Cities 4.3

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4.3 What attempts have been made to find sustainable solutions to the problems faced by cities?

Global scale

Urban Management programme - UN-HABITAT, aims to strengthen contributions of LEDCs to economic and social development, focused on urban poor. 140 cites in 58 countries involved, focuses on housing, crime, water and waste

Sustainable cities programme - joint UN-HABITAT and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Helped Chennai deal with major economic, social and environmental problems. Elements: Environmental sustainability initiatives from local community and private sector. Economic growth and redistribution e.g. housing and shelter programmes, community based poverty alleviation. Social equity e.g. supporting rights of local communities. Political empowerment e.g. decentralising urban governance and NGO-led capacity building programmes.

Healthy Cities Programme - WHO, brings together agencies responsible for health, poor tend to live in least healthy environments, issues of housing, water and waste.

Safer Cities Programme - UN-HABITAT addresses issue to crime, focus initially on Africa but now includes Latin America and Asia. In Tanzania Dar es Salaam lighting, widening streets, using areas between houses for allotments and play areas, improving drainage and sewage disposal.

Local Agenda 21 - empowering local communities and local decision makers

Continental Scale

European Green Capital - aim to improve European urban living environmental and thus environment as a whole. Bristol won in 2015

Awarded to city that:

has a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards

is committed to ongoing and ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development

can act as a role model to inspire other cities an promote best practices to all other European cities

Cities will act to solve environmental problems and improve quality of life of their inhabitants and reduce impact on global environment.

National Scale

Compact cities

Curitiba, Brazil pioneered the compact city approach to lower time and cost of travel

Bus system, can carry up to 270 people, stops are focus for links to local transport

75% of commuters use public transport

residents spend 10% of income on transport

traffic levels have declined by 30%

fuel consumption is 25% lower than other Brazilian cities

85% of residents use bus each day

financially self sufficient

Not totally successful as many of the poor love on the outskirts of the city beyond the transport system. Houses near transport hubs risen in price and altered social structure of theses areas to a more middle class population.

Concentrated deconcentration - Amsterdam, urban area has been made accessible for all by creating a polycentric set of hubs beyond the city centre all linked by range of transport modes such as bikes. Designed to keep city compact, 35% of commuting journeys made by bike or foot.

Smart cities and innovation cities

Aims to get cities to use new technologies to decrease costs of transport, administration, energy and water treatment

Performs well in 30 indicators making up 6 'smart' characteristics: economy, mobility, governance, environment, living and people.

Cardiff and Portsmouth are two of UK's smart cities

Innovation cities have developed out of the smart city movement and are focused on reducing the carbon footprint and energy demand by applying new technologies.

Bottrop in the German Ruhr is being converted to a low energy city with 51% less carbon dioxide emissions and lower energy requirements in a city of 50,000.

The attempts to control the spread if cities in the UK are indirect efforts to make urban areas more sustainable, even though that was not their original aim.

Garden cities, New towns and Transition towns

garden city movement attempted to recreate the English village by building manageable towns in which the countryside came to the town

new towns not necessary focused on sustainable urbanisation

transition towns are a community-led response to the pressures of climate change, fossil fuel depletion and economic contraction.

they are the result of bottom-up organisations that start from small group initiatives which address food supply, transport, energy, housing and education and create practical projects.

Redevelopment and reinvention

Self reliant cities - based on the bio-region needed to supply a city rather than a political unit

Redesigned cities - created around a more traditional approach that had been adopted in an attempt to make a city more sustainable by cutting sprawl, building public transport infrastructure and cutting journey distances and times

Externally dependent cities - those that are based on the premise that economic growth will enable people to solve the problems posed by cities. Market orientated approach that is call into question by economic recession and lack of funds/taxes to support change.

Fair-share cities - attempt to trade the costs of a city on the environment so that the inhabitants pay for the benefits they gain by covering the environmental costs of the surrounding areas.

Eco-towns

Rackheath in Norfolk, Northwest Bicester in Oxfordshire, Whitehill Borton in East Hampshire, China Clay community in Cornwall

Homes have smart meters to track energy use, community heat sources and charging points for electric cars.

Affording housing will used renewable energy sources and sell surplus energy to the grid green spaced planned to cover 40% of the area and strict rules on public transport

Local Scale

Ikotoilets

project in Kenya to improve cleanliness of communal toilets

permits small businesses to start up around toilets, such as magazine stands, shoe shine stands and mobile phone airtime booths

in the interests if businesses to be in clean area and there is less sewage spilling into vicinity

Walking school bus

solution for school run traffic congestion and its associated waste of energy

used widely for primary schools in Rome

Cycle and ride

Copenhagen city-wide cycle routes to the rail and tram network

58% commuting journeys made by bike

Beddington Zero Energy Development (Bed ZED) Project

carbon neutral eco-community in Wallington area of Sutton

Built in 2002, comprises of 82 homes incorporating a new approach to energy conservation and sustainability

renewable energy from wood powered heat and power plant

insulation made from recyclable materials

good public transport links, cycling network and car pool system for residents.