My case relates to a larger sustainable city work because it is creating a safer environment for everyone living around it. My policy would cover the four areas of just sustainability, quality of life and wellbeing, helping present and future generations, justice and equity, and living within the ecosystem. My policy would cover all these areas because lowering air pollution and increasing the number of pedestrians would help with air quality and exercise. People would have a better quality of life because they would not be breathing in so many toxins and would have to walk more as transportation. It would help present and future generations because it is creating a new and better Boston. It would provide justice and equity because more people would have the same form of transportation. As well as the people who moved away from the roads and highways will be living a cleaner life. Finally, Boston will be living within ecosystem limits because it will be reducing our carbon footprints we have been creating.
As of right now, Boston is most definitely not just sustainable. Quality of life and wellbeing, transportation is the number one cause of gas emissions right now, so it is not helping people’s quality of life and wellbeing. Long-term exposure to vehicle emissions can cause cardiovascular disease and death (Brugge, 2007). Helping present and future generations is not happening right now because we need to change the way we live before our Earth dies. We need to rethink everything we do to try and create more green alternatives to how we live our life. Justice and equity is also not happening in Boston because many people live in places filled with vehicle gas emissions and very far from very important buildings. Those buildings are grocery stores, pharmacies, parks, and anything else that might help a human survive every day. The rent in Boston is also through the roof, meaning only certain kinds of people can live in Boston, which is not very fair. There are so many people that would love to live there because they are closer to work or they love the city, but they just cannot afford the high prices. Technically we are living within an ecosystem, but I think we are currently doing more harm to it than benefitting it. There has been a lot of talk about climate change and that we are one of the main causes of it coming so quickly. I believe this is why we are harming the planet more than saving it.