Sustainable cities

Urban areas should be developed with higher density occupation ratios. This would lead to less space being occupied by residential and commercial buildings, enabling more green areas to be set aside for protection of wildlife and biodiversity. Additionally, most people could live within walking or cycling distance of shops and offices and reduce the number of private cars.

Energy savings and fewer emissions could come from the design features of buildings and from more efficient means of transport.

More buildings could be renovated rather than disposing of the materials used in their construction.

More food could be grown locally to save the energy consumed in transporting food from great distances.

Governments should develop population policies to discourage low-density suburban development. If this is not done, houses and gardens will continue to spread for long distances out of cities, necessitating more roads, energy and water supplies and other infrastructure. Urban development known as 'urban sprawl' results in an increase in private car ownership.

Government legislation for greener industries

Few corporations will change the way they operate without government directives. Some examples are:

Government legislation for sustainable cities

Most local governments have regulations to prevent bad building practices, however this has tended to result in construction that is both energy and resource inefficient, but still legal.

Positive incentives are needed to improve building practices. For example, local councils could offer rebates on land rates for those buildings that incorporate energy efficient principles. Financial institutions could offer cheaper loans for home builders who use energy-efficient principles.

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Environmentally Sustainable Development in the Developed World Solutions Sustainable industries There are several examples of corporations making products out of recycled metals, paper or plastics. For instance, in the car manufacturing industry, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford have formed a Vehicle Recycling Partnership. We need many more of these initiatives and we also need far more corporations across the entire range of industries to change their thinking and incorporate sustainable no-waste and low-emission principles into their manufacturing processes. Some new concepts are: Industrial metabolism. This studies the flow of materials and energy from their extraction through to processing, use and disposal as waste. This has been taken up by industrial ecologists, who look at waste issues when considering the design of products and manufacturing processes. Dematerialisation. This looks at methods of reducing the weight and number of materials used in manufacturing. Eco-efficiency. This concept emulates natural processes where nothing goes to waste. Rather than putting products into landfill sites, products are created from materials that can be returned to nature to be broken down (or bio-degraded) or are created from materials that can be returned to industry (or recycled). Many goods using these principles can be produced at the same cost. Sustainable cities Urban areas should be developed with higher density occupation ratios. This would lead to less space being occupied by residential and commercial buildings, enabling more green areas to be set aside for protection of wildlife and biodiversity. Additionally, most people could live within walking or cycling distance of shops and offices and reduce the number of private cars. Energy savings and fewer emissions could come from the design features of buildings and from more efficient means of transport. More buildings could be renovated rather than disposing of the materials used in their construction. More food could be grown locally to save the energy consumed in transporting food from great distances. Governments should develop population policies to discourage low-density suburban development. If this is not done, houses and gardens will continue to spread for long distances out of cities, necessitating more roads, energy and water supplies and other infrastructure. Urban development known as 'urban sprawl' results in an increase in private car ownership. Government legislation for greener industries Few corporations will change the way they operate without government directives. Some examples are: End-of-life vehicle legislation in Europe. This requires car manufacturers to remove lead, cadmium and other toxic materials from their products and to make them 85% recyclable. Also, the manufacturer must take the vehicle back from the consumer at the end of its useful life free of charge. This is a European Union directive that has yet to be implemented by member states. Excess packaging legislation in Germany. Recent legislation requires companies to take back the packaging in which their products are sold. This has reduced the amount of packaging going to landfill by hundreds of millions of tonnes as manufacturers have been forced to re-think the way in which their goods are sold. The International Council for Local Environment Initiatives [ICLEI] has an Eco-Procurement Programme for local governments. There is a Green Purchasing Network [GPN] in Japan for corporations and government agencies. Both the Organisation for Economic Cooperation [OECD] and the United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP] promote green purchasing. The US Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging local governments to establish eco-industrial parks or resource recovery parks across the United States. Most of these seem to be at the planning stage. Government legislation for sustainable cities Most local governments have regulations to prevent bad building practices, however this has tended to result in construction that is both energy and resource inefficient, but still legal. Positive incentives are needed to improve building practices. For example, local councils could offer rebates on land rates for those buildings that incorporate energy efficient principles. Financial institutions could offer cheaper loans for home builders who use energy-efficient principles.   Return to Sustainable Developed World - Introduction