The Blues are mainstream free-marketers. Such people have a positive bias toward the future based on technological optimism and the strength of the economy. They are armed with a strong statistical case, based on the vigorous and dynamic economies of Western and (until1998) Asian nations. Their approach is deeply rooted in conventional economics, and their number-crunching reveals a world vastly improved and rapidly ascending. Blues believe that reliance on innovation, investment, and individual freedom will ensure a shining future for humankind, and a level of material well-being that has strong appeal to virtually everyone in the world. Their optimism also extends to the environment, believing that in most cases, markets will send strong and appropriate price signals that will elicit timely responses, mitigating environmental damage or causing technological breakthroughs.
After participating in the debate and hearing all the different views, arguments, propositions, counterarguments and the overall feedback:
(1) Summarize in 400 words what makes the new project of the Pink Lake City in Senegal a sustainable one according to the value system of the Blues.
(2) Write another 400 words on issues that the city plan fails to address according to the value system of the Blues.
(Sustainable Development in Cities, USP 514 Class Discussion)
#Sust_Glob_South
Urban & Environmental Studies 
Debate:Blue
1) I think the project for Senegal pink ocean is really sustainable. I think it is sustainable because they planned out a lot of ideas that can help the environment a lot to become more sustainable. Being blue I think this is sustainable because the project will allow us to provide more money for the environment. It can also allow us to bring in more people to this city and the people that comes will be able to pay for all the green technologies for the environment to be save. Being blue we are able to provide more trade from people from all over the world. Thanks to this sustainable project we can tax people that can cause problems to the environment. Since the Senegal Pink Ocean project is really green and use to attract tourist we can also tax tourists that are causing problems to the environment By taxing them it can help save the environment and stop people from polluting the environment because of taxes and no one like to pay taxes. Since no one likes to pay taxes they can stop polluting the environment and just enjoy a nice to place to relax. With this project under construction we can also produce policies that can stop the pollution from happening in Senegal Pink Ocean Project. I also think this project will be successful for blues because we can create businesses around the place or private companies that are environmentalists and we can provide all the technologies and other things we need to help human population and growth and protect the environment from pollution or climate changes. With so many new good technologies like renewable energy, and etc we can make a lot of money from this project that is related to the environment. Since a lot of people want to stop the environment from getting polluted they will want to help us by paying money like taxes and using the taxes into producing more green businesses or companies and tons of new technologies that can possibly save the world from ending and help increase population. We will need to invest a lot in greener technologies like hydro-energy, solar panel and wind energy. Even though they will cost a lot but we can use all the taxes people pay and invest them all into renewable energies instead of fossil fuels.
2) Other than why the project is good for us there is also bad things that can happen in this project. Some bad things that can happen in this project is the golf course. I think the golf course will not be needed in this project. I think it is isn’t necessary because it cost a lot to make a golf course for people to play. It also uses a lot of water too. Since this is supposed to be an environmentally save project they will not want to waste water. For us we will need to spend a lot of money in order to make this happen. Another bad thing that this project has is that there is no public transportation to get to one place to another. Since there is no public transportation made to get to one place to another a lot of people will continue to rely on their car to get to one place to another. Since this is a green project there shouldn’t be any cars for people to drive. There shouldn’t be any cars to drive around here because cars produce a lot of air pollution and this project is made to allow people to relax and not stress out. However, if you put in cars many people will have to suffer a lot of air pollutants that get in to their lungs. The project should also add bike paths around the whole project. Being blue I will want them to add public transportation and bike paths around the whole resort. We will want that because we can make a lot of money from creating all these environmental save projects. Since public transportation and bike paths are really sustainable we can invest all the tax and all the money we get from citizens and use them on something like that to make this project a strong success. If they don’t add the bike lane and public transportation line it may be really hard to get to one place to another and we don’t want cars to drive around. We want to invest on more public transit for this project so it can provide more jobs. It will provide more jobs because man people will want to work and if we add public transportation and bike lanes people can work on it and the environment will be save and we will make more money for the environment.
