GOAL 11 : SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
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GOAL 11 : SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
With education, people are more likely to understand, support and craft creative solutions for the development of sustainable cities and communities. Good urban planning, efficient energy use, good water and sanitation management, social inclusion and other elements of well-working communities require people with knowledge and skills. Only with quality education can these skills be developed. At the core of a World Bank Sustainable Cities Initiative, for example, are awareness-building programs, development and implementation of local diagnostic tools, the creation of policy reforms and other tasks that require not just primary but advanced education. Specific educational training is also needed to achieve solutions for issues facing cities and communities to make them more sustainable. One such issue is the projection that world cities are expected to generate 2.4 billion tons of solid waste per year by 2025.
‘Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development and much more. At their best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically. With the number of people living within cities projected to rise to 5 billion people by 2030, it’s important that efficient urban planning and management practices are in place to deal with the challenges brought by urbanization. Many challenges exist to maintaining cities in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity without straining land and resources. Common urban challenges include congestion, lack of funds to provide basic services, a shortage of adequate housing, declining infrastructure and rising air pollution within cities. Rapid urbanization challenges, such as the safe removal and management of solid waste within cities, can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. One such example is an increase in municipal waste collection. There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.’
Environmental Health and Climate Change
Air pollution and climate change are having a serious impact on global health
Nearly one quarter of all global deaths are a result of the environment, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2016 report Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments: A Global Assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmental Risks. One of the greatest environmental threats to human health is air pollution. Many low- and middle-income countries do not monitor air quality, and either lack effective emission control legislation or simply fail to enforce legislation. As a result, their populations face a disproportionate disease burden. In addition to outdoor exposure to air pollution, WHO estimated in 2016 that almost 3 billion people around the world were still burning biomass fuel and coal indoors, in order to cook or to heat their homes, which resulted in more than 4 million deaths annually. In 2018, WHO estimated that more than 80% of people living in urban areas (that monitor air pollution) are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the organization’s limits – and that 97% of cities in low- and middle-income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines (the figure falls to 49% for high-income countries).
Air pollution is also a primary contributor to climate change, which has generated global health risks including changes in vector-borne disease patterns, water scarcity, food insecurity, and violence. These threats are most severe for vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and the poor. Additional measures are needed in order to reduce exposure to air pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change, and decrease disease rates and mortality. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement on climate change, have recognized this need and provide goals and targets in order to prioritize action (though one of the world’s biggest sources of carbon emissions and pollution, the US, has announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement). New and expanding research disciplines, including Planetary Health (which takes into consideration all the natural systems that human health depends upon) and the collaborative approach known as One Health, have drawn increased focus to the complex, interconnected relationships between the earth’s natural systems and species. These approaches recognize that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are closely interrelated, and promise to broadly advance our understanding of environmental impacts.
Urban Infrastructure and Services
Many cities faced serious obstacles to providing basic services even before the advent of COVID-19
More than 700 million urban residents have no access to piped water, and more than one quarter of the world’s urban population lives in informal, haphazard settlements lacking the most basic infrastructure and services. Asia alone is projected to require $1.7 trillion per year in investment until 2030 to address infrastructure needs. Cities require a range of basic infrastructure and services in order to be viable: sanitation systems, power grids, roads, public transportation, housing, hospitals, and schools. Particularly in developing countries, cities face considerable challenges in providing this infrastructure, and accelerating development is essential to alleviate poverty and improve liveability. Establishing robust infrastructure and services is also necessary to boost resilience in the face of challenges like climate change and rising sea levels. The capacity of urban infrastructure is often overwhelmed by the cascading effects of rapid urbanization, sprawl, and demographic shifts – and the COVID-19 pandemic has only more clearly exposed gaps in many urban healthcare systems for both the rich and the poor. While no healthcare system could realistically cope with a pandemic of such magnitude comfortably, managing hospitals on the premise of full efficiency but with no excess capacity has worsened the pandemic in some cities.
Weak urban governance and capital constraints can exacerbate these issues. As a result, cities from Australia to China, and from Europe to North America, have begun to rethink what is possible. New conceptions of sustainable urban forms include so-called compact cities, where high residential density and efficient public transportation are emphasized, and eco-cities specifically designed to curb carbon emissions. Some places have been able to harness technology and the non-governmental sector to address their issues. The Australian social enterprise Pollinate Energy, for example, has offered solar-powered products including water filters and clean cookstoves in Indian slums; six years after its founding, Pollinate Energy had provided tens of thousands of products to more than 20,000 families. Meanwhile the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has financed dozens of infrastructure projects collectively worth about $4 billion in developing countries since it was established in 2016 – including a public train line in Bangalore, and slum upgrades in Indonesia. China is meanwhile pushing its Belt and Road initiative, which is funding large infrastructure projects throughout cities on a massive scale including highways, ports, and IT systems, in a bid to strengthen ties with other countries in Asia and further afield.
Urban Resilience
The issues that plague cities are often chronic, and must be addressed proactively
While urban areas can become stronger in the aftermath of a catastrophe, it is a less-than-ideal way to bolster resilience. Urban resilience is a measure of how well communities, businesses, and government agencies can withstand both temporary shocks and chronic stress; increasingly, it is an essential goal for urban planners everywhere. The Rockefeller Foundation-funded City Resilience Index provides dozens of indicators that cities can use to measure their resilience, such as the availability of safe and affordable housing, and it has been tested in cities including Hong Kong and Liverpool. Meanwhile the World Bank Group’s City Resilience Program is designed to foster investment in viable projects that can enhance resilience. In practice and in theory, urban resilience must go beyond merely managing urban challenges like transportation system failures, housing shortages, and social strife by merely reacting to them. Instead, it should focus on proactively anticipating and preparing for challenges. Still, it is often only following catastrophe that city governments implement system-wide changes. It remains to be seen to what extent cities will be able to fix the many flaws – in governance, infrastructure, and trust between the city authorities and residents – that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The distinction between temporary shocks and the chronic, long-term stress that affect urban areas is sometimes unclear. Social upheaval that seems to have been triggered unexpectedly is often underpinned by longstanding underlying tension. Indonesian riots in 1998, for example, were triggered by systemic and sustained problems in urban centres – such as widespread unemployment, food shortages, an escalating cost of living, and an increasingly bifurcated society along class and ethnic lines. Building urban resilience is a difficult process that requires good governance and significant capital investment. In many cities, resilience is hindered by geography; Jakarta is increasingly vulnerable to floods, as 40% of its land area is below sea level and generally over-developed. Other threats to resilience include viral epidemics, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome in the early 2000s that killed hundreds of people in Asia. It is likely that COVID-19 has been relatively well managed in Singapore, Taiwan, China, and China because these places experienced SARS, and have since boosted their urban pandemic resilience. In addition, natural hazards exacerbated by poor infrastructure and services (such as Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005, which claimed thousands of lives) also continue to pose threats.
