CONTENTS PAGE

INTRODUCTION- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 3

CAUSES/ ACTIVITIES

1. Brownfields 3

2. Transportation 4

3. Building Energy 5

EFFECTS/ IMPACT

1. The Hazardous Brownfields 5

2. Transportation – Roads, Cars and Carbon Dioxide 6

3. Is Building Energy a Productive Process? 8

NEWARK’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

1. Neglected Brownfield Sites 9

2. Organized Transportation and Connectivity 10

3. The Strife of Building Energy 12

INTERVENTIONS

1. Brownfield Sites 13

2. Transportation

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Reducing Congestion 14

Newark as a Commuter City 15

3. Building Energy

Establishing and enforcing increasingly strict building energy codes 17

Retrofitting existing buildings to reach energy efficiency 17

Utilizing massive incentives to spur use of renewable energy appliance 18

Weatherization of low income homes 19

Public outreach program 19

CONCLUSION 20

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INTRODUCTION

Economic Development

A green city promotes economic development by providing an environmental friendly

framework that encourages new trends that will provide monetary and social investment into the

city, which creates a healthy and sustainable community.  Environmental conservation and

economic development are not conflicting but can be mutually reinforcing, as environmentalists

have prompted calls for "environmentally sustainable" economic development. Economic

development can be made progressive by reducing some of the detrimental effects of global

warming, which for the most part, are man-made. By improvising on behaviors and

understanding the need for a more environmentally friendly atmosphere, economic development

can go green. Environmental sustainability can best spur regional development and economic

growth by creating green jobs through retrofitting buildings in using renewable energy, cleaning-

up and reinvesting in brownfield sites to create green space for mix-used communities, and to

strengthen the public transportation infrastructure to bring commerce activity.

Global Challenges

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air

and oceans.  The cause of global warming is greenhouse gases, which are gases that allow

sunlight to enter the atmosphere.  The functions of greenhouse is described

“When sunlight strikes the Earth’s surface, some of it is re-radiated back towards space as infrared radiation (heat).  Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and trap the heat in the atmosphere.  Many gases exhibit these “greenhouse” properties.  Some of them occur in nature (water vapor, carbon dioxide [CO2], methane [CH4], and nitrous oxide [N2O]), while others are exclusively human made such as industrial gases which represents 82% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2006.  Over time, if atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases remain relatively stable, the amount of energy from the sun to the Earth’s surface should be about the same as the amount of energy radiated back into space, leaving the temperature of the Earth’s surface roughly constant.” (Energy Information Administration [EIA], 2008) 

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Since the industrial revolution, there has been an imbalance between greenhouse gas emissions

and absorption within the atmosphere.  Human activity has increased the amount of greenhouse

gases which has increased the concentrations of CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide.  As a result of

this activity, the concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 36% and 148% since the

mid-1700s (EPA, 2007). 

Global warming impedes the process of economic development.    Nicholas Stern, former

chief economist of the World Bank who wrote the Stern Review, argued that climate change

could gravely effect economic growth.  He warned that “failure to take action could risk a

recession worth up to twenty percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP)” (BBC News,

2006).  In addition, he goes on to state that global economic output can be reduced by 3% if

temperatures rise by two to three degrees Celsius, and up to 10% if temperatures rise by five

degree Celsius (BBC News, 2006).     This kind of economic downturn can harm agriculture with

the risk of droughts and floods, the insurance industry with a rise in claims caused by major

weather catastrophes, and slow other areas of economic development throughout the world.  For

transportation, climate change will negatively affect the infrastructure of roads, railways, and

pipelines (i.e. oil pipelines, sewers, etc.).   Consequently, governments of all levels will spend an

unprecedented amount of money due to an increase for maintenance and renewal caused by a

greater variation in temperature. 

Causes/Activities

Brownfields

Brownfield sites were once productive industrial sites that exist in the industrial sections

of cities and are locations for abandoned factories or commercial buildings, or other previously

polluting operations (Hollander 2006: 2).   The causes of brownfield sites are contributed by the

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deindustrialization and globalization impact on cities (Hollander, 2006: 14).   Through the

progression of globalization, industries and businesses “have spread their activities and

production processes throughout the world,” in order “to take advantage of labor and regulatory

cost savings.  Another factor on the development of brownfield sites is the “metro shifts

