We're Growing Right to Hell

一向被視為是現代大都會發展的經典範例

紐約靠著其完善的大眾交通系統, 城市基礎建設以及其得天獨厚的地理位置

佔據世界首都的位置長達數十年之久...也持續地吸引大量人口遷入這個充滿魅力的城市

不過昨天由市長Bloomberg所提出的New York 2030報告

卻試圖在警告紐約客這個一度偉大的城市所將面臨的迫切危機...



在2030年, 紐約市每日的rush hour將長達12小時...

目前認定從早上7點到9點, 下午4點到6點的rush hour定義...將不再適用



在2030年, 紐約市的sewer infrastructure將無法負荷大量成長的人口數

雖然過去15年來紐約市都不斷地進行sewer infrastructure的改善計畫

但是若以這樣的速度推算...要完成sewer infrastructure的全面升級以因應2030年的需求

還得耗費500年的時間...



在5年之內, 紐約市的電力使用需求就將超越其供應量

要是不對現有供電基礎建設做出改善的話

到了2030年...紐約市將短缺至少1,500 megawatts的電力



..........



面對這些將嚴重影響紐約是否能繼續雄距世界首都地位的威脅

Bloomberg和他的團隊將在近日內正式發表其所提案的因應策略

而報告書中的部份內容...則在Bloomberg昨天假Queens Museum of Art進行的演講中首次揭露







We're Growing Right to Hell

Bloomy's Vision of 2030 Foresees Nightmare of Crowding & Crumbling



By DAVID SEIFMAN

Published : December 13, 2006 / New York Post



The city must plan today for explosive growth or face unthinkable 12-hour rush hours and a crumbling infrastructure incapable of sustaining a million more residents by 2030, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday.



In what was billed as a "major" speech, the mayor offered a dark vision of where the city is headed over the next quarter-century if action isn't taken as he sketched the severe challenges awaiting New York and such world cities as London and Beijing.



"By 2030, our population will reach more than 9 million - the equivalent of adding populations of Boston and Miami to the five boroughs," Bloomberg told an invited audience of more than 200 in a multimedia presentation at the Queens Museum of Art.



"The result is a surge that is taking our population to new heights and our city into uncharted waters."



To prepare for such "undreamed of levels" of density, the mayor said the aging city has to upgrade almost every structure in sight - from streets to playgrounds to power plants to mass transit.



"Previous generations imagine how New York would change and they delivered," said Bloomberg. "Now it's our turn . . . By 2030, virtually every major infrastructure system in our city will be more than a century old and pushed to its limits. It doesn't have to come to that if we act."



The city is distributing a booklet next week to involve New Yorkers in the upcoming debate that makes it clear inaction isn't an option.



"In 25 years, rush hour could last 12 hours every day," proclaims the booklet.



"By 2030, nearly 70 percent of our power plants will be more than 50 years old. By 2030, average temperatures in New York City will have risen almost two degrees. By 2030, nearly 100 neighborhoods will need new playgrounds."



The administration spent the last 11 months preparing for yesterday's speech, creating a new Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability and consulting scientists, advocates and planners.



Officials are also planning "listening tours" to get input from residents in all five boroughs.



Any doubt that Bloomberg was thinking on a global scale was quickly erased by his lengthy presentation, which included a panel discussion led by newsman Tom Brokaw and video segments that featured actress Bette Midler expounding on the importance of parks.



There were few specifics, but they were ambitious.



Among the 10 goals outlined by the mayor were:



* Ensuring that all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park.



* Reducing emissions that contribute to global warming by more than 30 percent.



* Opening 90 percent of waterways for recreation by reducing pollution and preserving natural areas.



* Cleaning 1,700 acres of contaminated land.



* Achieving the cleanest air of any city in the nation.



Even sometime critics praised the mayor's foresight.



"I've been to a fair number of mayoral events and speeches," said Paul White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group that hasn't been shy in criticizing the administration.



"I have to say this was by far the most exciting. There was a palpable sense something big was happening. There was an electric charge in the room."



White, whose was among those consulted before the speech, said it appeared Bloomberg was trying to nail down "the legacy of all legacies."



A source who asked not to be identified said the administration has already laid the groundwork for its initiatives through rezoning major swaths of the city.



"The changes they made in land use are going to have a profound impact on the city going forward like nothing before," said the source.



"They're creating a tax base to support the city as it grows. Will they get everything they want? No. But they're laying out the framework all future mayors will have to follow."



City officials examined all 1,130 playgrounds to identify underserved neighborhoods. They rated the age and efficiency of all 25 power plants through 2030. And they estimated which subway lines would bear the brunt of added congestion on an average day in 2030.



Bloomberg said that in the next three months, his administration will present specific proposals for reaching each goal, along with regulation, legislation and financing mechanisms.



But as was evident during the panel discussion, it won't be easy to reach consensus on some issues.



When a question was raised about congestion pricing - a proposed policy of charging motorists to use roads in Manhattan, in order to relieve traffic - an unexpected cheer erupted from the audience. It was a clear indication most of the crowd wasn't from Queens, where elected officials have angrily denounced the proposal as a hidden tax.



"We need to be looking at that," argued Diana Fortuna, president of the Citizens Budget Commission. When he heard that, Ed Ott, executive director of the Central Labor Council, suggested another idea - nighttime deliveries to relieve congestion instead of charging motorists to enter central business districts.



"It cannot just become a burden for the working and middle class who come in and out of the city or it's just another form of aggressive taxation," said Ott.



Apparently, Ott didn't realize that the mayor last week had rejected the idea of nighttime deliveries as unworkable.



Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, was one of several officials who pointed out that New York isn't operating in a vacuum and faces stiff competition for business and tourism from competitors around the globe.



"We know that Shanghai, London and other great world cities are making plans like these," he said.



"They're doing a great job of building new economies and infrastructures. We've got to do likewise."