Off to the land of all things great: the Vikings, IKEA, Swedish fish, and a population known for its love of coffee.

Well, it’s official. To keep my somewhat nervous (hi mom! hi dad!) parents at bay, to give my roommates a way to keep tabs on me as I leave them to melt in Davis (hi pentagon girls!) and to be able to keep in touch with assorted family and friends (hi everyone else!), I’ve created this blog to document my travels for the summer.

Hopefully my urban planning buddies chucked at my blog title (that means you, Sam). If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a play on the planning concept Transit Oriented Developments (TOD), which try to create communities with a mixture of housing, office spaces, shops, and restaurant all within walking distance to public transit.

TODs are just one of the many things I’ll be looking at on my travels this summer. I’ve signed up for a UC Davis summer abroad program called “Sustainable Cities of Northern Europe”, but because I love a good acronym, I’ll probably refer to it as SCONES. I’ll be spending the next month backpacking around Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, and Switzerland learning about all the really great ways these countries are trying to become more sustainable.

Sustainability – Sure, it is a buzzword, but a very timely one. As the world spins madly on, long-term and comprehensive planning that addresses environmental quality, social equity and economic development will need to become a global priority. What the future brings is uncertain, but an increased population is inevitable. To accommodate all these people, we will have to say goodbye to the suburbs and return to our old friend, the city.

But cities have come a long ways since their early days. From places like Stockholm, Sweden or Copenhagen, Denmark, we see successful examples of reduced consumption of natural resources, increased reliance on alternative energy sources, ecologically minded land-use and architectural design, and innovative transportation strategies. Their efforts stand as a testament to the world that efficient city planning and design IS possible, and that sustainable cities are the answer to ensuring a good quality of life for the citizens of today and the future.

So here’s to the progressivism of the cities I’m about to explore! I’m heading out to LAX for my flight, just me and my backpack (how everything fit is miracle #1 of this trip). And so, off to the land of all things great: the Vikings, IKEA, Swedish fish, and a population known for its love of coffee. Stockholm, Sweden, here I come!