Refreshing Resilience
Most countries’ COVID-19 responses have alternated between success stories and cautionary tales
National response strategies implemented in the second year of the pandemic have left ample room to improve preparedness for future crises. As the coronavirus evolved more contagious variants in 2021, governments struggled to return to social and economic normalcy; most countries experienced several surges, and alternated between success stories and cautionary tales. Two factors critical for effective management of the pandemic have been governments’ readiness to adjust response strategies as circumstances change, and their ability to maintain public trust and compliance. Effective national responses generally involved multi-pronged approaches to transmission control, reliable logistics, and increasingly granular real-time data. Chile and Finland, for example, were better able to manage surges than others with less-well-rounded approaches. Rapid, wholesale easing of constraints on social and economic activity often resulted in steep rises in case numbers, though health-system impacts and mortality were often mitigated in places with relatively high vaccination rates. High-income countries have generally had privileged access to vaccines, and by the end of 2021 all but three Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member states had double-vaccinated at least half of their populations.
However, low-income countries, especially in Africa, have low vaccination rates and must rely on “vaccine diplomacy” initiatives and efforts like the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) programme (which has suffered from a low level of contributions from high-income countries). Still, well-oiled disease surveillance systems and young populations in these countries may have contributed to relatively low mortality rates. By the latter part of 2021, research showed that fully-vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus, experience severe symptoms, or die. Yet, slow vaccine rollouts in some places and vaccine hesitancy remain risks. As many grew weary of lockdowns and rules like mask requirements during 2021, several countries experienced riots when governments sought to tighten restrictions in the face of new outbreaks. In general, official communication has had to steer a narrow course between individual freedoms and collective resilience. National resilience strategies for future pandemics will likely have to anticipate at least some level of defiance and distrust of well-meaning restrictions. Ultimately, a balanced path that involves transparency, far-reaching regulation, and healthy levels of data sharing will be critical.
Urban Societies
Billions of additional people will be flooding into cities, creating a need for responsible policy-making
In 2018, the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs reported that 55% of the world’s population was living in urban areas, and estimated that the figure will reach 68% by 2050. This relentless rural-to-urban shift will add 2.5 billion people to cities, coming in search of a better life, new opportunities, and excitement. As a result, cities will face massive challenges: insufficient decent and cheap housing, expanding waste management needs, growing demand for access to clean water and employment, and worsening traffic congestion. Technology can help, as policy-makers seek to meet the needs of diverse populations representing different ethnicities, cultures, religions and ages, while at the same time they attempt to address inequality. Singapore, for example, is a mosaic of multi-racial and multi-religious communities, carefully managed through the city state’s policies designed to encourage inclusivity – such as the allocation of public housing done in a way that avoids ghettoization, and education and public service programs that foster integration. While the population diversity that must be addressed in developed countries like Singapore is largely attributable to international migration, in developing nations it is mostly a result of internal migration.
Internal migration remains a significant feature of East Asian countries in particular, according to the International Organization for Migration. Indonesia alone has an estimated 9.8 million temporary internal migrants, according to a UN report, and about 40% of Beijing’s population are migrants. Addressing diversity also means not leaving people aged 60 and over behind, as this demographic is expected to double in size by 2050 globally. In Japan, where 28% of the population is over 65 (according to the World Bank), the government has made radical changes to healthcare delivery; long-term health care insurance was introduced there in 2000 to supplement the national pension plan (Japan is also a leader in using robotics to assist the elderly). Another challenge: cities must deal with the inequality between those plugged into globalization and those left behind, particularly in high-tech hubs where growing wealth has left the middle class unable to buy homes, as is the case in San Francisco. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that cities with a relatively healthy sense of social solidarity have been more successful in following important directives like social distancing and self-quarantining, which are necessary to slow the spread of the virus.
Inclusive Cities
Cities that are inclusive are more creative, innovative, and sustainable
The United Nations projects that the global urban population will increase from 4 billion in 2015 to 5.1 billion by 2030. Residents of growing cities around the world, including artists, are being displaced for economic reasons. This is unfortunate, because those cities where residents can continue to coexist irrespective of income, ethnicity, religion, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, or immigration status provide enormous opportunities for the sort of interaction that enriches the cultural and economic fabric. From Mumbai to San Francisco, cities have developed into hubs for creativity, commerce and culture – while offering the promise of a better life to families fleeing from conflict and poverty. However, cities can also be home to inequality and deprivation. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals call for “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” cities, while the “New Urban Agenda” agreed to at a 2016 UN conference provides related policy guidance. In 2020, urbanists will convene at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, to discuss topics including the use of technology and data to enable more sustainable cities. Related advances like autonomous vehicles offer opportunities to re-purpose streets in more human-centric ways, and to incorporate mobility options that benefit everyone.
