The ultimate goal of many eco- cities is to eliminate all carbon waste (zero- carbon city), to produce energy entirely through renewable resources, and to merge the city harmoniously with the natural environment; however, eco- cities also have the intentions of stimulating economic growth, reducing poverty, using higher population densities, and therefore obtaining higher efficiency, and improving health. History. Urban Ecology then took the movement another step further with the creation of The Urban Ecologist, a journal they started publishing in 1. International Eco- City Conference. In 1. 99. 2 Richard Register founded the organization Ecocity Builders which has acted as convener of the conference series ever since. Eco- City Conferences have been held in Adelaide, Australia; Yoff, Senegal; Curitiba, Brazil; Shenzhen, China; Bangalore, India; San Francisco, United States; Istanbul, Turkey; Montreal, Canada; Nantes, France and Abu Dhabi (2. The conference gather important political leaders (Prime Minister of Japan did an apparition), leading enterprise from Europe and Asia, and few academics and also have an active forum. These must be built in such a way that they are easy to modernize (as opposed to the dominant current strategy of placing them underground, and therefore making them highly inaccessible). Each individual eco- city development has also set its own requirements to ensure their city is environmentally sustainable; these criteria range from zero- waste and zero- carbon emissions, such as in the Sino- Singapore Tianjin Eco- city project and the Abu Dhabi Masdar City project, to simple urban revitalization and green roof garden projects in Augustenborg, Malm. Although such schemes display great variety in their ambitions, scale, and conceptual underpinnings, since the late 2. The creation of these industries, in turn, births an increase in the demand for labor; thus, not only does total employment increase, but an increase in wages also mimics increasing employment. Merely increasing the rate of productivity in an industry reduces costs, both monetary and environmental; that is, as an industry becomes more productive, it can more efficiently allocate and use both its physical and human capital, reducing the time it takes to make the same amount of goods which also allows for a higher wage (because employees are doing more) and a lesser environmental impact (because using less energy and resources to produce the same amount). Moreover, as more and more countries move towards becoming more sustainable, the technologies required to initiate this movement will become more readily accessible and cheaper; therefore, many rich, developed nations should put themselves forth as an example of what other cities should model themselves like, thus sparking the innovation towards a future of sustainable technology. Environmental standards. Differences in these goals and expectations are to be expected, however, due to the limitations of technology and local financing. The primary goal for all sustainable cities is to significantly decrease total carbon emissions as quickly as possible in order to work towards becoming a carbon- free city; that is, sustainable cities work to move towards an economy based solely on renewable energy. Actions towards carbon- reductions can be seen on both the corporate and individual levels: many industries are working towards cleaner production, but individuals are also moving away from environmentally costly forms of transportation to more sustainable methods, such as public transportation or biking. On this note, another common environmental goal is to increase and make more efficient the public transportation systems. Many sustainable cities also work towards becoming more densely populated (urban density); having its citizens living closer to energy production means less environmental costs of transporting said energy to citizen households. Additionally, citizens living closer to the city- center also mean that transportation to work is significantly reduced. By making the private sector more aware of how its behavior affects the environment, a reduction in carbon emissions becomes more of a reality. In terms of international standards, however, we can look to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IFC has a long history of implementing environmental and social standards in localized economies, and its primary mission is to promote sustainable development across the globe, primarily in developing countries. One of its plans to accomplish this goal is to encourage international cooperation in order to accelerate and promote sustainable growth across nations. Many cities across the globe set goals that, although they may be super- sustainable, are not entirely possible. These exaggerated goals include too much sustainable development for a small time period or an expectation that is simply too expensive. The globe needs to work together to make steps towards a sustainable future that are possible and execute them well, ultimately resulting in an overall spiral towards complete global sustainability. Poverty reduction. By promoting social equity based on meeting the needs of local populations, eco- cities create sustainable business models that encourage local investment and the subsequent expansion of the job market. Johannesburg, South Africa serves as a prime example of the manner in which adopting eco- city standards can aid in reducing urban poverty. Global Green Cities of the 21st Century Evolving Models for Sustainable Urban Growth Menu. Tools include an Urban Dashboard that highlights indicators, studies and profiles of the cities within the program. CDP’s cities program demonstrates that cities are better managing their risk and increasing resiliency through more than 4,800 activities to mitigate. US and Canada Green City Index Assessing the environmental performance of 27 major US and Canadian cities A research project conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Siemens.
KQED's live call-in program presents balanced.According to the United Nations Environment Program, the . These ecologically sound small- scale practices are additionally less sensitive to economic shocks, allowing for enduring economic sustainability in eco- cities. In addition to creating green jobs, eco- cities promote the deployment of green methods of saving money, such as investing in ecologically sustainable local infrastructure, carpooling, and reducing consumption of water and energy, to decrease the financial burden on the poor. As a result, eco- city models place substantial attention on mitigating and reducing the environmental damage caused by growing urban populations. Eco- cities promote compact use of land by people for residential and commercial purposes. In this way, increasing urban density reduces the strain on the environment by centralizing and, thereby, reducing resource consumption. For example, the 2. Chinese eco- city of Dongtan employed this strategy. Additionally, residents would live in ecologically designed apartment buildings six to eight stories high but appropriately spaced apart as to avoid heat island effects. Although no construction of Dongtan has happened yet, these principles are generally applicable to all eco- cities. According to Kenworthy, urban density is accountable for 8. As a result, eco- cities avoid much of the negative effects of car pollution. Additionally, by centralizing the population within a given area, eco- cities increase the amount of land that can be used for parks and urban agriculture. As such, eco- cities increase food security and promote ecological preservation within urban areas. Urban agriculture allows for . By employing practices that aim to reduce air pollution, eco- city standards have an indirect effect on decreasing rates of respiratory disease within urban areas. According to the World Health Organization, urban outdoor air pollution is responsible for over 1. Urban foliage naturally cleans the air by absorbing carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Green spaces also absorb airborne particulates and reduce heat, allowing for improved levels of public health. The World Health Organization estimates that physical inactivity leads to 3. Furthermore, by decreasing the concentration of cars within city limits, eco- cities are also able to reduce the number of preventable deaths among the working age population. It is estimated that traffic accidents kill 1. WHO, 2. 01. 1). Expanded access to vegetables will in hand aid in decreasing rates of obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic illness, especially among low- income residents. Concurrently, improved public transportation further decreases the demand for cars. The development of metro station and light rail transit systems provide mass transit not only within sectors of a city but between cities. Critics note, however, that the high price of . The most clearly defined form of walkableurbanism is known as the Charter of New Urbanism. It is an approach for successfully reducing environmental impacts by altering the built environment to create and preserve smart cities which support sustainable transport. Residents in compact urban neighborhoods drive fewer miles, and have significantly lower environmental impacts across a range of measures, compared with those living in sprawling suburbs. Constructing green roofs and investing in vertical landscaping create natural insulation for residential and commercial properties as well as allows for rainfall collection. Additionally, green roofs and vertical landscaping lower urban temperatures and help prevent the heat island effect. Bridge links allow for development of a walkable city without disrupting the soil to run utility lines by connecting buildings with above ground walkways. Wind turbines present the opportunity of being able to provide both localized districts within eco- cities and the larger region as a whole with emission- free renewable energy that can additionally supplement existing power sources. Furthermore, by designing buildings with natural ventilation systems, eco- cities reduce the need for air conditioning, thus, drastically decreasing commercial and residential energy use. The energy generated can come from large scale energy production systems such as solar farms which supply many homes and businesses or from individual buildings energying at least in part their own energy from solar photovoltaic or small scale wind turbines or biomass.
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