Our Mission

Develop a set of solutions for current cities that present sustainable and equitable solutions to urban consumption by 2050.

We, Terrascope Mission 2020, are striving to identify and tackle major problems shared by cities around the world. Specifically, we are addressing issues of consumption in the areas of air, energy, food, housing, and water through researching problems and solutions for a sustainable and equitable city. Each goal has an explanation for the reasons that specific goal was selected in order to clarify and demonstrate that it is relatable to our mission.

Air

Main Goal

Improve global air quality to be in compliance with WHO standards.

• Building on knowledge of the sources of short- and long-lived pollutants, minimize their emissions by 2050 to ensure that consumers are held accountable for indirect emissions.
• Identify health-related effects of poor air quality and develop a plan to minimize deaths from air pollution by 2050. Also make short-term safety measures widely available to those living in polluted cities by 2030.
• Identify current gaps in policy and specify where positive and negative incentives are necessary, and weigh out development against environmentalism.
• Develop a curriculum that is specific to individuals’ lifestyles in specific countries and encourage corporations to emulate more sustainable practices.
• Increase availability and use of green technology through social, economic, and political incentives.
• Develop a plan to mitigate the negative effects of human activities on the environment to create a large-scale sustainable way of learning.

Energy

Main Goal

Reduce the use of fossil fuels by replacing them with alternative methods of electricity production.

• Equity: Increase access to energy services so that cities have a reliable supply of power, especially for developing cities that presently have lower access to energy, which is required for education, sanitation, and health facilities.
• Efficiency: Increase efficiency of energy technology, including
• Transportation: Decrease the number of emissions in public transport to zero to limit the effect of climate change. Limiting the number of emissions will minimize human impact on climate change.
• Public Policy: Have 100% reliance on renewable energy sources in cities by 2050. City and state governments must implement certain restrictions and initiatives to introduce the move towards cleaner energy sources and fewer emissions through different types of policy. Many of these policies would involve financial incentives and subsidies.
• Power Production: Have 100% reliance for developed cities and and greater than 50% reliance for developing cities on renewable and nuclear sources.
• Buildings: Make buildings more energy efficient (e.g. lighting, heating, and cooling).

Food

Main Goal

Minimize hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

• End all forms of malnutrition in cities.
• Provide access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food year round to everyone, including the poor.
• Implement sustainable food production systems (eg. urban agriculture or GMOs).
• Increase global food production by 70%. (Fifteen percent of all food is produced in cities)
• Create a closed cycle for food production. (All waste is converted into useful materials to eliminate food waste)

Housing and Zoning

Main Goal

Provide affordable housing for everyone to accommodate a growing population while maintaining a reasonable and sustainable standard of living.

• Implement inclusionary zoning programs: This type of policy results in an increase in affordable housing supply. Cities use its customizability to agree with local circumstances.
• Improve basic housing and infrastructure in the developing world.
• Limit Urban Sprawl: Accommodate growth by increasing population density within cities instead of developing outwards.
• Establish networks of interconnected green spaces: Smaller, interconnected parks are better than megaparks because they allow for more community interaction, promote healthier lifestyles, and reduce gentrification.
• Find efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation systems within cities: Mass transit, complete streets and transit oriented developments connect different aspects of the city while maintaining a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere.

Water

Main Goal

Provide clean, accessible water to all while reducing the ecological impact of water consumption and capital expenditures necessary for water infrastructure.

• Reduce Water Use: Improving efficiency of water use will reduce stress on water sources that will continue to be depleted as population and needs increase.
• Balance water usage with water replenishment: If water is not replenished at the same rate at which it is extracted, water reserves will be exhausted in the future, increasing water stress and decreasing productivity.
• Provide accessible and affordable clean water for all residents: accessible clean water is a basic human right that must be met in urban areas for the sake of public health.
• Prevent water pollution to existing waterways: preventing water pollution will ensure the usability of water sources in the future.
• Optimize water capital and operational costs of infrastructures: due to funding and resource constraints, the cost of proposed solutions must be appropriate for the abilities of the government and, urban consumers, and all those who utilize shared water sources with urban areas.