In response to rapid urbanization, designers, architects, artists, and communities are formulating innovative approaches. In Medellín, Colombia, former Mayor Sergio Fajardo determined that the most beautiful public buildings should be built in the poorest areas, transforming the city from one of the world’s most dangerous into a more inclusive metropolis. Elevated cable cars now link outer settlements to Medellin’s central metro system, while libraries and cultural centres support civic participation. In other cities, “social practice” artists are shining a spotlight on urban inequality and revealing our shared humanity. The French street artist “JR” has displayed photographic portraits in places like the slums of Paris and Nairobi, and in Israel and Palestine, which engage viewers with the larger-than-life faces of ordinary people who might otherwise remain relatively hidden. In the urban US and much of the industrialized world, income inequality, housing costs, and limited public transportation are decreasing social mobility, as social and spatial segregation and climate change create serious challenges. Local residents, designers, artists, and advocates in affected areas are working to create more sustainable and inclusive barrios, neighbourhoods and boroughs. Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, for example, transforms vacant properties in an under-served neighbourhood into community-art spaces for residents.
This key issue was curated in partnership with Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
3D Printing for Construction
The technology could help address the global shortage of affordable housing
The world suffers from a lack of housing. According to the World Resources Institute, the global affordable housing gap is expected to rise to 440 million households by 2025 – depriving roughly 1.6 billion people of an adequate and affordable home. 3D printing may be able to help. The technology enables new, significantly faster and more economical approaches to construction. Construction-related 3D printing processes differ slightly from traditional 3D printing, due to the size of the desired product; they involve a large, robotic arm that moves via railways that are installed around a building area as they extrude concrete, layer by layer. These large machines are able to create complete buildings, use less material than traditional construction by producing honeycomb-structured walls with minimal density, and require lower-cost materials that can keep expenses to a minimum.
Before it can be made available broadly for commercial use, however, construction-related 3D printing must be further tested, standardized, and approved by regulators. Still, both startups and established construction companies are already developing related projects, achieving breakthroughs, and using new materials. For example, US-based startup Apis Cor famously managed in 2017 to 3D print an entire 38-square-metre house in 24 hours – at a cost of about $10,000. In addition to reducing time and costs, 3D printing has an environmental impact on construction, as less material is used and less waste is produced; it also reduces the risk of accidents, and enables the creation of complex architectural shapes. It may also stir greater competition within the construction industry, potentially leading to lower prices and greater rates of ownership. Overpopulated and fast-growing cities in particular stand to benefit from the technology. Dubai has announced that by 2025, 25% of its new buildings will be created using 3D printers – which could reduce the amount of required labour by 70%, and expenses by 90%. 3D printing can also help develop relatively inaccessible areas. The Italian company WASP, for example, has developed a 3D printer that works on solar or wind power and is able to print eco-friendly shelters using local materials in regions without electricity.
Net Zero Carbon Cities
Cities form the frontline in the battle against climate change – representing both the biggest related challenges, and the best opportunities to keep global warming well below 2°C. More than half of the global population lives in cities, where people consume 78% of the world’s primary energy, generate more than 70% of all carbon emissions, and are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the global population is expected to be living in cities, with over 90% in urban locales in Africa and Asia. The mission of the World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities programme is to enable clean electrification in these places, and a circularity that contributes to decarbonization and greater resilience.
Compact cities
COVID-19 has pointed to a future where more urban residents may appreciate compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods
The “compact city” concept of making the places where urban residents live, work, and relax relatively dense has been a prominent principle of sustainable urban development since the 1990s. It has been touted as a means to make transportation more sustainable, to make more efficient use of resources, to boost personal health, to elevate cultural life, and to bring people together. Mixing residential, leisure, and commercial spaces reduces commute times and dependence on cars, maximizes the benefits of urban design, and provides opportunities for foster a greater sense of community by keeping people closer to their homes and workplaces. Cities with relatively dispersed, segregated population centres, many of which were planned around cars (as is particularly the case with many American cities) can be problematic for people living relatively far from employment opportunities – and from places where they can buy nutritious food. This can limit prospects for people who are forced to spend large portions of their day and their incomes on commuting. As compact cities solve these issues, they also reduce reliance fossil fuels – making cities both more liveable and sustainable.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there is no single model for a compact city applicable everywhere; each urban area must take local circumstances into account. The OECD has said most national governments have aspects of compact city policies in place, though related urban planning must proceed carefully. It can be challenging for cities to reconfigure themselves into denser, mixed-use neighbourhoods – though COVID-19 has pointed to a future where residents potentially working more from home may see added benefit in a compactness that enables them to more readily access services locally without having to obtain them during a commute. In fact, greater access to local services in proximity to one’s home, and to green space, have been found to have significant positive impacts on well-being during the pandemic – a period when many people have struggled with stress and mental health issues. As the worst of the pandemic has receded in many places, several large cities have pursued compact city models in some fashion, for example by adding bicycle paths for easier (and healthier) short trips.
Smart Energy Infrastructure
The Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative aims to enable buildings to better integrate into overall energy systems
Future electricity grids must be able to manage higher loads, while also accommodating a higher proportion of variable generation from wind and solar sources. Smart energy infrastructure includes a wide range of technologies, from building management systems and smart meters to distributed intelligence at the grid edge. The aim is to increase energy efficiency, reduce waste, and enable demand to match supply. The backbone of smart energy systems is the smart metre. These can enable the monitoring of energy use in near-real time, and send signals to consumers that may incentivize types of energy use – for example, when the wind is blowing (while these types of incentives have been available with multi-rate conventional metres, they become much more sophisticated with smart metres). They also promise an ability to reward the saving of energy during certain periods of the day, and can track actual usage rather than just a day versus night rates. Buildings can contribute to the smart energy system through smart building management systems, which optimize load throughout the day, communicate with the grid operator (or aggregator), and provide ancillary services.
The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative is focused on ways to help reduce the considerable amount of carbon emissions currently attributable to buildings While energy efficiency has improved, opportunities remain to better integrate buildings into overall energy systems. Smart energy infrastructure can enable smart heat pumps, smart charging systems, and on-site energy storage devices that support the integration of renewables – without necessitating heavier investment in grids. One emerging form of smart energy infrastructure is distributed intelligence, which is designed to overcome data latency and decision-making issues. As more types of assets (including vehicles) become electrified, there are more usage data points – and more network decisions being assigned to control centres. If utilities want to provide more reliable service to banks of electric-vehicle charging points without overloading networks, for example, distributed intelligence enables related decisions to be pushed from control centres to the charging banks themselves – and set an hourly usage limit on connections rather than managing each charging point individually. This reduces the risk of overloading systems due to data latency, and simplifies grid management.
