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Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering (2014/02/09)
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• Financing

• Public Administration

4.7.1. Cities are the living space for the 21st century and beyond.

People in your city – with their aspirations, needs and visions – rely on you to make the right decisions to
make their city competitive and a good place to live. People turn cities into living organisms; to thrive, these

organisms require a healthy balance. And that’s best expressed by one word: sustainability.

Cities are responsible for 75% of the world’s energy use and produce more than 80% of all greenhouse gas
emissions, mostly CO2.

It has been estimated that redesigning cities could positively influence up to 70 percent of humanity’s ecolo-

gical footprint (EF)1. The EF is calculated by comparing our consumption of resources and generation of
waste with nature’s capacity to generate new resources and absorb our waste. The EF is often expressed in

Earths Consumed (EC). In 2005, humanity’s ecological debit stood at 30 percent, meaning that we were real-

ly consuming as many resources and producing as much waste as if we had 1.3 earths at our disposal.

Both London’s2 and Vancouver’s3 EF equals 3.05 planets. London’s 7.6 million inhabitants, for example,

burn up 19.7 million global hectares; that’s 125 times its geographic area. In 2000, Berlin4 consumed 82 ti-

mes its geographic area.* Figures like this make it very clear that cities will determine whether the shift to

sustainability succeeds – or fails. That’s why it’s so critical for city stakeholders to make the right investment

decisions today. Sustainable urban infra- structures can reduce a city’s EF and also save costs and improve
quality of life.

...

First, climate change. There’s no doubt that human activity is causing global warming, and there is evidence

that this may be happening at a much faster rate than expected. According to researchers at M.I.T., we must

now expect a temperature rise of more than 9 degrees by the end of this century. Clearly, collective global ac-

tion must be taken to avoid catastrophic and communications technologies, access consequences.

Second, the economic crisis: It has intensified and accelerated this debate. In effect, it has led to a new global

consensus that sustainability is not just an ecological, but equally an economic and social issue.

Sustainability rests on four pillars: competitiveness, environment, quality of life and good governance as an

overarching principle. The key challenge is to translate these principles into cost-efficient, feasible and suita-

ble solutions (based on exist- ing technology and portfolio).

To attract investments, to be competitive, cities need modern, efficient infrastructures, abundant skilled labor,

modern IT and communications technologies, access to quality housing, education as well as basic services

such as water and electricity.

Metropolitan areas are facing a host of environmental problems, from air pollution to wastewater manage-

ment and green space degradation. Sustainable urban development promotes greater use of alternative energy
sources and more energy-efficient buildings and transport, measures that reduce congestion and CO2 emis-

sions, recycling of water and waste and the use of vegetation to filter pollution and capture carbon dioxide.

While the technologies to combat climate change may be ready for implementation, the magnitude and long-

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