-cover patterns will impact energy budgets, water. and air quality. The project will advance the scientific understanding of socioecological metabolism and its utility in urban planning, particularly with respect to urban greening; and it will provide an educational tool to cultivate urban citizens' interest about urban fauna and its evolution over time, ecosystem services, and biodiversity. The value of this work is not limited to Rust Belt cities. More broadly, the project will provide knowledge about the human dimensions of urban green revitalization, which has become an important national initiative, and a suite of tools designed with and for managers and decision makers that will help them explore alternative urban design and planning policies to mitigate the impact of potential external events, incorporate regional ecosystem production capacity, evaluate physical opportunities for green infrastructure, honor citizen preferences, and educate the community toward new paradigms in urban form. This award was funded as an Urban Long-Term Research Area Exploratory (ULTRA-Ex) award as the result of a special competition jointly supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.