Clean Electrification
It can sharply reduce emissions, but requires a significant amount of renewable energy generation
The clean electrification of heating, cooling, transportation, and light industry is a key means to both sharply reduce fossil-fuel emissions and improve air quality in urban areas. The International Energy Agency has projected that “final energy consumption,” or all of the energy supplied to buyers for all purposes, will rise at a rate of 1% annually between 2020 and 2050 – with electricity and natural gas accounting for most of the increase. Clean electrification can unlock greater systemic efficiency in cities, as transportation and building operations move away from fossil fuels to electricity and integrate more renewables. In effect, buildings and transportation systems can serve as tools for greater electrification, by providing ancillary services to the grid – both drawing and providing energy as needed to regulate frequency and demand, and enabling the use of variable renewables that generate intermittently. Meanwhile the electrification of light industry through “Power to Heat” (PtH) is essential for the decarbonization of industry; one study suggested that electric steam generation alone has the potential to eliminate 13% of industrial CO2 emissions in Germany.
A systemic approach is necessary to facilitate clean electrification, however. The electrification of transportation, buildings or industry is not actually beneficial unless it involves a significant amount of renewable electricity generation – and is done in a way that facilities a path to 100% renewable generation. “System Value,” a concept developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Accenture as part of the Electricity Industry Action Group in 2020, posits that end-use electrification is best made part of an integrated energy system. To facilitate clean electrification, a market must feature a focus on energy efficiency, a high proportion of renewable energy generation, and a strong electricity grid that can provide renewables that meet demand. The transformational elements of smart flexibility, power-market reform, and demand optimization can pave the way to full end-use electrification, and a system ready to support such high levels of electricity usage. While technology exists for the electrification of most end-use applications, challenges remain in terms of grid capacity, economic and policy incentives for electrification, and consumer behaviour. These will all need to be addressed.
Ultra efficient Buildings
The Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative aims to work with everyone from building managers to real estate developers on decarbonization
Buildings contribute a significant portion of global annual CO2 emissions – 28% of emissions are accounted for by building operations, and 11% by related materials and construction (“embodied carbon”). Buildings also account for almost 55% of all electricity consumption. With total building floor area set to more than double by 2070, or the equivalent of adding space the size of New York City each month, improvements in building efficiency (and net-zero buildings) are key to achieving Paris Agreement targets. Embodied carbon is particularly important to abate; most emissions come from the manufacturing of cement and steel, while aluminium, glass, and insulation are secondary contributors. Demand for materials is influenced both by the rate of construction as well as building framing, or the way in which buildings are made. Design for the use of alternative materials where appropriate can significantly reduce embodied carbon; for example, the Gare Maritime, a former freight-train station in Brussels, was transformed into a mixed-use commercial centre using responsibly-sourced wood – avoiding some 3,500 tonnes of embodied carbon in the process.
The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative aims to expand the perception of urban decarbonization investment to include greater consideration of social and environmental outcomes. Abating direct emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels for water, space heating, and cooling in buildings can be achieved through clean electrification and switching to “clean district” heating. More compact designs are being developed, but there is still room for improvement and further innovation to scale up to significant use in the residential market. Clean district heat is best deployed in very densely populated cities, which can make the best use of waste heat – particularly in places where current infrastructure can be retrofitted to run on electricity rather than fossil fuels. The decarbonization of heat creates a significant challenge for maintaining electricity supply, as demand is expected to surge as more electrified heating systems are installed. Cities around the world are setting targets for building decarbonization; New York City has a requirement for buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% (from 2005 levels) by 2030.
Urban Planning
Urban planning measures are critical for cities to be able to deliver on their greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards. C40’s Urban Planning work supports cities to develop, implement and share planning strategies and regulations that set a framework for sustainable and equitable urban growth.
Supporting Access to Climate Finance for Small and Intermediary Cities: A Guide for Project Preparation Facilities
UNESCO Creative Cities focus on inclusion to build the cities of tomorrow
Denser AND Greener: How to reconcile growing cities with the needs of nature
Building sustainable cities: How urban infrastructure can address energy challenges and shocks
Delivering Climate- Resilient Cities Using a Systems Approach
Seven Transformations for a more Equitable and Sustainable Cities
Urban transitions are vital for people and the planet. Our cities hold the keys to liveability, sustainability, and the security of jobs and services for the majority of the world’s people, but reform is urgent. Almost half of global carbon emissions can be eliminated if cities become carbon-free zones and use their procurement power to demand carbon-neutral production and services. Likewise, they can ensure people’s rights and decent work within their boundaries and beyond, but they must be financed and municipal authorities must engage employers, workers, and communities in just transition plans.
The battle for a sustainable future will be won or lost in the world’s cities. Emerging cities, particularly in India, are growing at an unprecedented rate. We must see them as an opportunity for effecting transformative positive change towards low carbon cities. Local, state, and national governments can play an important role with the private sector in delivering clean water and energy, housing, and transport. The right regulation and pricing can help control the waste of natural resources, while improving the health and livelihoods of all urban dwellers. Addressing fundamental issues of poverty and inequality in cities is essential to building resilience. We need a manual for a shift to low-carbon, sustainable, inclusive urban development, and this is it.
World Cities report 2022 by UN Habitat- Read more…
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Rethinking Urban Climate Research in the shadow of Climate Breakdown
The 6th Assessment Report of the IPCC recognizes that urban areas present opportunities for significant greenhouse gas emission reductions. This includes possibilities for shifts in infrastructure and urban form, clean electrification, fostering carbon sinks, and facilitating lifestyle changes that may deliver net-zero
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Actions to achieve Sustainable Urban Development –Why actions matter in achieving the 2030 Agenda
We have less than eight years remaining to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2020, the United Nations Secretary-General called upon a Decade of Action to accelerate and mobilise solutions at local and global levels and fully engage partners, people and communities across all sectors to leverage transformative changes. Therefore, it is crucial to collect and monitor committed actions and advance the progress and achievement of the Agenda 2030.
