Infrastructure is recognized as a driver of economic growth and employment, improving trade connections and accessibility to services. But the development of infrastructure is recognized as an increasingly complex task.
For the environment, infrastructure underpins all the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. For communities, infrastructure development is recognized as prominent source of conflict, reducing access to resources and affecting quality of life. The multiple challenges confronted by infrastructure developers potentially lead to increased opposition to projects, delays, and higher construction costs. Thus, there is a pressing need to integrate sustainability into infrastructure projects to ensure social, environmental, institutional, and financial sustainability over all phases of a project’s life cycle.
At GeoAdaptive, we understand the importance of this task on a planet stressed by climate change and diminishing natural resources. We recognize that sustainable infrastructure provides a solid foundation to advance in the SDG’s vision for inclusive development. We want to collaborate closely with our clients to achieve this goal, enhancing the necessary process of transformation in the way infrastructure is conceived, planned, developed and operated.
In our work we use cutting-edge technology and innovative methodologies to ensure the development of sustainable infrastructure, connecting the multiple dimensions of sustainability with a long-term territorial planning vision. The use of geospatial data as an instrument of analysis allows us to understand unique territorial conditions and interactions between sectors, improving decision making and producing sound public policy recommendations. We provide integrated planning solutions that combine different variables and scales, bridging administrative borders, and enhancing collaboration between actors and institutions involved. Through our approach to sustainable infrastructure we allow stakeholders to prioritize, plan, design, construct, and operate infrastructure that meet the principles of sustainability.
A systemic territorial integrated approach to sustainable infrastructure allows consistency between public policies, regulatory frameworks, institutional organizations, infrastructure, and support services. Also, this approach allows us to identify the right tool to apply in order to integrate a broad range of aspects, including different infrastructure sectors, phases along the project cycle, and geographic locations.
Maria Ignacia Arrasate
Practice Area Coordinator for Sustainable Infrastructure
marrasate@geoadaptive.com
+1 541 514 0502
Dr. Juan Carlos Vargas Moreno
Managing Partner
jcvargas@geoadaptive.com
+1 617 227 8885
Currently urban planning and governance is transitioning towards a science-oriented activity. The science of cities is emerging as a new field in professional disciplines and academic research. Cities have become objects of study where natural laws can be discovered and applied. In an era where information is freely floating and automatically generated, new methods for levering big-data—such as data-mining, and citizen or crowd sourcing through social media—are critical information inputs for designing better and updated urban policies. Through its R+D branch, GeoAdaptive devotes considerable resources in developing computational methods and models to harness data and extracts meaningful insights for a precise, inclusive, and intelligent urban development.
Climate change is a fundamental aspect of the current urban agenda. It requires the identification of vulnerabilities to natural hazards and the effects of climate change across urban landscapes and communities. GeoAdaptive’s approach integrates the understanding of hazard dynamics, vulnerabilities, and probable human and material losses to develop concrete strategies that increase the resilience of a city today and in the future. Moreover, social-resilience and adaptive-capacity indicators can be created in collaboration with stakeholders through an innovative mainstreaming approach that aids the implementation and monitoring of strategies.
Our projects
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Green and open spaces offer more than aesthetic values to the urban system, as they can provide critical ecosystem services, thus contributing to the wellbeing and resiliency of communities. Green infrastructure planning and design can help to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards by integrating mitigation and adaptation strategies in urban landscapes. Along with the development of responsive green networks, public space can be designed to offer improved amenities and increased accessibility. GeoAdaptive has developed methods to effectively incorporate climate science and hazard modeling with green infrastructure planning and design.
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Smart growth incorporates concepts of inclusive urban development, such as transit-oriented development and mixed-use zoning, which bring together residential uses with services, infrastructure, amenities, and jobs. Understanding the dynamic nature of real estate and the socioeconomic fabric is key to helping urban governments to develop sound policies that foster affordable and integrated neighborhoods. Through its urban analytics toolset, GeoAdaptive deploys territorial intelligence to plan and design sustainable and inclusive cities.
Our projects
Thinking about the long-term is fundamental for the development of effective and impactful policies that are also able to adapt to probable changes. Understanding future change allows for smart budgeting and phasing of investment to deliver solutions that are proactive instead of reactive. Instead of traditional planning, GeoAdaptive embraces strategic scenario planning, which has the capacity to deliver solutions that can respond to uncertainty. We assist our clients in developing probabilistic scenarios in a participatory way and translating them into future representations of a responsive territory or city.
Our projects
Sustainable mobility requires an integrated planning approach that brings together infrastructure, transport planning, and land use planning. Despite increasing levels of urban mobility, access to amenities, services, and workplaces has not increased in the same fashion. GeoAdaptive has conducted extensive research in developing projects to pursue sustainable urban mobility. Our method incorporates urban analytics to understand population movement dynamics together with land use planning and accessibility to urban services. With this approach, our projects have produced innovative and proactive recommendations for decision makers that can be effectively implemented within existing governance frameworks.
Our projects
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals) emphasizes the need to create long-term objectives to address inequality. Income growth should not be considered the only measure and goal in achieving these objectives. Infrastructure, wages, social welfare policies, and inclusive opportunities are also noted as key contributors. By measuring and quantifying inequality GeoAdaptive can provide intelligence for the evaluation and improvement of programs and policies that promote social justice, and foster inclusive and holistic social development.
Our Projects
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