AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University researchers will use a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant to find ways to make cities more energy, water, and food efficient.
"Urban systems are not sustainable systems they way they currently operate, so there a lot of interest in re-imagining the design, the infrastructure, to connect with natural systems" says Jan Thompson, ISU Professor of natural resource ecology and management.
She says the study will look specifically at the greater Des Moines area in food production, energy use, and environmental outcomes.
"We specifically chose Des Moines, and not just because it's down the street. It's actually representative of a lot of cities of a similar size in the rain-fed agricultural region" Thompson says.
She says, right now, dense urban areas use more energy, water, and food they actually produce.
Thompson says they want to make results of the study available to city and county governments for use in more sustainable urban planning.