Nature Based Solutions for People, Planet and Prosperity
Recommendations for Policymakers to save Cities
Let nature do her thing: Reimagining ecosystem restoration in cities
Cities and Environment
Now more than ever, resilient, green and low-carbon cities are essential for an economically sound, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable future.
C40 URBAN NATURE DECLARATION – Making our Cities Greener and More Resilient
Nature breathes life into cities. Cultivating and caring for urban nature creates opportunities for healthy and sustainable livelihoods, from improving our physical and mental health to bettering employment and economic outcomes.
Promoting Smart Systems in ADB’s Future Cities Program
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Scale360° fast-tracks Fourth Industrial Revolution impact in the circular economy by bringing together public and private sector leaders and innovators to jumpstart collaboration for circular innovation
Large Cities are not Sustainable and will not help us get to Zero Carbon ASAP
INTELLIGENT CITIES – A pragmatic guide to reskilling
Intelligent Cities – Engagement of local ecosystems and collaborative governance
Is your city new to climate action, or are you new to the Knowledge Hub?
We have the basics gathered in one place: why the 1.5°C goal is important; the targets needed to get there; the key sectors to prioritise; and the tried-and-tested actions to cut emissions and adapt to climate change.
Creating Biodivercities by 2030 that live in harmony with nature
Project Drawdown Solutions
Each solution in the below link reduces greenhouse gases by avoiding emissions and/or by sequestering carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.
CITY RESILIENCE ACTION PLANNING TOOL
The Role of Data Partnerships in Paving the Road Ahead for Secondary Cities
Cities are key actors in the climate crisis – The new SURGE initiative by UN Habitat at COP27
Using Artificial Intelligence for Better City Planning
Zero Carbon Building Accelerator
Urban Design Thesis Handbook
Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy
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GOAL 11 : SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
With education, people are more likely to understand, support and craft creative solutions for the development of sustainable cities and communities. Good urban planning, efficient energy use, good water and sanitation management, social inclusion and other elements of well-working communities require people with knowledge and skills. Only with quality education can these skills be developed. At the core of a World Bank Sustainable Cities Initiative, for example, are awareness-building programs, development and implementation of local diagnostic tools, the creation of policy reforms and other tasks that require not just primary but advanced education. Specific educational training is also needed to achieve solutions for issues facing cities and communities to make them more sustainable. One such issue is the projection that world cities are expected to generate 2.4 billion tons of solid waste per year by 2025.
‘Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development and much more. At their best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically. With the number of people living within cities projected to rise to 5 billion people by 2030, it’s important that efficient urban planning and management practices are in place to deal with the challenges brought by urbanization. Many challenges exist to maintaining cities in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity without straining land and resources. Common urban challenges include congestion, lack of funds to provide basic services, a shortage of adequate housing, declining infrastructure and rising air pollution within cities. Rapid urbanization challenges, such as the safe removal and management of solid waste within cities, can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. One such example is an increase in municipal waste collection. There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.’
Environmental Health and Climate Change
Air pollution and climate change are having a serious impact on global health
Nearly one quarter of all global deaths are a result of the environment, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2016 report Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments: A Global Assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmental Risks. One of the greatest environmental threats to human health is air pollution. Many low- and middle-income countries do not monitor air quality, and either lack effective emission control legislation or simply fail to enforce legislation. As a result, their populations face a disproportionate disease burden. In addition to outdoor exposure to air pollution, WHO estimated in 2016 that almost 3 billion people around the world were still burning biomass fuel and coal indoors, in order to cook or to heat their homes, which resulted in more than 4 million deaths annually. In 2018, WHO estimated that more than 80% of people living in urban areas (that monitor air pollution) are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the organization’s limits – and that 97% of cities in low- and middle-income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines (the figure falls to 49% for high-income countries).
Air pollution is also a primary contributor to climate change, which has generated global health risks including changes in vector-borne disease patterns, water scarcity, food insecurity, and violence. These threats are most severe for vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and the poor. Additional measures are needed in order to reduce exposure to air pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change, and decrease disease rates and mortality. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement on climate change, have recognized this need and provide goals and targets in order to prioritize action (though one of the world’s biggest sources of carbon emissions and pollution, the US, has announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement). New and expanding research disciplines, including Planetary Health (which takes into consideration all the natural systems that human health depends upon) and the collaborative approach known as One Health, have drawn increased focus to the complex, interconnected relationships between the earth’s natural systems and species. These approaches recognize that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are closely interrelated, and promise to broadly advance our understanding of environmental impacts.
Urban Infrastructure and Services
Many cities faced serious obstacles to providing basic services even before the advent of COVID-19
More than 700 million urban residents have no access to piped water, and more than one quarter of the world’s urban population lives in informal, haphazard settlements lacking the most basic infrastructure and services. Asia alone is projected to require $1.7 trillion per year in investment until 2030 to address infrastructure needs. Cities require a range of basic infrastructure and services in order to be viable: sanitation systems, power grids, roads, public transportation, housing, hospitals, and schools. Particularly in developing countries, cities face considerable challenges in providing this infrastructure, and accelerating development is essential to alleviate poverty and improve liveability. Establishing robust infrastructure and services is also necessary to boost resilience in the face of challenges like climate change and rising sea levels. The capacity of urban infrastructure is often overwhelmed by the cascading effects of rapid urbanization, sprawl, and demographic shifts – and the COVID-19 pandemic has only more clearly exposed gaps in many urban healthcare systems for both the rich and the poor. While no healthcare system could realistically cope with a pandemic of such magnitude comfortably, managing hospitals on the premise of full efficiency but with no excess capacity has worsened the pandemic in some cities.
