Sustainability Solutions in the City

17 September 2009 - 6:00am

This piece from the Guardian looks at a handful of projects and ideas that are emphasizing the importance of sustainable metropolitan areas in an age of diminishing resources and environmental devastation.

"On average, then, people who live in small towns and rural areas emit 50% more greenhouse gases than city folk. That cities may be part of the solution, however, does not mean that efforts like Bloomberg's PlanNYC are misplaced. Precisely the opposite is true.

By 2050, some 70% of us will live in urban settings, and it will ultimately be well-managed urban environments, with smart, energy-efficient buildings, power systems, transport and planning, that will save us from ourselves. Seeking better ways to do precisely that, a constellation of designers, architects and academics gathered at a conference on "ecological urbanism" at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design earlier this year."

Source: Guardian, September 13, 2009