Greenbuild 2015 Special Set A03: Watts ReImagined

Описание: Instilling a positive, forward-looking perspective is a major challenge when working in disadvantage communities. New tools are needed to overcome a long-standing narrative of neglect and victimhood. The growing number of tools and strategies related to urban sustainability provide a way to see a community in a different light by focusing on assets and opportunities rather than problems and deficiencies. The speakers have multi-year experience in applying LEED for Neighborhood Development in the context of existing neighborhoods. The ReImagine Watts project shows what the results of this type of approach can be, including new development of affordable housing, tactical urbanism upgrades to public spaces, resident engagement, and local advocacy for increased public services and neighborhood amenities. While the need for these types of interventions is present in many communities across the country, Watts is particularly relevant as this is the 50th anniversary of the 1965 civil rights uprising. Showing that a positive way forward can be charted by working through an urban sustainability framework offers a model for other communities that suffered similar impacts in the turbulent 1960s and that are still working to heal and become healthy, resilient, and sustainable communities for the future.