Can NYC truly be self-sustaining?

Can New York City, a city of 8 million people, Be Environmentally Self-Sustaining?

This is a question I've been thinking and pondering for a while, especially since last summer when I was researching some census data for a grant and was reminded again just how large of a population resides in this city - 8 million (this includes the boroughs.) Then, in the fall of 2011 I made several trips down to NYC, and each time, as I rode the train down and back up, I found myself pondering 'what would it look like for this city to be truly sustainable?'

Earlier this year I spent some time in the NYC watershed in the Catskills, and got an even greater sense of the vast resources dedicated just to provide this city of 8 million people with clean water. In essence, the NYC watershed begins up in the Schoharie Valley, at the Gilboa Dam, and then it's all down hill from there. More on this in another post. But lets just say, I never before quite understood how many acres of public land were off-limits to human activity just to help keep the water clean. It's fascinating. So, I've been wanting to write a series of blogs on what it would really look like and take for this city to be self-sustaining.

Then today I came across this article: Building the Self-Sufficient City: NYC Covered in Green, posted by SustainableBusiness.com News
An architect has been working for years on a design to 'green' NYC. It's truly in part the vision I had in mind. People growing food on patios and vacant lots; more bicycle paths, individual solar panels and water retention systems on roofs. I think for a city the size of NYC to become more truly self-sustaining, it will require this kind of relocalized effort.

I have attended several sustainable agriculture related conferences the past year, and always find it interesting when researchers studying the 'food shed' needed to feed NYC includes much of upstate NY, NJ, PA. Here's an architect designing a much more self-reliant city of 8 million. Check out the article here and Enjoy......

Building the Self-Sufficient City: NYC Covered in Green, re-posted from SustainableBusiness.com News