L.A. INFRASTRUCTURE FORUM SUPPLEMENT SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Shifting Priorities for Future Cities: Three Short-Term Catalysts for Long-Term Rewards By Steve Zoegall , Vice President and Global Market Director of Cities & Places, Jacobs The past five years have transformed the way we all live and work, but there has been one constant—accelerated urbanization and the need for effective infrastructure. According to the United Nations, 55% of today’s global popula-tion lives in cities, and that will rise to 68% by 2050. While accelerated urbanization is good for society and our planet, it comes with an asterisk. This future city making must employ inclusive design, creative financing, nontradi-tional partnerships and social value-led, climate-savvy strategies. The cities of tomorrow offer an opportunity to drive sustainability and social equity through economies of scale, nature-based solu-tions and circular frameworks, but they’ll require the right investments and strategic vision today. So how can we responsibly drive urbanization to unlock these benefits? By identifying the best investment catalysts for short-term growth and long-term returns. 1) Resurrect Ghost Infrastructure and Drive Adaptive Reuse Stranded city assets, such as abandoned airports, present massive potential upside for mixed-use regener-ation. Visionary redevelopment projects like Ellinikon in Greece demonstrate the mid-and long-term potential of transforming unused urban spaces into mixed-use green infrastructure. Think about it—there are more than 1,700 abandoned airports across the U.S., including 30 in the Los Angeles area alone. Our city cores also have vast swathes of permanently vacated commercial space that offer a triple bottom line promise. By renovating and retrofit-ting existing buildings, we can heavily reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) 50 | December 11/18, 2023 price of new construction — the most sustainable building is the one that already exists. There are miles of renovation opportunities. According to two urbanism experts, there is more than 44 million sq ft of vacant office space in Los Angeles, 18.4 million sq ft in San Francisco and almost 60 million sq ft in Chicago—that’s 45 Empire State Buildings of vacant office space in those three cities alone. The greatest challenge here is not about finding space—it’s about creating financial mechanisms to rejuvenate and transform those ghost spaces into mixed-used, multi-benefit drivers. 2) Create Magnetic Places With Public-Private Partnerships In the role of city-making, public-private partnerships (P3s) must be daring, visionary and interdisciplinary to propel visitor numbers and increase urban pride. A case in point—the 5.2-acre Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, a $110-million P3-driven effort that created green space over a series of highway interchanges directly in front of the Dallas Museum of Art. It receives more than two million visi-tors annually, provides an active mode oasis for residents and tourists and has boosted surrounding real estate values and commercial life. 3) Revolutionize Affordable, Sustain-able Housing Lack of affordable housing is denying families in need the single most powerful instrument of economic mobility ever created. According to the National Low Income Housing Coali-tion, we need seven million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income households across the U.S. Simulta-neously, increasingly rigid emissions compliance standards are gradually forcing higher prices. This offers one of the world’s greatest challenges and opportunities: how do we design and build more affordable and sustainable housing? Like the other two catalysts, it requires creative financing and careful collaboration with the right strategic stakeholders. We rely on industry inno-vation and technology, such as modular design, 3D printing, modern construc-tion methods and smarter building materials, such as advanced insulation, triple-glazed windows and modular solar panels. Using Catalysts to Support Los Angeles’ Transformation Jacobs supports the transformation of Los Angeles into a more sustainable and efficient metropolis. We’re helping change the way people move around Los Angeles before, during and after the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games. We’re developing innovative solutions to address complex water resource and supply challenges. Learn more about Jacobs’ Los Angeles area work as we partner with our clients in the region to create strong and environmentally responsible infrastructure. Creating smarter, more sustainable cities—and incentivizing more people to live in them—are crit-ical steps toward unlocking efficiencies at scale for decarbonization, economic equity and social value. By investing in these three catalysts, city makers can build the inclusive, diverse cities of tomorrow so that everyone benefits. Steve Zoegall is Vice President and Global Market Director for Cities & Places at Jacobs, leading a global team of 5,000 architects, strate-gists, technologists, planners and placemakers who partner with clients to create buildings, campuses, communities and cities that thrive. enr.com/california/resources/SpecialAd
ENR Sections L.A. Infrastructure Forum Supplement: Page-50