(Hollander, 2006: 14),” which is the occurrence of “mass migration out of rural areas during the

nineteenth century [and] was followed in the mid-twentieth century by mass migration out of

cities into suburbs (Hollander, 2006: 14).  The cause of the metro-shift in the 20th century was

contributed by the federal policy interventions of the postwar mortgage programs, urban

highway building, and urban renewal, thus the decline of economical development in urban

cities, and the “economics of maintaining a property up to code and meeting environmental

obligations exceed potential revenue generation,” in which the owners eventually abandoned the

properties to avoid liability (Hollander, 2006: 15).  Through urban decline, these industrial sites

eventually would become contaminated brownfield sites through the deregulations of

manufacturing contamination discharged to water air, and land caused by unregulated activities

of industry manufacturers such as the wasteful and spent of laboratory chemical waste, process

waste water, empty product containers, dirty filters, hydrocarbon spillages, solvents, pesticides,

heavy metals such as lead, tributyltins, and asbestos (DDPA: 1996).

Contaminated brownfield sites create challenges for municipalities around the world that

want to clean up and create sustainable urban redevelopment. Some of the challenging factors

are legal and financial, and if the brownfield site is owned by a municipality or a private

company, the cost of clean-up can cost millions of dollars (EPA, Anatomy of Brownfields

Redevelopment: 1).   Time for the rehabilitation of the sites often takes years and sometimes is

stalled by deficiency of funds or focus from the property’s owner and marketing for the

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attraction a tenant, especially in today’s recession, and often, possible developers are concerned

they could be responsible if additional contamination is found (EPA, Anatomy of Brownfields

Redevelopment: 1).   Besides the negative environmental factors, Brownfields create social and

economic problems such as open space rubble, crime increase and poverty, the reduction of

social capital and community unity, decrease of local government taxes, and private property

values that may reduce social services (EPA, Anatomy of Brownfields Redevelopment: 3). 

Transportation

Another cause of global warming is people’s overreliance of automobiles.  In the United

States, the introduction of the automobile has revolutionized American culture both socially and

physically.   Prior to the automobile’s invention, horses were one of the few transportation

methods used to transport people and commerce within the city and its surrounding towns.  Even

though the use of horses did not contribute to pollution problems, they made city streets

unsanitary due to the manure they would leave behind.  When the automobile was first launched

to the public, it was advertised as a low maintenance vehicle that did not contribute to sanitation

problems.  As the years went on, the automobile began to transform an image of independence,

freedom, and increased status which fit into America’s democratic and capitalist principles.

The automobile revolution, lobbied by the oil and automobile industry, paved the way for

the U.S. government to support building a national highway system and implementation of the

use of zoning laws that favored the use of cars.  This resulted in “urban sprawl” where jobs and

residents moved out of the centralized cities to suburban outskirts.  Prior to the suburban

migration, the majority of jobs were centered within cities where workers lived near their

employer or in high density communities within city limits that was usually connected to a

streetcar or rail.  However, with the support of federal subsidies to fund paved-road construction

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and suburban development, it allowed people to live in low density communities far from the

city center and integrated city neighborhoods.  Furthermore, compared to cities, suburbs created

few local jobs due to single use zoning1 (Wikipedia – Single Use Zoning).  As a result, residents

from these suburbs regularly commuted longer distances to work as suburbs spread out.   

Building Energy

Buildings provide a constructive environment for people’s everyday living and working.

People’s daily activities in buildings have great impact in terms of either energy conservation or

energy over-consumption. It is said that those vastly larger numbers of our fellow humans who

are not evil, but whose behavior may in fact be far more destructive in the long run. (Ayres E,

2001)The long-run destructive behavior includes the trivial things that we barely pay attention to,

for instance, leaving rooms, homes or offices with lights, heating and cooling appliances on;

forgetting to tighten water faucets; leaving computers on when it’s even not in use; leaving

battery chargers on when it’s already fully charged; stuffing the refrigerator with overdue time

food close to expiry dates; forgetting to build up insulation when heating and cooling the house;

etc.