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The Senegal Pink Lady City Project is quite the sustainable project. With a dynamic economy, free marketers have the capability to make this project the most sustainable city project ever. Mitigating environmental degradation could easily be the next big industry. With the capability of creating hundreds of jobs for local people, sustainability within this city will be unmatched from anywhere in the world. The future is here, and this project is an example of the sustainable capability of the free market. The free market is the best way to work towards a more environmentally sustainable future. Elon Musk would be the best example for this belief. Musk is the 83rd richest person in the world and has created a niche market in sustainable energy. He has created electric cars that reduces automobile users personal CO2 emission levels, and did so by making it attractive. He turned an environmentally friendly product and made it attractive on the market, and has profited on the sustainability of the environment. Musk is doing much more than making cars, he is also making a solar city that runs completely on solar power, and has invented solar panels in roof tiles. It’s innovations like these that free marketers have the ability to possess. Free marketers are the future of our world. This project in Senegal will not only be sustainable, but it will produce money within the city and create an environmentally sound city in the process. Many people argue that with sea level rise, this city is not a good idea, and that it’ll cause nothing but environmental degradation. Well I believe that is just wrong. This is the first city in the world that is being made with sustainability in mind. The opportunity to learn from the world’s largest city’s mistakes is an advantage most cities do not have. With the knowledge of sea level rise there is room for a market to help address this issue for the city, and sell the patent for a barrier or device to address sea level rise while making money for the city. With this sort of sustainable mindset, and urge for innovation, this pink lake city has the capability of becoming the most sustainable city in the world, using other cities as examples of what not to do and profiting off of it with innovation. That is why I believe the only way that this city should be built is with a blue mindset.
So unfortunately, the reliance on the free market isn’t the best way to address environmental issues. The Blues believe that the free market will make the right choices for the environment in terms of sustainability. This is an issue because it puts too much of a reliance on the free market to address environmental issues. If the free market was wholesome and we had a bunch of people like Elon Musk creating cities, it would be a new and revolutionary thing. The sad news is the free market just does not work this way. The majority of the free market wants to make as much money as they can with utilizing the least amount of money and to do so. This being said, free market developers will try and cut corners to minimize their costs and usually the environment is what’s at the expense. This is a huge issue with the way the blue group conducts themselves. There cannot be a complete reliance on the free market to remedy the environment. There needs to be a lot of government intervention to oversee that the creation of the city is sustainable for the natural and human environment.
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USP 514
The Senagal Pink Lake City Project is the first master plan of the development of an entire city around the Pink Lake of Senagal. The project consists of five parts: the Wellness City, the African Business City, the Brain City, the Sports and Arts City, and the African Culture City. All of these parts will come together to create a new space for a new community to develop. Residential areas will be built for both the higher and lower income classes. New recreational amenities such as shopping malls and areas of public open space with be available. Sport stadiums and a new cultural theme park will also be allocated inside the city where residents and tourists can enjoy themselves and have a good time. Hotels that complement the beautiful views will also be built to accommodate visitors. This project will benefit the country of Senegal immensely. It will generate large amounts of income since it will attract more people and businesses to the area. It will specifically attract crowds and businesses of higher income levels due to the competition that takes place from the attractiveness of the city. The prestige schools planned will bring in brilliant minds to the city. It will also help make Senegal a more popular country known around the world. The increase cash flow and the ability to attract smarter, wealthier people will encourage future developments around the Pink Lake City and will ensure a bright future in growth.
The Senegal Pink Lake City Project fails to address a couple things. The amount of affordable housing in the city greatly outnumbers the amount of higher income housing. The goal of the project is to increase the efficiency and growth of the city for future generations to come. Building more residential areas catered to crowds of higher income levels will bring even more money to the city. The more capital the project can generate the faster the city can improve and become one of the best in the world. Another concern is the fact that the city lacks a reliable transportation system in its plan. Residents will want to be able to maneuver around the city in a fast and efficient manner. The amount of attractiveness the project will create in the city will surely increase the population which may cause crowding in the streets. The street plan of the project does not accommodate traffic congestion due the awkward layout of the streets. A public train or shuttle system should be implemented as well to the plan.
