By James Holtzman
James Holtzman graduated from KU in 1980 with degrees in Environmental Design and Architecture. Early in his career he worked with St. Louis firms specializing in adaptive reuse and historic infill. In 1987 he began Miracle Design/Build, Inc., and, as president, he presided over architectural and development services for projects of up to 30 million and more in scope. James has been developing the concept of a sustainable and economically viable city development since 1998, concentrating his efforts in St. Louis on Fairground’s Park. In 2012, he earned a Master’s of Science in Sustainability at SLU using his work with Fairground’s Park as a centerpiece. For the last 5- years he has been involved directly in the renewable energy (RE) industry working with established industry professionals in Missouri and around the country.
According to a United Nations report on world population, 2008 was the first moment in history when more people lived in urban than in rural communities – a development tendency that stands to increase to over 66 percent by 2050. During this time, the total global population will increase from 7 billion to over 9 billion. To learn to live sustainably in an urban context therefore becomes the question of the century.
According to a United Nations report on world population, 2008 was the first moment in history when more people lived in urban than in rural communities – a development tendency that stands to increase to over 66 percent by 2050. During this time, the total global population will increase from 7 billion to over 9 billion. To learn to live sustainably in an urban context therefore becomes the question of the century.
Our inner cities, that only a couple of generations ago prospered and were sources of rich and varied activity, have become poster children for abandonment, loss, and stagnation. Throughout history we have struggled to create a place for ourselves on the land. Although our successes are in many ways epoch making, without a thorough understanding and respect for the land on which we live and depend for survival, our victories will not provide answers for future generations.
Human interaction with natural systems is one of the defining attributes of culture. We need to craft human communities that not only acknowledge this axiom but use that knowledge as a springboard for the creation of a regenerative society. Locally what is called for is a change of heart. Treasuring our precious resources starting with our citizenry and continuing on through the man-made and natural resource base is the paradigm shift that we need. There is no “waste” in nature. The release of creative energy and increase in quality of life resultant from such a paradigm shift would be truly ground breaking and life enriching to community and environment.
Targeting the historic urban area of Fairgrounds Park in north St. Louis as a unifying green space, New North is an effort to define what a sustainable modern community could look like. This change starts with our students and schools adopting a place-based experiential learning process focused on an urban ecological curriculum. Our children are assets, not liabilities. Our cities are places of community growth and empowerment, not something to be neglected and thrown away. And our generous natural resource base is the gift and treasure on which we depend not only for our well-being but for the well-being of future generations.
Community engagement in New North could help define a new district that crosses ward and neighborhood boundaries using Fairgrounds Park as a unifying urban gathering space. Once formed, the district will provide the structure for community improvements, starting with green infrastructure and irrigative garden cisterns on a district-wide basis. Other improvements envisioned include urban farming, gardening, and composting, neighborhood weatherization and rehab, tree planting and horticulture, permaculture, aquaculture and eco-industrial business creation, community energy generation, and health and well care development.
For the benefit of future generations, those less fortunate, and indeed for our own individual survival, this work is necessary. Natural systems teach us that human communities are dependent upon their environments to thrive and grow. Locally and nationally we are comprised of sets of interdependent economic, social, and political relationships. Our charge then is to provide incentives to create a thriving human culture within the bosom of resplendent nature Herself “…That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.” Aldo Leopold, The Sand County Almanac, (1949).
Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the view of the Community Builders Network or Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