Effects/Impact

The Hazardous Brownfields

The environmental hazards of brownfield sites are biological, physical and chemical, and

are “the result of site contamination, groundwater impacts, surface runoff, migration of

contaminants, or wastes dumped on site (EPA, Protecting Public Health).”  The usual

contamination found in brownfield sites include hydrocarbon spillages, petroleum, solvents,

pesticides, heavy metals such as lead, tributyltins (found in pesticides or preservation materials),

and asbestos (ATSDR, Toxic Substance Portal).  Hydrocarbon is a Methane and greenhouse gas,

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which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and can cause fires, explosions, & depletion

to the atmosphere (ATSDR, Toxic Substance Portal).  Brownfield sites are also areas for large-

scale commercial and illegal dumping of contaminated materials. Many properties have not been

monitored for years and no one knows what contaminants, if any, may be underground, in the

water supply, or if contaminants have migrated off the site. Dangerous chemicals such as paints

and batteries containing lead; thermometers and light bulbs containing mercury; electronic goods

full of hazardous substances; pesticides from the garden; solvents for cleaning; and used motor

oil are also found in brownfield sites and pose a hazardous list of  health problems (The

Economist, 2009: 6).  

The existences of contaminated brownfield sites in urban areas pose a health risk to the

urban population and an evident link to health problems.   Chemicals with the hydrocarbon

(PAH) make-up are carcinogenic and has been proven in laboratory studies to cause tumors and

the development of cancers in animals and humans when inhaled through the air, consumed

(food cooked on grills and barbeque), and long periods of skin contact (ATSDR, Factsheet).  The

inhalation of asbestos can also cause serious illnesses, including malignant mesothelioma, lung

cancer, and asbestosis, the inflammation of the lungs (American Cancer Society (ACS,

Asbestos).  In a 2009 American Cancer Society study, there was a 15% increase (estimated

1,479,350 cases) of new lung-related cancers cases between men and women in the United States

(ACS, 2009 Cancer Statistics).

Transportation- Roads, Cars and Carbon Dioxide

As the car culture progressed, automobile drivers ignored the negative environmental

impact they caused to their surroundings.  Use of the automobile makes up 20 to 25 percent of

carbon dioxide emissions believed to cause global climate change (Wikipedia – Effects of the

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Automobile on Societies).  In the U.S., cars emit approximately 3.4 grams per mile of carbon

monoxide (Wikipedia – Effects of the Automobile on Societies).  About 33% of U.S. carbon

dioxide emissions come from the burning of gasoline in internal-combusting engines of cars and

light trucks, i.e. minivans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, and jeeps (EPA, 2009).  Many of today’s

vehicles are built with poor gas mileage which adds to global warming.   Below is an example of

low vehicle mileage:

“A Dodge Durango SUV (with 5.9 liter engine) gets 12 miles per gallon in city which emits an estimated 800 lbs of carbon dioxide over a distance of 500 city miles.  Each gallon vehicle consumes emits 19.6 lbs of carbon dioxide in air.  Honda Insight gets 61 miles to the gallon and emits 161 lbs of carbon dioxide over the same distance of 500 city miles” (Ecobridge.org – Causes of Global Warming). 

Roads played a major role in allowing cars to emit a large amount of greenhouse gases.  As more

people drive, new roads are built through sensitive habitat which causes loss or degradation of

ecosystems.  The materials required to pave roads come from large-scale rock quarrying and

gravel extraction, which sometimes occur in sensitive ecological areas (Wikipedia – Effects of

the Automobile on Societies).  When the automobile became efficient to travel longer distances,

roads were built to support this new Urban sprawl.  In having people live in far and spread out

locations, city planners are forced to build larger highways.  Consequently, the majority of air

pollution comes from crowed highways, congestion, where people from the suburbs tend to

spend majority of their time.

With the availability of cars and paved surfaced roads, more people are commuting from

a far distance which causes traffic congestion.  In a 1996 study by traffic engineers from Texas

A&M, it was found that drivers in Los Angeles and New York City alone wasted 600 million

gallons of gas annually while sitting in traffic (Ecobridge.org – Causes of Global Warming). 

The 600 million gallons of gas translate to about 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide in just those

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two cities (Ecobridge.org).  As the population grows and move outside the city, traffic delay will

rise by 50% over the next 25 years (Reason.org – Many Cities Face Los Angeles-like Traffic

Jams).  For congestion to be alleviated, state and local governments must greatly invest into

freeways and arterials by adding 104,000 lane-miles at a total cost of $533 billion over the next

25 years (Reason.org – Many Cities Face Los Angeles-like Traffic Jams). 

