English Spanish

Sustainable Cities of the Future – October 2014

According to John Elkington, author of “Zeronauts”, urban lifestyles are our biggest global headache. He thinks we must shrink the ecological footprints of the world’s major cities in the next few years. Currently cities are going through the most massive urban transition the world has ever seen, they are home to more than half of the world population, account for 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions, consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and produce consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy, and produce 1.3 billion tons of waste per year.   

By 2050, 70 % of the world population will reside in cities, which means there will be 6.2 billion people living in cities instead of the 3.5 billion that inhabit them today. Cities will descend into chaos or they will carve a path to sustainability. The decisions national and local leaders, government officials, developers, planners and business leaders make in the next 15 years will determine how billons of urbanites will live in the future. A new perspective is needed urgently because infrastructure decisions last for a long time and can make or break a city’s future.

It is time to wake up and address these issues, but what are the key features of a sustainable city?

According to experts in urban planning, a sustainable city has:

  1. Resources and services accessible to all
  2. Public transportation is a viable alternative to cars
  3. Walking and cycling is safe
  4. Green areas of open space for recreation
  5. Renewable resources are used
  6. Waste is recycled
  7. New homes are energy efficient
  8. Cultural and social amenities accessible to all
  9. Affordable housing

How can cities drive economic development, while sustaining natural resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving quality of life? 

Here below are some models of innovation in cities that are emerging.

  1. Ecotowns

Whitehill Bordon in England is an example of an ecotown, a town that receives government funding for achieving a high level of sustainability. In 2009, the town received the ecotown status after making several modifications. An unused urban land was converted into an exhibition house to inform residents on how low carbon living can work and encourage them to grow food. Free wi-fi was installed in the town center to enable the community to come together. The fire station was retrofitted to use biomass as energy source. Free insulation was given to households to save energy and eco-grants were available for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.

  1. Sustainably planned cities

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi claims to be the world’s first zero-carbon city. The architects that designed Masdar used technology developed in the region centuries ago. They studied communities that achieved livable conditions in the region known for its high temperatures. They noticed that settlements were located in high ground to catch the winds and used wind towers to cool the air down to street level. Masdar streets are 50% cooler and the city uses half of the energy needed to power the city. Of the power used, 90% comes from solar panels. Electric cars are used instead of combustion-engine vehicles to minimize air pollution.

  1. Sustainable transport

There are many ways in which cities can make transport more sustainable; by investing in  making it more efficient and safe; by encouraging the use of bikes through festivals and the construction of cycle lanes; or by having a well-run bus service like the Bus Rapid Transport System in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Curitiba was the firs city in Brazil to dedicate bus lanes. The bus fare is the same no matter where you go. People live no more than 400 meters from a bus stop. Urban growth is restricted along key transport routes and tall buildings are only allowed along bus routes.

  1. Managing food waste as a state initiative

In 2014, the state of Massachusetts in USA enacted a mandatory food waste program that will affect supermarkets, colleges, nursing homes hotels, prisons and other facilities that produce at least one ton of food waste per week. Food waste will have to go to food pantries, compost facilities or anaerobic digestion facilities that can transform it into clean energy. 

40% of the all food gets thrown away in the United States each year. It is the largest component of US landfills and one of the largest sources of waste methane. Food production accounts for 10% of the US the energy budget, 50% of its land use and 80% of its freshwater use. 

Food waste is one of America’s biggest sustainability problems and Massachusetts’s officials want to do something about it. The eyes of the food waste community are now on Massachusetts. If this program works it will be adopted in other regions.

  1. Cities detox together

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a collection of mayors from cities around the world committed to advancing urban solutions to climate change.  The C40 cities represent more than 500 million people globally. Some of the C40 cities are: San Francisco in USA that plans to move to zero waste by 2020; London in England that cut carbon emissions by 15% since 2003 through a congestion charging scheme of vehicles traveling in the business district; Addis Ababa in Ethiopia that is moving people from shanty towns into low carbon buildings; and many more.

  1. Cities developing lungs

Anything is possible in the future. What if buildings develop lungs and are able to draw carbon dioxide and make something useful from it? Can buildings become alive? Stay tuned because we will see a lot of innovation in cities within the next decade coming from various entrepreneurs.