“New York City (Steady) State” is a project and exhibition created by Terreform. A very interesting non-profit design group that promotes green design in cities. The project’s objective is to explore how can the ecological footprint of New York City become co-terminus with its political boundaries. The driving force of the project is that: the city can become completely self-sufficient.

For doing so the project explores strategies to improve the use an improvement of water, air and climate, food, energy, building, manufacture, movement, and waste.What is interesting about the project, and Terreform in general, is their believe that we can not achieve self-sufficiency if we do not change our life styles and habits. Although they propose some “ecothecnology” solutions they are also critical to these when saying that such technologies tend “to abstract and de-individualize responsibility and to de-politicize the environmental problem”. In my opinion this is why in the project’s images emphasis is made on showing people making the change and not the infrastructure or the buildings. 

This reminds me some of the quotes that I have put in this blog:

citizens not engineers will achieve sustainability - Julian Agyeman

to effectively address the global environmental problems, we will have to start with the lifestyle of residents in their local communities - Per Berg

designers, engineers, planners, artists, sociologists in collaboration and partnership with citizens will achieve sustainability

you can find more information and pictures of the project in designboom or follow terreform’s blog