With car emissions, traffic congestion, and additional asphalt paved roads, these variables

contribute to greenhouse gases which cause Urban Heat Islands (UHI).  Urban heat islands are

produced by dark surfaces and reduced vegetation which warms the air over urban areas.  Even

though asphalt pavement has its advantages such as smooth and all weather surfaces, there are

related problems.  One of the consequences in covering streets with dark asphalt is that it

increases hot temperatures within the city by absorbing light which in turn heats the air and helps

create an “urban heat island” (Akbari, Pomerantz, and Taha, 2001).  On a clear afternoon, the air

temperature in a typical city increases by 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than in the surrounding

areas (Akbari, Pomerantz, and Taha, 2001).  In summer months, urban heat islands increase

smog production due to higher urban air temperatures. 

Is Building Energy a Productive Process?

Unconscious and irresponsible daily behaviors can be generalized as activities for energy

overconsumption. Energy overconsumption in buildings is mainly referring to electricity and

heating gas consumption. Nearly half of the electricity in the U.S. comes from coal burning

(Annual Energy Review 2006) with the by-product of carbon dioxide. Therefore, energy

overconsumption activities result in a tremendous increase of carbon dioxide in the air. Statistics

shows that buildings are responsible for 72% of United States electricity consumption and 54%

of natural gas consumption (The First State of the Carbon Cycle Report). In addition, 71% of

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carbon dioxide emissions from commercial buildings and 72% of carbon dioxide emission from

residential buildings are produced by space cooling, lighting and heating. According to figure 1,

residential and commercial buildings in the United States are responsible for 37% of CO2

emissions, which is the second biggest proportion after transportation (The First State of the

Carbon Cycle Report).

.

Source: DOE EERE Buildings Energy Data Book 2005

Figure 1: United States’ carbon emissions by sector and (for commercial and residential buildings) by end use.

Newark’s Economic Challenges

Neglected Brownfield Sites

With a population of 275,000 and New Jersey’s largest city, Newark has experienced the

down fall of a once prosperous and predominantly existing manufacturing industry contributed

by the disinvestment into the city, and the suburbanization of northern New Jersey after World

War II, which has left more than 700 acres of largely underutilized public and private property or

brownfield sites abandoned (NJDEP, List of BDAs).    These brownfield sites are known or

suspected to be contaminated from industrial operations and manufacturing.  During the 1980’s

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the city lost 60, 0000 residents, and 26 percent of the remaining residents are at or below the

poverty level (NJDEP, Site Remediation Program).  Compared to the global cities of London,

New York and Tokyo, small and medium-sized cities such as Newark are dependent to the once-

prized industrial lands that now lay useless in the insignificant hierarchy of the global economy.  

With an economic boom of $48,133,302 (Ralph, 1975: 60) revenue during the late 1800’s from

the manufacturing of jewelry, trunks, tanning, clothing, hats, boots and shoes, and carriages and

wagons, Newark’s survival today is dependent on the insurance industry and transportation hubs

such as the Port of Elizabeth, NJ Transit and the Path, and home to various universities, but the

brownfield sites are still predominantly left untouched and can bring the city renewal economic

benefits. 

In a New Jersey Department of Environmental Health survey, Newark is home to 67

brownfield sites, which covers an estimated 430 acres of Newark’s 700 acres landscape (NJDEP,

BDA Sites at a Glance), but in the last six years only 650 acres of Newark’s brownfield sites  and

surrounding neighbors (Elizabeth, Harrison, Orange/West Orange)  has been clean-up.   The

graph provided below demonstrates the disparities of brownfield site clean-up and

redevelopment from 2005 until 2008.    The state of NJ provides brownfield site remediation

programs for the clean-up, and since it’s initiation, the city of Newark has remediated an

estimated of 30 acres for warehousing, riverfront, walkway, and retail purposes.  The graphs are

an example of the city of Newark and private owners’ inattentiveness or slow of pro-activity to

the environmental and economical issues of Brownfield sites (NJDEP, BDA Sites at a Glance). 

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Brownfield Sites Clean-Up and Reuse Development in Acres from 2005 -2008

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 2009, Press Release) has provided

$111.9 million in grants to support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of

2009 for brownfield site redevelopment, but because these programs are not mandated, the state

needs to request stakeholders, owners of contaminated properties, and responsible parties to

participate in the program and at times. Due to issues to issues of liability, the financial cost of

property value and the extent of environmental contamination to fund the clean-up, if grants

don’t provide coverage of expenses, are several reasons why the revitalization of brownfield sites

remains stagnant in the city of Newark.  With the current economic hardships and limited

participation from responsible parties in NJ’s Brownfields Development Area (BDA), initiative

programs, such as the NJ Site Remediation Program, view the stagnation of brownfield

revitalization will continue, thus impeding Newark’s future economic growth. 

