very so often, I find it important to reset and to re-envision what a successful future looks like. This article seeks to take a step back and revisit the fundamentals of what the building of a sustainable city requires. The footprint of cities is a heavy contributor to the un-sustainability of life on the planet; each city takes much more than its total land area to support the population that lives, works, and plays there.
It’s a mind boggling fact that over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this number will increase to about two thirds of the world’s population by 2050. That means that today, 3.9 billion people are living in cities, and that number will continue to rise exponentially. Tokyo, Japan is today’s most populous city, with 38 million dwellers; followed by Delhi, India with a population of 25 million people and expected to grow to 36 million by 2030. In the U.S., 81% of our population of 320 million live in urban areas or suburbs as of this year.
The Ideal City
For most people, the impetus to work for a more sustainable city stems from the desire to live in a more beautiful and live-able city for themselves and their children, or from the worry that the next natural disaster will wipe current infrastructure and systems . The ideal city would be cleaner, quieter, safer, more accessible, and healthier. Cleaner cities would have less trash and less pollution than current systems allow for. Quieter cities would have less noise from cars and a more organized sense of the urban chaos that city dwellers love. Safer cities would be well lit, well patrolled, and have a strong sense of community. Well accessible and sustainable cities would make public transportation the cheapest and easiest option for travel, negating the need for cars and the congestion and pollution they bring. Bike access and priority is also a cornerstone of the ideal sustainable city. Finally, the ideal city makes health and sanitation systems a priority, and would do so by making health care easily accessible, as well as fresh food, access to recreation, and top-notch sewer and waste services.
Source: What Do We Need to Build Sustainable Cities?