Weak urban governance and capital constraints can exacerbate these issues. As a result, cities from Australia to China, and from Europe to North America, have begun to rethink what is possible. New conceptions of sustainable urban forms include so-called compact cities, where high residential density and efficient public transportation are emphasized, and eco-cities specifically designed to curb carbon emissions. Some places have been able to harness technology and the non-governmental sector to address their issues. The Australian social enterprise Pollinate Energy, for example, has offered solar-powered products including water filters and clean cookstoves in Indian slums; six years after its founding, Pollinate Energy had provided tens of thousands of products to more than 20,000 families. Meanwhile the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has financed dozens of infrastructure projects collectively worth about $4 billion in developing countries since it was established in 2016 – including a public train line in Bangalore, and slum upgrades in Indonesia. China is meanwhile pushing its Belt and Road initiative, which is funding large infrastructure projects throughout cities on a massive scale including highways, ports, and IT systems, in a bid to strengthen ties with other countries in Asia and further afield.
Urban Resilience
The issues that plague cities are often chronic, and must be addressed proactively
While urban areas can become stronger in the aftermath of a catastrophe, it is a less-than-ideal way to bolster resilience. Urban resilience is a measure of how well communities, businesses, and government agencies can withstand both temporary shocks and chronic stress; increasingly, it is an essential goal for urban planners everywhere. The Rockefeller Foundation-funded City Resilience Index provides dozens of indicators that cities can use to measure their resilience, such as the availability of safe and affordable housing, and it has been tested in cities including Hong Kong and Liverpool. Meanwhile the World Bank Group’s City Resilience Program is designed to foster investment in viable projects that can enhance resilience. In practice and in theory, urban resilience must go beyond merely managing urban challenges like transportation system failures, housing shortages, and social strife by merely reacting to them. Instead, it should focus on proactively anticipating and preparing for challenges. Still, it is often only following catastrophe that city governments implement system-wide changes. It remains to be seen to what extent cities will be able to fix the many flaws – in governance, infrastructure, and trust between the city authorities and residents – that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The distinction between temporary shocks and the chronic, long-term stress that affect urban areas is sometimes unclear. Social upheaval that seems to have been triggered unexpectedly is often underpinned by longstanding underlying tension. Indonesian riots in 1998, for example, were triggered by systemic and sustained problems in urban centres – such as widespread unemployment, food shortages, an escalating cost of living, and an increasingly bifurcated society along class and ethnic lines. Building urban resilience is a difficult process that requires good governance and significant capital investment. In many cities, resilience is hindered by geography; Jakarta is increasingly vulnerable to floods, as 40% of its land area is below sea level and generally over-developed. Other threats to resilience include viral epidemics, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome in the early 2000s that killed hundreds of people in Asia. It is likely that COVID-19 has been relatively well managed in Singapore, Taiwan, China, and China because these places experienced SARS, and have since boosted their urban pandemic resilience. In addition, natural hazards exacerbated by poor infrastructure and services (such as Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005, which claimed thousands of lives) also continue to pose threats.
Refreshing Resilience
Most countries’ COVID-19 responses have alternated between success stories and cautionary tales
National response strategies implemented in the second year of the pandemic have left ample room to improve preparedness for future crises. As the coronavirus evolved more contagious variants in 2021, governments struggled to return to social and economic normalcy; most countries experienced several surges, and alternated between success stories and cautionary tales. Two factors critical for effective management of the pandemic have been governments’ readiness to adjust response strategies as circumstances change, and their ability to maintain public trust and compliance. Effective national responses generally involved multi-pronged approaches to transmission control, reliable logistics, and increasingly granular real-time data. Chile and Finland, for example, were better able to manage surges than others with less-well-rounded approaches. Rapid, wholesale easing of constraints on social and economic activity often resulted in steep rises in case numbers, though health-system impacts and mortality were often mitigated in places with relatively high vaccination rates. High-income countries have generally had privileged access to vaccines, and by the end of 2021 all but three Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member states had double-vaccinated at least half of their populations.
However, low-income countries, especially in Africa, have low vaccination rates and must rely on “vaccine diplomacy” initiatives and efforts like the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) programme (which has suffered from a low level of contributions from high-income countries). Still, well-oiled disease surveillance systems and young populations in these countries may have contributed to relatively low mortality rates. By the latter part of 2021, research showed that fully-vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus, experience severe symptoms, or die. Yet, slow vaccine rollouts in some places and vaccine hesitancy remain risks. As many grew weary of lockdowns and rules like mask requirements during 2021, several countries experienced riots when governments sought to tighten restrictions in the face of new outbreaks. In general, official communication has had to steer a narrow course between individual freedoms and collective resilience. National resilience strategies for future pandemics will likely have to anticipate at least some level of defiance and distrust of well-meaning restrictions. Ultimately, a balanced path that involves transparency, far-reaching regulation, and healthy levels of data sharing will be critical.
Urban Societies
Billions of additional people will be flooding into cities, creating a need for responsible policy-making
In 2018, the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs reported that 55% of the world’s population was living in urban areas, and estimated that the figure will reach 68% by 2050. This relentless rural-to-urban shift will add 2.5 billion people to cities, coming in search of a better life, new opportunities, and excitement. As a result, cities will face massive challenges: insufficient decent and cheap housing, expanding waste management needs, growing demand for access to clean water and employment, and worsening traffic congestion. Technology can help, as policy-makers seek to meet the needs of diverse populations representing different ethnicities, cultures, religions and ages, while at the same time they attempt to address inequality. Singapore, for example, is a mosaic of multi-racial and multi-religious communities, carefully managed through the city state’s policies designed to encourage inclusivity – such as the allocation of public housing done in a way that avoids ghettoization, and education and public service programs that foster integration. While the population diversity that must be addressed in developed countries like Singapore is largely attributable to international migration, in developing nations it is mostly a result of internal migration.
