Green living; Making cities more sustainable and healthier.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and it’s expected that most future population growth will happen in urban areas. At the same time, cities are responsible for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Thus, making cities more sustainable and healthier is an important objective for the future, and it is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 11).
Making cities more sustainable and healthier. Visual by Mavin Studio.Although the hustle and bustle of city life can be exciting, inhabitants often miss the connection with nature. The lack of greenery has negative mental effects on humans, being surrounded by only concrete and glass. To not only increase sustainability, but also liveability and wellbeing, cities need to become green in both figurative and literal sense. Let’s take a look at what ideas have developed so far and how these sustainable cities of the future might look like.
Green cities
According to researchers, the city of the future is ‘’a green city where trees, ponds and parks are the lungs of the boroughs and biodiversity can find its way in. In green cities, people live in healthy neighborhoods, employees work in circular business parks, and all citizens have access to sustainable food and other natural resources.’’ An almost utopian picture of the future city. To get there, a lot needs to be done. But innovation is driving developments at a quick pace.
In already existing cities, such as Copenhagen (named greenest city of the world) the city’s infrastructure is designed to make bicycling and walking a preferable mode of transport than cars. Almost half of trips to work or school in the city are made by bike. Years of promoting cycling in the city as a green and sustainable choice has been a political priority and paid off.
A ‘green city’ such as Copenhagen strives to respond to climate change by providing resources, partnerships and a platform to lessen its environmental impact. These innovative plans aim to reduce waste, expand recycling, lower emissions, increase housing density, while also expanding open space, and encouraging the development of sustainable local businesses. Copenhagen was the first in the world to adopt a planet-cooling mandatory green roof policy and continues its bid to become carbon-neutral by 2025.
Green city infrastructure. Visual by Mavin Studio.Biophilic design
According to a National Geographic research, the future city is designed around ‘’natural features and forces, protecting wildlife habitat and natural resources.’’ Incorporating natural resources into construction will become more important. The term for the architecture deployed for this is biophilic design. ‘’It responds to the original biological bond between man and nature with a positive effect on well-being and health’’. Architecture bureaus are now offering their services with these designs in mind, and other organizations promote biophilic cities, such as Biophilic Cities. Cities such as Singapore and Toronto integrate nature into their city planning, resulting in protecting the biodiversity by making new and existing buildings less dangerous to migratory birds, or improve pollinators presence. In the vision for the future, solar panels, bladeless wind turbines and roof gardens are common atop buildings, encouraging sustainable energy and small-scale farming. The combination of nature and cities also manifests itself in urban farms and gardens, optimizing space by vertical gardens and making use of room atop of buildings or below the ground.
Biophilic design. Visual by Mavin Studio.Underground farming
The world’s first underground farm, 33 metres below London, is growing salad and vegetables for the city. The farm claims to use 70% less water than a conventional, above-ground farm. According to Growing Underground, by ‘’using the latest hydroponic systems and LED technology, our crops are grown year-round in the perfect, pesticide-free environment using 100% renewable energy.’’
Lettuce, radish and watercress growing beneath offices and houses and delivered in an instant to supermarkets in the city sounds like promising prospects for food production in the future.
Coral reefs
Maybe an unexpected one in this list, but relevant for coastal cities suffering from extreme weather. A UNDP report found that coral reefs serve as natural barriers against hazards such as ocean surges and flooding. ‘’They can absorb as much wave energy as seawalls and breakwaters, which are less durable.’’ The UNDP report says reefs and other natural defences are less costly to maintain than man-made solutions and could save as much as $100 billion in cases of natural disasters.
Cities of the future
Constructing smart cities will improve the quality of living, save costs and present economic opportunities. Climate-smart urban infrastructure represents a $30 trillion investment opportunity – ranging from renewable energy to public transport and from electric vehicles to green buildings, in developing economies, an UN report says. Thus, the need and the potential for the sustainable cities of the future is huge and looks promising in addressing the growing global population.