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The Pink Lake City project in Senegal can be a huge sustainable project with multiple investors and free marketers seizing the opportunity to maximize profits and clients while at the same time mitigating environmental impacts. An economic development planner in a free market system sees the projected city as a location of high economic production, consumption of products, distribution of wealth, and innovation of new technology takes place. The city is in competition with other cities for markets and for new industries, which allows for investors to seize the opportunity for scoring in the sustainability market. This new and undeveloped space can be the economic space of market areas and business zones. Because of Senegal’s political stability and diplomacy, the governing parties can easily work with free marketers to ensure for sustainable projects within the city. And since the nearby city Dakar is home to many embassies, the project can attract many outside investors from wealthy nations in Europe or Asia. The innovation of sustainable projects including in this Pink Lake City project will attract investors who want to invest in sustainability projects in order to push for future projects to be implemented elsewhere. With new innovations and business opportunities, this can allow for a thriving market that can produce plenty of jobs. This project will essentially relieve congestion from the nearby city of Dakar. Since Dakar is an existing international hub in Senegal, the Pink Lake City will allow for many tourists to indulge themselves with beautification and ecological tourism the city will bring. By relieving the congestion in Dakar, this project will bring more people to invest in this city.
Although the project will achieve sustainable development by including plenty of green space to reduce the heat island effect and create more microclimates, does social justice have a role in the free market system when it comes to sustainability? Will this project only achieve environmental goals and dismiss the social issues concerning this project? I believe this project will not achieve full sustainable development if social issues are not addressed in the plan. If this plan only caters to international business and excludes existing residents already in the region, economic developers achieve their goal by increasing their profits made off international business, but continue to ignore equity this project is aimed to do. Will this project achieve the sustainability that benefits everyone equally or will it only be viewed at sustainable from the outside based on certain technological fixes? If no one equally benefits from the sustainable technological fixes and people still continue to carry the burden of the wealthy, then the project will not achieve sustainable development.
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The four groups that showed there concerns about the Pink Lake project proved valid points but I decided to stay blue. I think it is most sustainable from our perspective because we are bringing all the investments into this mega construction, and without that it would not be possible. With the power of a sable economy and concentration in technology this city would thrive in numerous ways. We would have funding to create sustainable projects such as a transportation system, waste and resource management systems; furthermore a strongly funded school system would educate youth on the importance of these ideals. We would be able to create and be an example of the ultimate green projects. A financial strong hold would allow us to have great relationships with other countries and world cities connect with each other. This would help our economy and give us support in terms of tourism. With a massive investment in technological advances this city can thrive and perhaps lead an example for other world cities structurally, economically, culturally with a high population of educated individuals. This quality in education would allow us to keep our talent from being outsourced to nations such as the United States while; in turn bring their talent to us to train help with research. This concentration of highly educated people will keep crime low and safety for everyone very high. Senegal being one of the most stable counties in Africa will further help its reputation with these ideals in mind, and help not just Pink Lake City but the whole country and region over time.
In terms of failure with regard to the ideal system of the blue team a number of issues rise. Though funding could bring in and fix many of these problems the city still fails to be sustainable in many ways. One example is the massive amount of unnecessary green space not accessible to the public such as golf courses. This results in massive amounts of water being wasted to maintain it. Another issue is its timeline and location of where the city is being built. The video suggest that this is a thirty year project but fails to take issues such as sea level rise as a potential threat during its construction. Furthermore the city seems to be reliant on the idea that everyone is going to have to use cars to get around. With no public transportation infrastructure no only will this be bad environmentally but will be bad for residents pockets as they will all have to rely on buying cars. Another problem I saw was that with the blue team ideals in mind this city will have a high influx of well educated people compared to low. This makes me suggest that will gentrification perhaps start to take place in order to accommodate a growing number in highly educated population, and start to drive out lower in come families and workers like in San Francisco. The bottom line is that as perfect as this city can be it will get to a point where it would have to expand with the blue ideal, In order to economically get stronger I feel like that wont be possible and would create more issues.
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I
The Pink Lake project, set to complete in 2030, will surround the current Senegalese eco-tourist attraction with a world-class urban development that will combine resorts, offices, hotels, middle-income and market-rate housing with the best of the state-of-the-art technology, healthcare and wellness industries, in the most respected city and geographic region in Africa.
The project has humanitarian, economic and sustainability goals, and would be developed as an alternative to industrialization. It would also extend the capital to the Atlantic Ocean, opening up new trade opportunities with the international community ion the process, with the possibility of developing a maritime industry on the eventual horizon. With the support of the international community and the city’s political elite, the Blue team can think of no better time and place to move forward with pink Lake City.
II
Though we wholeheartedly support this project, the plan should have some stated environmental and equity goals, such as urban forestry coverage to lower the project’s overall heat production, land that is set aside to be devoted to local uses, and local hiring practices for those jobs the project will generate. This will speed up the entitlement process and ensure that local inhabitants and/or activities are not disturbed during the development cycle.
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