By Marco Koenig
Building more sustainable cities is one of the greatest challenges we face today. It is also one of the most complex.
Chapter 01
Intro
Our cities are captivating. Most of us live, work, experience, and build communities in them.
There is always something new around the corner, they are vibrant, diverse and offer a handful of great benefits. Urban areas shape our culture and have a huge impact on who we are. And more and more people are drawn to them.
Chapter 02
Limit
What you take with you when you leave is all you have. There is no more.
This experience gave her a fundamental understanding of the finite nature of our planet.
And although we should all be aware of the limited nature of our precious resources, such as fresh water, fossil fuels and earth minerals, we still rush through them as if they were limitless. Constantly fighting a battle between the resource-intensive demands of our race and the limits of what our earth can handle.
Growing cities
70
of the world's population will live in cities by 2050.
1.5 million
people move to urban areas every week.
7 Billion
people will live in urban areas by 2050.
At the same time, urban areas are largely responsible for our climate change, which puts them right at the centre of this problem. Therefore, there is no way around making them an integral part of the solution.
At the same time, urban areas are largely responsible for our climate change, which puts them right at the centre of this problem. Therefore, there is no way around making them an integral part of the solution.
Chapter 03
Rethink
Just take a few seconds and imagine what the perfect city of the future would look like for you.
Would there be a lot of nature? Would it provide you with a safe environment? Affordable living space? Vibrant colors? What would it feel like to be in a city like that?
An ideal city should be fully enriched by nature have buildings made from organic materials that are surrounded by parks, with streets that are walkable and bikeable, and areas that encourage wildlife.
Fortunately, living with a smaller environmental footprint is becoming increasingly crucial to more and more people out there. So the question is, how can we create more sustainable cities, integrate them seamlessly into our daily lives, and improve our and other wildlife's quality of life within our built environments?
There are already many different approaches that redefine how we manage, design and lifecycle our urban areas to contribute to a more sustainable and better city.
Promising approaches
At the same time, urban areas are largely responsible for our climate change, which puts them right at the centre of this problem. Therefore, there is no way around making them an integral part of the solution.
Living small
Living Small is about creating a livable and lovable home in a small space within (often) rigid existing structures. By making good design decisions and removing the unnecessary, we can create happy and comfortable living spaces that meet all the demands of our modern everyday lives. Living larger doesn't mean living better — in order to tackle our current urban problems, we need to start thinking smaller.
Natural materials
Steel and concrete cause massive CO2 emissions and pollution — our main materials responsible for our built environment. Instead, we could use natural materials like bamboo and wood. They store CO2, reduce air pollution, are easy to recycle and provide excellent strength and durability. In addition, there are already pioneering projects working with pressed clay or carbon fiber as a building material.
Introduce nature
One way to contribute to a more sustainable city is to introduce more nature into our concrete deserts. We could reduce pollution and create a more pleasant environment by greening our rooftops and walls and turning unused spaces into green parks. These lungs of the city would also improve people's mental health and well-being while promoting wildlife and biodiversity in our urban areas.
Building modular
It is environmentally irresponsible to tear down and start over when we want to build. We could design buildings whose materials and components can be easily assembled, disassembled and reassembled. This building-block approach would give us a lot of flexibility and freedom to customize our homes while creating more affordable housing and minimizing waste.
Chapter 04
Prospect
But it is not only the responsibility of architects, developers, designers and decision-makers.
To create a sustainable city, citizens must actively become part of the solution, as they are (as mentioned earlier) a huge driving force for creating more sustainable urban areas. And there are many different ways individuals can contribute to this goal.
Things you can do
Introduce plants and stones, if you have a balcony or a garden
Sort your garbage
Get involved in sustainable development initiatives.
Share your stuff
Use your bike
Rapid urbanization, increasing feelings of loneliness and rising housing prices
— our cities are facing a number of serious problems, with climate change being one of them. And as our cities continue to grow, these problems will become even more complex and acute. We can continue as we are — or we can chart a new course.
There are now several promising approaches that are contributing to a solution. To tackle these issues, citizens, businesses, decision-makers, and non-profit organizations need to join forces and work together to create a more sustainable and better city for ourselves, the environment, and future generations.