Organized Transportation and Connectivity

In terms of transportation logistics, the city of Newark is strategically important to the

flow of global commerce in regards to air, sea, rail, and highway access.  When it comes to air

access, Newark Liberty International Airport is the region’s second largest airport and one of the

most important international hubs in the world.  For rail access, Newark has one of the most

profoundly used hubs in the Northeast Corridor, giving the city a central location in the world’s

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economic activity stretching from Boston to Washington (Regional Plan Association, 2006).  For

highway access, interstate highways provide both truck and auto access to locations throughout

New Jersey and the New York metropolitan region.  Finally, when discussing public

transportation, NJ Transit and the Path provide the city with access to jobs in New York City and

northern New Jersey. 

As a leading transportation hub, Newark is plagued with environmental challenges.  One

of the challenges are the effects of UHI within the city that is estimated “to be on average

increase of 3.0 degrees Celsius…Newark’s heightened UHI conditions is probably the result of

its greater population density and areal extent, and its geographic location in a shallow bowl that

traps westward breezes from New York City (Solecki, et al., p. 42).  The cause of UHI in

Newark is the congestion experienced within the many highways passing by the city such as

McCarter Highway (Route 21), Route 1 and 9, Garden State Parkway, Interstate-280, Interstate-

78, and the New Jersey Turnpike.  There is no existing city data when discussing traffic

congestion, but state data is available, which is provided by NJIT’s “Mobility and Costs of

Congestion” report (NJIT, 2000).  This article will use the data provided by the Mobility and

Costs of Congestion report, which gives a clear scope of the issue within the county level. 

The report uses four quantitative indexes categorized into four sections (freeways,

principal arterial streets, other arterials, and all roadways) that explain the negative impact that

congestion has on the county.  The first index is the Roadway Congestion Index (RCI) and it

illustrates cars per road space.  The RCI measures the vehicle travel density on major roadways

in an urban area (NJIT, 2000).  An RCI exceeding 1.0 indicates an undesirable congestion level,

on average on the freeways and principal arterial street system during the peak period (NJIT,

2000).  Essex County RCI score for Freeways is at 1.28, principal arterials at 1.39, other arterials

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at 1.02, and all roadways at 1.30 (NJIT, 2000).  Accordingly, Essex County has the highest RCI

for state when the study was conducted in 2000 (NJIT, 2000).  A second index is the Travel Rate

Index (TRI) that illustrates the amount of extra travel time it takes to travel during the peak

period (NJIT, 2000).  The travel time (in minutes per mile) within the peak is compared to off-

peak and uncongested speeds.  A TRI of 1.20 indicates that it will take 20% longer to travel to a

destination during the peak period than during the off-peak period (NJIT, 2000).  As a result,

Essex County has the highest TRI with freeways at 1.16, principal arterials at 1.72, other arterials

at 1.26, and all roadways at 1.13 (NJIT, 2000).  The third index is the travel delay per license

driver that illustrates the hours lost due to recurring delay during the peak travel periods which is

estimated from travel speed estimates on the freeways and principal arterial streets (NJIT, 2000). 

Essex County annual hours for freeways is at 7.82, principal arterials at 17.53, other arterials at

0.13, and all roadways at 25.48 (NJIT, 2000).  Finally, the last index is the cost of congestion

which is a function of two variables: delay and fuel cost.  The annual total cost (dollars) per

Essex County driver at freeways at 208.93, principal arterials at 416.75, other arterials at 2.62,

and all roadways at 628.29 (NJIT, 2000).  Evidently, improvements to Newark’s robust

transportation network are imperative by connecting Newark’s surrounding neighborhoods to its

existing linkages to the region.

The Strife of Building Energy  

Compared to other global cities, Newark has its own different set of issues. First is its

substantial demand in the central area .As the largest city in New Jersey, Newark is the host of

more than 6 headquarters of companies, and it hosts seven universities with more than 50,000

students. These companies and universities are located within the business center and University

Heights. Substantial energy supply is demanded for lighting, heating and cooling within this

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central area. Second, just like any other city in the western counties, the primary challenge is the

large stock of older buildings, and the difficulty and expense in raising their energy efficiency.