Internal migration remains a significant feature of East Asian countries in particular, according to the International Organization for Migration. Indonesia alone has an estimated 9.8 million temporary internal migrants, according to a UN report, and about 40% of Beijing’s population are migrants. Addressing diversity also means not leaving people aged 60 and over behind, as this demographic is expected to double in size by 2050 globally. In Japan, where 28% of the population is over 65 (according to the World Bank), the government has made radical changes to healthcare delivery; long-term health care insurance was introduced there in 2000 to supplement the national pension plan (Japan is also a leader in using robotics to assist the elderly). Another challenge: cities must deal with the inequality between those plugged into globalization and those left behind, particularly in high-tech hubs where growing wealth has left the middle class unable to buy homes, as is the case in San Francisco. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that cities with a relatively healthy sense of social solidarity have been more successful in following important directives like social distancing and self-quarantining, which are necessary to slow the spread of the virus.
Inclusive Cities
Cities that are inclusive are more creative, innovative, and sustainable
The United Nations projects that the global urban population will increase from 4 billion in 2015 to 5.1 billion by 2030. Residents of growing cities around the world, including artists, are being displaced for economic reasons. This is unfortunate, because those cities where residents can continue to coexist irrespective of income, ethnicity, religion, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, or immigration status provide enormous opportunities for the sort of interaction that enriches the cultural and economic fabric. From Mumbai to San Francisco, cities have developed into hubs for creativity, commerce and culture – while offering the promise of a better life to families fleeing from conflict and poverty. However, cities can also be home to inequality and deprivation. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals call for “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” cities, while the “New Urban Agenda” agreed to at a 2016 UN conference provides related policy guidance. In 2020, urbanists will convene at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, to discuss topics including the use of technology and data to enable more sustainable cities. Related advances like autonomous vehicles offer opportunities to re-purpose streets in more human-centric ways, and to incorporate mobility options that benefit everyone.
In response to rapid urbanization, designers, architects, artists, and communities are formulating innovative approaches. In Medellín, Colombia, former Mayor Sergio Fajardo determined that the most beautiful public buildings should be built in the poorest areas, transforming the city from one of the world’s most dangerous into a more inclusive metropolis. Elevated cable cars now link outer settlements to Medellin’s central metro system, while libraries and cultural centres support civic participation. In other cities, “social practice” artists are shining a spotlight on urban inequality and revealing our shared humanity. The French street artist “JR” has displayed photographic portraits in places like the slums of Paris and Nairobi, and in Israel and Palestine, which engage viewers with the larger-than-life faces of ordinary people who might otherwise remain relatively hidden. In the urban US and much of the industrialized world, income inequality, housing costs, and limited public transportation are decreasing social mobility, as social and spatial segregation and climate change create serious challenges. Local residents, designers, artists, and advocates in affected areas are working to create more sustainable and inclusive barrios, neighbourhoods and boroughs. Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, for example, transforms vacant properties in an under-served neighbourhood into community-art spaces for residents.
This key issue was curated in partnership with Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
3D Printing for Construction
The technology could help address the global shortage of affordable housing
The world suffers from a lack of housing. According to the World Resources Institute, the global affordable housing gap is expected to rise to 440 million households by 2025 – depriving roughly 1.6 billion people of an adequate and affordable home. 3D printing may be able to help. The technology enables new, significantly faster and more economical approaches to construction. Construction-related 3D printing processes differ slightly from traditional 3D printing, due to the size of the desired product; they involve a large, robotic arm that moves via railways that are installed around a building area as they extrude concrete, layer by layer. These large machines are able to create complete buildings, use less material than traditional construction by producing honeycomb-structured walls with minimal density, and require lower-cost materials that can keep expenses to a minimum.
Before it can be made available broadly for commercial use, however, construction-related 3D printing must be further tested, standardized, and approved by regulators. Still, both startups and established construction companies are already developing related projects, achieving breakthroughs, and using new materials. For example, US-based startup Apis Cor famously managed in 2017 to 3D print an entire 38-square-metre house in 24 hours – at a cost of about $10,000. In addition to reducing time and costs, 3D printing has an environmental impact on construction, as less material is used and less waste is produced; it also reduces the risk of accidents, and enables the creation of complex architectural shapes. It may also stir greater competition within the construction industry, potentially leading to lower prices and greater rates of ownership. Overpopulated and fast-growing cities in particular stand to benefit from the technology. Dubai has announced that by 2025, 25% of its new buildings will be created using 3D printers – which could reduce the amount of required labour by 70%, and expenses by 90%. 3D printing can also help develop relatively inaccessible areas. The Italian company WASP, for example, has developed a 3D printer that works on solar or wind power and is able to print eco-friendly shelters using local materials in regions without electricity.
Net Zero Carbon Cities
Cities form the frontline in the battle against climate change – representing both the biggest related challenges, and the best opportunities to keep global warming well below 2°C. More than half of the global population lives in cities, where people consume 78% of the world’s primary energy, generate more than 70% of all carbon emissions, and are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the global population is expected to be living in cities, with over 90% in urban locales in Africa and Asia. The mission of the World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities programme is to enable clean electrification in these places, and a circularity that contributes to decarbonization and greater resilience.
Compact cities
COVID-19 has pointed to a future where more urban residents may appreciate compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods
The “compact city” concept of making the places where urban residents live, work, and relax relatively dense has been a prominent principle of sustainable urban development since the 1990s. It has been touted as a means to make transportation more sustainable, to make more efficient use of resources, to boost personal health, to elevate cultural life, and to bring people together. Mixing residential, leisure, and commercial spaces reduces commute times and dependence on cars, maximizes the benefits of urban design, and provides opportunities for foster a greater sense of community by keeping people closer to their homes and workplaces. Cities with relatively dispersed, segregated population centres, many of which were planned around cars (as is particularly the case with many American cities) can be problematic for people living relatively far from employment opportunities – and from places where they can buy nutritious food. This can limit prospects for people who are forced to spend large portions of their day and their incomes on commuting. As compact cities solve these issues, they also reduce reliance fossil fuels – making cities both more liveable and sustainable.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there is no single model for a compact city applicable everywhere; each urban area must take local circumstances into account. The OECD has said most national governments have aspects of compact city policies in place, though related urban planning must proceed carefully. It can be challenging for cities to reconfigure themselves into denser, mixed-use neighbourhoods – though COVID-19 has pointed to a future where residents potentially working more from home may see added benefit in a compactness that enables them to more readily access services locally without having to obtain them during a commute. In fact, greater access to local services in proximity to one’s home, and to green space, have been found to have significant positive impacts on well-being during the pandemic – a period when many people have struggled with stress and mental health issues. As the worst of the pandemic has receded in many places, several large cities have pursued compact city models in some fashion, for example by adding bicycle paths for easier (and healthier) short trips.
