Each option was evaluated against a list of almost three dozen criteria, such as infrastructure costs, fossil fuel consumption and affordability for the end user. Committee members rated each option based on how well they responded to the different criteria. For instance, if they found electric car-sharing expensive for the end user, it received a higher rating and was therefore determined to be less sustainable than the other options. Once the scores were added up, there was no question that the tramway was the right choice for Luxembourg.
“It is the best alternative because it scored highest on all the parameters that are being studied, so therefore any solution that we evaluate is being compared to the best possible one,” says Awasthi.
Though the results of the study were somewhat limited — there were only seven people on the Luxembourg committee — the evaluation method can easily be used in other contexts. “It’s not at all complicated to transport this kind of measurement from Luxembourg to a city like Montreal,” she says. “We just need a new set of data and a new list of priorities and maybe more stakeholders participating.”
It takes a village
Collaboration is the focus of Cheryl Gladu’s work. A PhD candidate in Concordia’s Individualized Program, Gladu studies co-housing, a phenomenon that emerged in Northern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s a way of living where individuals share certain common spaces and make decisions based on consensus.
“People collaborate to ensure things run smoothly — and common areas are specifically designed to encourage meaningful encounters between neighbours,” she explains. It’s a bottom-up approach that Gladu thinks can be applied to decisions regarding the role of technology in our cities.
Gladu helped design the first netzero triplex in Canada and is interested in how design facilitates collective behaviour change. She suggests that cohousing can do more than just help us feel more engaged in our communities — co-housing neighbourhoods outperform green buildings when it comes to environmental measures. “If you know that people in your neighbourhood are recycling, composting and sharing their cars, you’re more likely to adopt those habits, too,” she says.
People in these types of communities — there are 18 in Canada — are also happier, her research shows. Co-housing asks its members to consider what they need, not what they want, Gladu adds. “While smart technologies are great — sometimes what people really need is a place to age with dignity, support in childcare or a place hall where they can gather for a shared meal with friends,” she says.