(Energy efficiency in the buildings) According to 2007 U.S. Census, Newark has total of 107,629

housing units, and 29.90% was built in 1939 or earlier, 60.1% was built between 1940 and 1999,

and only 9.9% was built after 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau). Appliances such as a furnace or boiler

are used to heat buildings with poor insulation. Hence, old buildings with energy inefficient

appliances are one of the reasons for increasing energy consumption, which leads to the fourth

problem —high energy bills. People who live in the old buildings fall in 20% high poverty rate

compare to 12% national rate and 15% state rate with low median income $34,452 comparing to

NJ state median income $67,035(U.S. Census Bureau). Thus, these residents can’t afford to pay

the high energy bills nor update their energy appliance to energy efficient. Last, but not the least,

is the lack of use of renewable energy. New Jersey has more solar installations than any other

state in the nation, except for California. However, 2000 census shows only 0.1% of homes in

Newark were using solar system to heat home, and in 2007 there were 0% of home using such

energy (U.S. Census Bureau).

Interventions

Brownfield Sites

Firstly to restore the economical growth, the contamination of brownfield sites in Newark

needs to be cleaned up.  As neighboring cities and suburbs grow, the demand of land increases

through the spur of urban growth population, thus creating unnecessary urban sprawl when land

availability is possible through the revitalization of brownfield sites.  The revitalization of

brownfield sites also creates jobs and skill-training programs for the Newark community, which

will benefit human capital and provide unity within the community.  Another positive factor in

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the clean-up of brownfield sites are mixed communities with a green standard of living with

energy and transportation efficiency can develop such as Atlanta Station in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Atlanta Station is built on a formerly contaminated site that was home to a 100-year-old steel

mill, which ceased to operate in 1998.  The location has now become a city within a city on a

138 acre with retail, residential, commercial and public space within the commercial district of

Midtown Atlanta (Atlanta Station). Enduring the same environmental issues of contamination in

the city of Newark, the steel mill where Atlanta Station now is situated, was divided by two

merging interstate highways and now connected to downtown Atlanta by a highway over-passing

a pedestrian bridge, thus eliminating fragmentation with the rest of the city of Atlanta (Atlanta

Station).    

Though the clean-up of contamination and construction of Atlanta Station took years and

millions of dollars, the investment into Atlanta’s economy is enormous as retail chains and local

businesses are settling in, while Atlanta urbanites can live a green life style in luxury residential

housing, while protecting the environment from urban sprawl, congestion, and energy

inefficiency.   Another use in the sustainable urban redevelopment of brownfield sites is the

usage of green technology.  With the technological innovations of green chemistry and

nanotechnology, Newark can create technology facilities for the environmental-friendly waste

management and recycling on non-recycling items such as computers and IPods (The Economist,

2009: 10).  With the imagery of green technology, Newark can become one of the first cities in

the United States to position green manufacturing businesses and once again create economic

growth in an effort to protect the environment and serve its community.

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Transportation

Reducing Congestion

One of the many answers to global warming is the reduction of automobile usage

throughout highly populated regions.  A way to change people’s behaviors is to implement pay-

as-you drive insurance where drivers pay more for driving privileges which can encourage

people to reduce driving.  However, an effective method is congestion pricing, which is a system

of charging drivers during peak time to reduce traffic congestion.  Singapore was the first city to

employed congestion pricing in 1975 which charged drivers $3.00 to bring their vehicles into the

city central district (APTA, 2002).  Funds generated by the program allowed the city to expand

and improve their public transportation system and keep traffic at an optimal flow.  As a result of

congestion pricing, the city experience a 45% traffic reduction, 10 miles-per-hour increase in

average driving speed, 25% fewer accidents, 176,000 fewer lbs of carbon dioxide emitted, and

20% increase in public transit usage (APTA, 2002).

Another likely but efficient solution is to implement or strengthen a public transportation

system.  Most successful public transportation systems are those that provide easy-access links

within and among all forms of modern travel.  A multi-model transit system can reach a large

amount of people, providing travelers with choices.  The advantage of a transit system is to lure

riders away from cars. An example is the bike-on-buses programs that successfully link riders

with different transportation modes.  In San Francisco area, two thousand bicyclists commute

each day between San Francisco and Silicon Valley on commuter trains equipped with bike racks

(APTA, 2002).  In Phoenix, buses equipped with bike racks attract more than 15 million

bicyclists a year (APTA, 2002).  If Americans drove alone to work, it will fill a nine-lane

freeway from Boston to Los Angeles (APTA, 2002).  According to Maryland Department of

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Transportation (DOT), public transportation has greatly reduced the amount of cars on their state

roads.  For example, a full bus clears 60 cars from roads, 12 cars for a full van, and up to 200

cars for a full commuter rail car (APTA, 2002).  In St. Louis, a full light rail train removed 125

cars from roads, and an entire system removed 12,500 cars from daily rush-hour traffic (APTA,

2002).

