Sustainable Land Development Today - July/August 2008 - (Page 6) OUR VOICE Wisdom from General Patton I love great quotes that provoke thought. In the 1970s movie, “Patton,” in his Academy-Award winning portrayal of famed US Army General George Patton, actor George C. Scott delivered a line that has always stuck with me. “Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of mankind,” he said, referring to the French Maginot Line. The network of defensive works was considered state-of-art in the years following World War I when they were constructed to oppose an invasion from Germany. It proved to be virtually worthless in the early days of World War II when it was overwhelmed in quick order by the Nazi Blitzkrieg, which was too fast, too flexible and too mobile for the system of concrete fortifications. The design of the Maginot Line was based on World War I warfare, while Blitzkrieg tactics were cutting-edge warfare developed in the years prior to World War II. The Maginot Line was not adaptable. Therein lays the point. Will our “sustainable” projects today be adaptable tomorrow? Will they continue to balance the needs of people and the environment and remain economically viable for future generations? One of the great attractions for the renovation of warehouses and some commercial and industrial buildings is that they tend to be filled with wide open spaces, which offer tremendous options for adaptive reuse. They are a blank canvas. Did the designers of the buildings a century or more ago have that in mind when they designed them? Probably not, especially when you consider that they are not cheap to renovate, especially when brownfield contamination, asbestos and infrastructure upgrades have to be addressed for the project to be successful. Still, developers have read the marketplace and found ways to make such projects work. But could their jobs have been made easier? As our industry advances, and “sustainable” concepts of all stripes arise, perhaps some thought would be well spent on how adaptable they are to achieve the triple-bottom-line challenges of the future. Can their materials be recycled or reused beyond the initially envisioned first life? Can the land use be changed without radical excavation? Is the infrastructure accessible and easy to upgrade? Can we develop the land in ways that have the least environmental impact, so that future generations can coexist with nature without having to clean up problems that we’ve left behind? Our industry has a tremendous opportunity to foster innovation that is adaptable and truly sustainable by taking a look back, a look around and a look ahead. What was done in the past, how has it affected the present and how can we use those observations to lay the groundwork for the future? In that way the Maginot Line provides value. It was considered state-ofthe-art and impregnable. It wasn’t because it wasn’t adaptable. Send us your 2¢! We welcome your opinion Reader responses to articles in Sustainable Land Development Today are encouraged and may be sent via mail or email (Editor@SLDTonline.com), or online through SLDTonline.com. Mailing address: Sustainable Land Development Today, Attention: Editor, 275 East 10th St. Suite 201, Dubuque, IA 52001 The mission of Sustainable Land Development Today is to be the leading forum for the exchange of ideas to advance the principles of sustainability--balancing the needs of people, planet and profit. In fulfilling that role, divergent beliefs and perspectives will at times result in debate which we believe will produce the solutions required to address the ever-changing challenges of the industry into the future. 6 July/August 2008 Sustainable Land Development Today http://SLDTonline.com
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