Most of humanity lives in cities. It is for this reason that it is in them – megacities, smaller cities and even very small ones – that the actions and events that have the greatest impact on climate change take place. Some cities are adrift and oblivious to any emissions, while others are trying to reduce them.
In our today's review, we will talk about them – those that are tirelessly fighting for an environmentally friendly future and minimizing emissions for taxpayers' money, and in general against the anthropogenic impact of man on nature.
Copenhagen Cycling Paradise
Urbanists who want to transplant Muscovites, St. Petersburgers, and then all the other harsh and gloomy inhabitants of 1/6 of the land from personal vehicles to light and compact, almost no places on the road bicycles, often cite as an example the Danish capital Copenhagen. The city administration expects to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025. Almost 400 kilometers of bicycle paths have been built in the city, there are separate bridge crossings and interchanges designed for two-wheeled transport. Traffic lights and those prefer not cars, but great ones!
Even this did not seem enough to the authorities of the Scandinavian velomegagapolis. They connected the city with the surrounding settlements with a network of three dozen bicycle races - it is believed that on the weekend there is nothing better than to roll into the suburbs and have a picnic. And this should be done on a velika, and not on a car.
According to statistics, 52% of all movements on a bicycle are trips to work, school or school and back. At the same time, trips do not stop in inclement weather, and even in a blizzard: bicycle paths are cleared of fallen snow in the first place, before pedestrian and even more so roads.
Urban public transport is also waiting for changes - by day X it is planned to replace it with electric buses. At the same time, only 28% of households in the city have private cars (in the province the share is much larger).
Of course, the transfer of people to iron two-wheeled horses is by no means the only such initiative of the city authorities.
- There are many fandomates in the city, collecting aluminum, glass and plastic and returning a small amount to a bank card or a special account.
- In the total amount of food, at least a quarter are organic, grown without the use of fertilizers (this also applies to local fast foods of different varieties).
- 67% of the waters have eco-certificates, and the network of city canals to the envy of Venice and St. Petersburg beckons with the purity of the waters - at least swim, if you are not afraid to frostbite something.
- The subject of special pride is Copen Hill, the most advanced large building in the world in terms of environmental standards, and concurrently - also a complex for processing garbage into electricity and heat. In addition, who else, besides the Danes, could think of equipping an incinerator as a leisure center for young people? On the roof there is a ramp for roller skaters or skateboarders (in winter - skiers), a climbing wall, treadmills and numerous shells, simulators.
Vertical gardening in Singapore
A recognized Asian innovation city with dictatorial laws offers the latest approach to the problem of greenery in the city – supertrells. The largest population is located in the park area of Gardens by the Bay and presents 18 metal structures, offering a platform for accommodating tens of thousands of plants of several hundred species and varieties. In addition, not without high technologies, directly borrowed from real plants: they are able to accumulate the energy of the Sun and collect clean rainwater.
Trees due to the huge array of greenery serve as a temperature controller, ventilate the greenhouses located on the lower levels and create shade. And - unlike real trees, they know how to arrange a cult program in the form of a laser show at night.
This idea seemed very promising, Singaporeans began to use it in full swing in new construction. Here and there they began to put green roofs, walls. Along with the ecological functionality, a completely pragmatic one appeared - fruits and vegetables began to be grown in such vertical gardens. In total, more than one and a half hundred buildings have been landscaped, and this is only the beginning: according to the rules, such landscaping should be applied to all new high-rise buildings.
A city for people and bees in Ljubljana
Slovenian capital is a small city, only 280 thousand people live here ... as well as several hundred million bees settled according to the hives installed in the city, combined into the "Bee Way" system. This project has been developing since 2015, demonstrating the great importance that bees play in the biological diversity of the settlement, the place of people in it and food security. Initially, it was something between an NGO tied to excursions and an association of individuals and organizations that are interested in bees. Today it is also a training program, a business incubator, and even an analytics center, not to mention its own media.
At the same time, in addition to bees, Ljubljana has something to boast about in terms of green economy and architecture. It was several times on high places in the ranking of the hundred best eco-friendly settlements on Earth, and this year it became the first city in Europe. And it is not surprising - here is the highest proportion of greenery in urban development and the largest amount in terms of per capita. As well as a center completely closed to motorists, free for the first hour to rent bicycles and 230 kilometers of paths to them.
Ingenious ease of garbage management in Curitiba
A different path was shown in the Brazilian town of Curitiba, where two initiatives aimed at solving problems of society and ecology are being implemented at once. Here, firstly, they invest in an active civil position in the field of ecology, and, secondly, they turn waste into useful "buns".
- The official name of the first program is "Garbage is not really garbage": within its framework, people conduct separate collection. Then this garbage is sent to sorting centers, where homeless people, drug addicts and alcoholics undergoing rehabilitation, and other socially vulnerable categories of citizens work.
- Another, no less interesting project, is designed to remove garbage from the poorest neighborhoods - favelas, and bears the name "Green Exchange". Having collected a certain amount of recyclables, local residents get the opportunity to exchange it for travel tickets, children's school textbooks and other goods and basic necessities.
Such initiatives not only contribute to reducing the area of urban landfills – they also managed to:
- Create over 2,000 jobs in the field of garbage processing; the city became a gross importer of waste;
- Save over 300,000 trees a year by recycling collected paper;
- Open a Free University, where students are engaged in the study of the environment, receive basic information on ecology, development of urban spaces;
An additional argument in favor of Curitiba can be considered the well-known system of rapid buses; it is believed that its effectiveness is comparable to the metro. Also, the city authorities are actively expanding green areas, which has reduced the likelihood of flooding, and formed a belt of parks around the city.
Plastic Adventures in Amsterdam
In this city, they are engaged in catching plastic, swimming through the canals on boats and with the help of nets collecting plastic from water. After processing, they make those same boats out of it – that's the irony.
Another area where the Dutch capital has no equal is the management of food waste. For example, The Waste Transformer, part of the Westergasfabriek complex, processes organic matter into electricity, simultaneously producing compost and high-quality fertilizers. Moreover, InStock and BuurtBuik manage to make food out of garbage (by the way, such food is free for the population)!