Public transportation also benefits businesses and industry.  Businesses look to invest in

cities with a well organized transit infrastructure.  Public transportation is an essential element

for maintaining a vibrant business community and economic climate.  Reason being is that

public transportation expands labor pool, job accessibility, and reliability within the region. 

Moreover, business leaders can be the driving force to increase transit investment and use. 

Every $10 million invest in transit capital projects yields $30 million in business sales, and the

same investment in transit operations generates $32 million (APTA, 2002).  In St. Louis, a 25

year transit modernization plan is expected to generate a $2.3 billion return in business sales

(APTA, 2002).  Every dollar of public funds invested in transit returns up to $6 in benefits

(APTA, 2002).  Furthermore, businesses tied to public transit are experiencing more employee

reliability and less absenteeism and turnover.  As a result, business are saving money and earning

profit due to the reliance of a public transit system.  In 2000, 23.8 million accidents involved

auto vehicles which resulted in a loss of $71.5 billion in wages and productivity (APTA, 2002). 

Without solving traffic congestions, businesses can face an annual loss of $40 billion, and of all

public transportation commuters drove, loss will be increased by over 37% (APTA, 2002).

Newark as a commuter city

Newark may be a regional hub but the city must make connections to outer

neighborhoods and surrounding towns.  By enhancing its transportation network to the

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surrounding towns, Newark can alleviate the congestion issue caused by the city’s major

highways.  Major road corridors should not just accommodate vehicles but also transit,

pedestrians, bicycles, trees and infrastructure, dotted with transit nodes that serve as focal points

of development and community activities (Regional Plan Association, 2006).  Perhaps the single

most effective way to make Newark greener, more accessible, more equitable and prosperous is

to facilitate mixed-use development near the transit nodes and highly-traveled corridors (i.e.

Newark Penn Station, Broad Street Station, and Orange Street Station). 

An example of a mixed-use development is a transit-oriented development (TOD), which

is a mixed-use residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport,

and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership (NJ Transit, 2008).  A TOD

neighborhood normally has a center with a train station, metro station, tram stop, or bus station,

surrounded by relatively high-density development with progressively lower-density

development spreading outwards from the center.  The benefits of a TOD is that it provides an

opportunity for a community to grow and prosper economically, increase area of commercial

activity, increased transit ridership, provide a sustainable and green city, and attract businesses

located along freeways by moving to the city’s business district.  In a NJ Transit report, TOD

generate less vehicular trips and requires less parking, reduces congestion by 10% to 25% in

peak periods and about 10% to 15% daily (NJ Transit, 2008).

There are a number of solutions to relieve congestion within Newark’s road network. 

One method is a signal coordination system such as ramp metering system.  The purpose for this

system is that it installs traffic signals at freeway on-ramps to control the rate of vehicles entering

the freeway, which can be set at different metering rates to optimize freeway flow and minimize

congestion (Pearson, et al., 2009).  Another method is to exert control over the large volumes of

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truck traffic that flow through the city.  Specific truck routes should be identified with

community input as well as input from the trucking industry and regional entities and

implementing street signs saying “No Trucks” to indicate truck routes within areas of heavy

truck traffic (Plan Association, 2006).

The most important step is to create a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) within the city but

outside towns.  A BRT is distinguished from local bus services by providing express service,

stopping only every half mile, and by receiving signal preemption, which allows the vehicles to

move more quickly than auto traffic (Plan Association, 2006).  A BRT functions with vehicles

typically stopping at transit nodes with raised platforms, fare machines, and shelters.  The

stations create a sense of permanence that would form the basis for nodes of activity and the

creation of transit oriental corridors.  A BRT operates much like a light rail but without the high

cost of laying rail and hanging overhead wires, and can be deployed quickly.  In addition, a BRT

can be a best practice for Newark because of the low light rail ridership which is mostly

operating in the downtown district.  The BRT service has been employed in Curitiba, Brazil and

Oakland, California with dramatically successful results.

Building Energy

Establishing and enforcing increasingly strict building energy codes and encouraging LEED certificated green building for large commercial building.