Smart Energy Infrastructure
The Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative aims to enable buildings to better integrate into overall energy systems
Future electricity grids must be able to manage higher loads, while also accommodating a higher proportion of variable generation from wind and solar sources. Smart energy infrastructure includes a wide range of technologies, from building management systems and smart meters to distributed intelligence at the grid edge. The aim is to increase energy efficiency, reduce waste, and enable demand to match supply. The backbone of smart energy systems is the smart metre. These can enable the monitoring of energy use in near-real time, and send signals to consumers that may incentivize types of energy use – for example, when the wind is blowing (while these types of incentives have been available with multi-rate conventional metres, they become much more sophisticated with smart metres). They also promise an ability to reward the saving of energy during certain periods of the day, and can track actual usage rather than just a day versus night rates. Buildings can contribute to the smart energy system through smart building management systems, which optimize load throughout the day, communicate with the grid operator (or aggregator), and provide ancillary services.
The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative is focused on ways to help reduce the considerable amount of carbon emissions currently attributable to buildings While energy efficiency has improved, opportunities remain to better integrate buildings into overall energy systems. Smart energy infrastructure can enable smart heat pumps, smart charging systems, and on-site energy storage devices that support the integration of renewables – without necessitating heavier investment in grids. One emerging form of smart energy infrastructure is distributed intelligence, which is designed to overcome data latency and decision-making issues. As more types of assets (including vehicles) become electrified, there are more usage data points – and more network decisions being assigned to control centres. If utilities want to provide more reliable service to banks of electric-vehicle charging points without overloading networks, for example, distributed intelligence enables related decisions to be pushed from control centres to the charging banks themselves – and set an hourly usage limit on connections rather than managing each charging point individually. This reduces the risk of overloading systems due to data latency, and simplifies grid management.
Clean Electrification
It can sharply reduce emissions, but requires a significant amount of renewable energy generation
The clean electrification of heating, cooling, transportation, and light industry is a key means to both sharply reduce fossil-fuel emissions and improve air quality in urban areas. The International Energy Agency has projected that “final energy consumption,” or all of the energy supplied to buyers for all purposes, will rise at a rate of 1% annually between 2020 and 2050 – with electricity and natural gas accounting for most of the increase. Clean electrification can unlock greater systemic efficiency in cities, as transportation and building operations move away from fossil fuels to electricity and integrate more renewables. In effect, buildings and transportation systems can serve as tools for greater electrification, by providing ancillary services to the grid – both drawing and providing energy as needed to regulate frequency and demand, and enabling the use of variable renewables that generate intermittently. Meanwhile the electrification of light industry through “Power to Heat” (PtH) is essential for the decarbonization of industry; one study suggested that electric steam generation alone has the potential to eliminate 13% of industrial CO2 emissions in Germany.
A systemic approach is necessary to facilitate clean electrification, however. The electrification of transportation, buildings or industry is not actually beneficial unless it involves a significant amount of renewable electricity generation – and is done in a way that facilities a path to 100% renewable generation. “System Value,” a concept developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Accenture as part of the Electricity Industry Action Group in 2020, posits that end-use electrification is best made part of an integrated energy system. To facilitate clean electrification, a market must feature a focus on energy efficiency, a high proportion of renewable energy generation, and a strong electricity grid that can provide renewables that meet demand. The transformational elements of smart flexibility, power-market reform, and demand optimization can pave the way to full end-use electrification, and a system ready to support such high levels of electricity usage. While technology exists for the electrification of most end-use applications, challenges remain in terms of grid capacity, economic and policy incentives for electrification, and consumer behaviour. These will all need to be addressed.
Ultra efficient Buildings
The Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative aims to work with everyone from building managers to real estate developers on decarbonization
Buildings contribute a significant portion of global annual CO2 emissions – 28% of emissions are accounted for by building operations, and 11% by related materials and construction (“embodied carbon”). Buildings also account for almost 55% of all electricity consumption. With total building floor area set to more than double by 2070, or the equivalent of adding space the size of New York City each month, improvements in building efficiency (and net-zero buildings) are key to achieving Paris Agreement targets. Embodied carbon is particularly important to abate; most emissions come from the manufacturing of cement and steel, while aluminium, glass, and insulation are secondary contributors. Demand for materials is influenced both by the rate of construction as well as building framing, or the way in which buildings are made. Design for the use of alternative materials where appropriate can significantly reduce embodied carbon; for example, the Gare Maritime, a former freight-train station in Brussels, was transformed into a mixed-use commercial centre using responsibly-sourced wood – avoiding some 3,500 tonnes of embodied carbon in the process.
The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities initiative aims to expand the perception of urban decarbonization investment to include greater consideration of social and environmental outcomes. Abating direct emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels for water, space heating, and cooling in buildings can be achieved through clean electrification and switching to “clean district” heating. More compact designs are being developed, but there is still room for improvement and further innovation to scale up to significant use in the residential market. Clean district heat is best deployed in very densely populated cities, which can make the best use of waste heat – particularly in places where current infrastructure can be retrofitted to run on electricity rather than fossil fuels. The decarbonization of heat creates a significant challenge for maintaining electricity supply, as demand is expected to surge as more electrified heating systems are installed. Cities around the world are setting targets for building decarbonization; New York City has a requirement for buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% (from 2005 levels) by 2030.
Urban Planning
Urban planning measures are critical for cities to be able to deliver on their greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards. C40’s Urban Planning work supports cities to develop, implement and share planning strategies and regulations that set a framework for sustainable and equitable urban growth.
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