Unsustainable Miami

Intro

• Miami suffers from urban sprawl and unsustainable growth

• Current growth threatens three unique habitats– Pine rockland– Everglades– Coral reef

• Some ideas for future sustainable development

Current Environmental Issues

• Miami and the rest of South Florida continues to expand and push further into the Everglades

• Remaining Pine rockland forest inside city boarders are cut down for new development

• The coral reef off the coast is dredged to accommodate larger ships

The Everglades

• The Everglades boarders Miami on the West• A large portion of Everglades is protected by

The Everglades National Park and other parks including Big Cyprus National Preserve

• Remaining Everglades is unprotected and open to development

The Everglades

• Between Everglades National Park and Miami is a buffer zone

• Buffer created by Miami’s Urban Development Boundary which defines Miami’s outer city limits– Urban Development Boundary can be extended by

vote– Since 1973 Miami has expanded 36,000 acres

The Everglades

• Everglades is important habitat and valuable resource

• Everglades is home to many threaten and endangered animals including:– Florida Panther– American Crocodile– Wood Stork

• Everglades is source of fresh water for South Florida

The Everglades

UDB seen from space – image from Google Maps

Pine Rockland

• Pine rockland is a rare forest type existing only in South Florida and the Caribbean

• Only two percent of original forest remains• Forest outside of protect parks under threat

by developers• Recent development plan to cut down 140

acres of Pine rockland to build Wal-Mart and other stores

Pine Rockland

• Pine rockland is home to a number of threaten species found in no other habitat

• Threaten species include:– Bonneted Bat– Atala Hairstreak butterfly

• Atala Hairstreak butterfly will be on endangered species list by end of 2014

Pine Rockland

Atala Hairstreak Butterfly – taken at Porter-Russell Pineland

Coral Reef

• Off Miami’s East coast is coral reef• A portion of reef is currently being dredged to

accommodate larger ships into Port of Miami• Scientist have recently discovered very

resilient corals living in dredging zone which may hold clues to saving coral world wide from global warmining

Coral Reef

Dredging at Port of Miami – seen from Google Maps

Coral Reef

Dredging at Port of Miami – seen from Google Maps

Environmental Impact of Unsustainable Development

• Loss of rare coral that could be important to saving coral reefs that are dying around the world

• Loss of rare pine rockland habitat and the animals unique to the habitat

• Continued loss of Everglades habitat and the animals unique to the habitat

• Pollution from vehicles

Economic Impact of Unsustainable Development

• Traffic congestion reduces productivity• Ruin habitat that is valuable for tourism (scuba

diving in the coral reefs, visitors to Everglades)• Costs of health impacts from air pollution• Loss of jobs / business from companies that

don’t want to locate in a city with urban sprawl and inadequate infrastructure

Ideas for Sustainable Development

• Stop expanding Miami’s Urban Development Boundary

• Continue to develop existing spaces / build up instead of building out

• Fill in massive open air parking lots with parking garages and additional buildings

• Zone more areas for more multi-use development instead of single use

Ideas for Sustainable Development

Example of open air ground parking in Miami – seen from Google Maps

Ideas for Sustainable Development

• Improve current bus system making dedicate bus roads

• Expand current rail system• Integrate bus and rail system