Building codes are one of the main reasons for substantial decrease of energy

consumption in buildings, in which government plays a key role to ensure a rigorous building

energy code and it is strictly followed. It is also important for the city government to encourage

an integrated design of buildings that meet LEED green building standards. An example of best

practice is the Hearst Tower in New York City. This building provides a good blueprint for

commercial buildings to achieve great energy efficiency through integrated design. It is most

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notable for its environmentally friendly technical innovations such as using advanced material

and locally sourced, recycled materials and a bundle of technological and programmatic

efficiencies. New commercial buildings in Newark are encouraged to use such new technology,

material, and design.

Retrofitting existing buildings to reach energy efficiency

Updating and retrofitting existing buildings in Newark can generate a more

environmentally friendly community. Reduction of carbon emissions can be achieved by

appliance efficiency improvements and various energy-saving designs in the buildings. The

major challenges when improving old building energy efficiency are technology and financial

constraint, the policies here need to address these two key problems. A comprehensive energy

evaluation program on all buildings is needed to audit energy consumption. For buildings that

meet appliance replacement requirement, city government will follow New Jersey State Energy

Master Plan (NJSEMP) to cooperate with appliance manufacturers, distributors and retailers by

providing incentives such as rebates or co-promotion to increase higher energy standards

appliance penetration in existing buildings (Energy Master Plan Implementation Strategy).

Moreover, city government can go further to make the retrofitting affordable to the owners by

utilizing incentives to pay part of the incremental cost of more expensive energy efficiency

equipment (Energy Master Plan Implementation Strategy). By creating the building efficient

appliance fund to cover the up-front cost and let the owners pay the rest of the cost with the

money saved from the energy bill (One city, one future). For the other buildings that are not

covered by the appliance replacement program, a whole building approach focusing on

equipment tune-up will be implemented (Energy Master Plan Implementation Strategy).

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Utilizing massive incentives to spur use of renewable energy appliance

Governments will need to provide tax incentives and subsidies to enable investment on

renewable energy appliance, such as solar panels. Solar panel is a clean energy appliance that

can be used for water heating and lighting. New Jersey is the second largest state that has the

most solar panels; however, solar panels used in Newark are behind the state number. A forge

partnership with PSEG can improve solar panel implementation in Newark by installing

neighborhood, government building, commercial, community and affordable housing solar

panels. To start the solar program within Newark central area that includes the city hall, business

center, and University Heights will be the foundation that eventually branchs out to the

community.

Weatherization for low income homes

A weatherization program is greatly demanded in Newark due to the large population in

poverty. It can serve Newark’s neediest citizens to improve their quality of life and benefit the

city by reducing the energy consumption. This program will enhance the environment and

stimulate economic development within low –income communities. It will be achieved by

stressing the financial assistance and efficiency that can measure insulation, air sealing,

windows, lighting, heating and air conditioning improvement.

Public outreach program

Majority of building energy is wasted because of poor design, inadequate technology, and

inappropriate human behavior. Reduction of energy consumption can’t be accomplished only by

technological improvement, but fundamentally by behavior change. Since the previous

recommendations are made to address poor building design of old buildings with inadequate

energy efficiency. This public outreach program addresses people’s behavior. The program focus

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group concentrates only on individuals in the city but also building stakeholders. The best

practice of Energy efficiency in the buildings: transforming the market by World Business

Council for Sustainable Development, recommends that government authorities must establish

sustained campaigns to promote behavior change and to increase awareness of the impact of

energy use in buildings. It is essential to demonstrate their commitment to addressing this urgent

challenge by cutting the energy consumption of their own buildings (Energy efficiency in the

buildings). Newark government needs to take advantage of the universities in the city and work

with them to introduce various workshops and trainings on energy efficiency for “motivating

behavior change by owners, project developers, tenants and reinforce the message to fully

establish a change in behavior. Educate and train developers, architects, engineers and the

building trades to improve understanding of code requirements, illustrate the advantages of

integrated design and alleviate concerns for higher costs (Energy efficiency in the buildings). 

CONCLUSION

Global warming has become an inevitable phenomenon of the world today and

transportation has taken a predominant role in enhancing its effects. It is evident that this is man-

made and through certain interventions, the process, although cannot be reversed, can eliminate

the incidence of the holistic effect it is seen to cause. Consumerism and a technologically

affiliated life-style can still exist by altering certain individual behaviors. Economic development

is dependent on various factors like brownfields, transportation and building energy.

Implementation on these grounds can greatly influence economic development and head in the

direction of a green future.

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