Infrastructure initiatives and maintenance activities are largely overseen by state and local governments. These entities play a key role in funding, building, and operating roads, bridges, transit, airports, water, sanitation, and countless other forms of infrastructure. Some projects, like road repairs, seek to improve the local economy and the public’s quality of life, and other initiatives, like upgrading water systems, keep the community safe and healthy. The federal government plays a more influential role in capital investment, but state and local spending still accounts for the majority of public capital spending. With reduced federal capital investment, and unpredictable funding from states, local governments have taken on an even greater responsibility of fiscal infrastructure policy.
Nigel Jacob, a Ph.D. computer scientist, co-chairs the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) where he oversees local initiatives and innovative projects in Boston's mayoral office. Jacob spoke to ESAL about how MONUM brings an entrepreneurial spirit to Boston’s local bureaucracy.
The CivicSpark fellowship program has engaged over 200 fellows and some 35,000 California residents on projects concerning sea level rise, affordable housing, climate action planning, and sustainable transportation. Scheuer told ESAL about the program’s new “resilience” focus as they prepare to select their latest cohort of fellows.
The inaugural post of our "Local STEM" series features the NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP). CUSP brings engineers and scientists together with city governments to tackle urban issues. We interviewed CUSP Executive Director Michael Holland to learn more about their work.
Tim Oolman is an engineer with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. He told us about attending a City Council meeting and a State of the City address to learn more about his home.
Jennifer Boehme is a marine scientist and advisor at the International Joint Commission in Windsor, Ontario, which is a commission of the U.S. and Canada that has oversight of border waters. She attended a city council meeting to understand local priorities for sustainable development, green infrastructure, and mass transit.
As an innovator and "maker" at the nexus of the built environment, energy, and transportation sectors; John Sarter frequently needs to integrate first-of-their-kind electrical systems with other building technologies. To accomplish this, he uses new materials and construction techniques that exceed, and help to advance, existing codes and local regulations. Even in a forward-looking city like San Francisco, though, the development of a building like Sol Lux Alpha – the first multi-unit residential nanogrid project in the United States – wasn't easy.
