What is the Birmingham Charter?
The Birmingham Charter is a response to the Athens Charter of 1933, which has guided architects and planners in creating the layout of our cities. It has been criticized for its tendency to create unhealthy cities, which weakens our sense of community.
The Birmingham Charter is a covenant, a sacred pact between this generation, those that have come before, and to those to whom we are dedicating our future.
First and foremost, it is a living document that will evolve over time, changing and adapting as more and more people here locally—and eventually around the world—map their progress toward more compassionate and resilient communities.
The Birmingham Charter is a reason for hope as people everywhere struggle in search for good jobs, ample food, and basic human dignity. It answers the need to recognize the tenets of sustainability as a basic human right, a basic human responsibility—to each other, our children, and our future.
The Birmingham Charter recognizes that sometimes the right to clean air, clean water, enough healthy food, excellent education, healthcare, and opportunities to reweave our communities can be forgotten elements in the sustainability movement.
The Birmingham Charter is a work in progress, a roadmap that is evolving, gathering momentum around a vision that recognizes Birmingham as perfectly situated to become the birthplace in the Southeast for the new green revolution. This revolution has the potential to include industry, green jobs, and an economic prosperity that touches all people, carrying our community forward into the future.
The Birmingham Charter at once calls us back home – to take care of each other and ourselves in a way that does not limit future generations from carrying forward this tradition. The Charter will help provide the information, education, tools, opportunities, and connections to help make Birmingham, Alabama, and any city around the world, a healthier, more enjoyable, and more sustainable place to live.
We few that have begun this effort represent design professionals, educators, business people, students, and residents of Birmingham, as well as cities across the country and around the world. We offer this as a starting point, informed by our deepest passions and commitment to future generations, and hope the people of Birmingham carry forward this Charter, make it their own, and chart a course to a future full of possibilities and promise.
It is incumbent in us to line up to our responsibility, to ourselves and to our neighbors. We are grateful to have served as catalysts, and stand ready to assist in every way.
This is an invitation to participate in this exciting, evolving process of striking forward with a bold new vision for our community. We are open to all who are interested in helping revitalize Birmingham in a way that communities worldwide can use as a model.
Learn more in the coming weeks at www.birminghamcharter.org, currently under construction.