Keys to the Emerald
city
Executive summary by darmansjah
HAVE A CONFESSION
to make. I don’t much like cities. In fact, as a kid I hated them. Growing up
in the suburbs of New Jersey a few turnpike exits away from Manhattan, I
gravitated to the woods, streams, and fields of the Garden State instead of the
concrete jungle that was home to my immigrant relatives. Nature made sense to
me-it had a rhythm an reason I could understand. None of this is surprising for
a guy who ended up working in the conservation field. But somewhere along the
way, I came to appreciate not just the appeal of cities (museums, people, and
culture) but also their outsize role in affecting the planet’s future.
According to the United Nations, half the world’s population now lives in
cities, and that proportion is expected to increase to more than two-thirds by
2050. If we are to solve our most pressing problems, from climate change to
dwindling freshwater resources, we have to get it right in our urban centers.
The challenges are immense, but so are the opportunities. Today, cities are
sprouting some of the most innovative green projects in the world, redefining a
sustainable future for urban dwellers-and attracting travelers, too. Here are
just a few.)
High rise shrubbery in Milan:
The world’s first vertical urban forest is rising above Italy’s largest industrial
city. Bosco Verticale, scheduled for
completion this year, consists of double towers planted with some 700 trees,
5,000 shrubs, and 11,000 smaller plants. The vegetation will create a
microclimate that supports birds, butterflies, and other insects, while also
absorbing dust-a serious problem in Milan-and-CO2, linked to climate change. It
will also cut noise pollution and conserve energy. As growing urban populations
strain available space, the idea is to expand upward rather than outward. Though
question remain, Bosco Verticale provides a glimpse of a future where skyscrapers
might one day double as forests.
Solar trees in Singapore:
With environmental awareness on the rise among its youthful population, this
clean-cut, high-tech city is emerging as the green capital of Asia. Witness the
new Gardens by the Bay, an ambitious renewable energy project and ecotourism
attraction set on 250 acres of reclaimed land, offering a greener vision of
urban renewal. It features 18 solar-powered ‘super-trees’ up to 16 stories
tall, made from steel and concrete ‘trunks’ covered in thousands of plants. Two
massive, futuristic-looking glass conservatories capture and filter rainwater. Inside
is a Noah’s ark of some of the world’s plants, including, for visitors,
interpretations of their modern and traditional uses.
Carbon-sucking spree in Chicago: The famous Millennium Park – surrounded by trendy
restaurants and filled with trees and flowers – is actually the largest green
roof in the world, stretching some 25 acres over a bustling underground
commuter rail station and parking garages. It forms the heart of Chicago’s
green belt (which covers roughly 17 percent of the metropolis and removes more
than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases from the air annually). The past several
years under Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his predecessor Richard M. Daley have seen
the city shutter two smog-creating coal-fired power plants that rained pollution
onto low-income neighborhoods, call for all new buildings to meet LEED
standards, invest in 100 miles of bikeways, and make plans for replacement of
900 miles of leaky city water pipes.
Trash to treasure in Sydney:
Australia’s first regional food-waste-to-energy power plant, Earth Power can
convert over 80,000 tons of food waste each year into renewable energy. An anaerobic
process transforms nearly one-third of the city’s discarded leftovers (think of
the restaurant scraps alone). The results are a biogas that helps power the metropolitan
area’s electrical grid and the prevention of food
rubbish from rotting in landfills and producing methane-a large contributor to
global warming.
Electricity-making sidewalks in London:
Sidewalk slabs – made from old car tires – that generate electricity from the
pressure of a footstep, harnessing the
kinetic energy of walking to power streetlights and other electronics? During last
year’s Olympic Games, temporary slabs made enough energy to light up the
walkway between the Tube station and the stadium each night. They are now being
installed permanently at the Westfield Stratford City shopping center near the
Olympic Stadium. Airports could be next, capturing the frantic energy of
travelers as they rush to catch their flights.
“Things that were unimaginable just a few years ago are now
possible,” says Jeffrey Sachs, director of Colombia University’s Earth Institute.
But he also warns that time is running out. “I believe we have maybe two
generations to embrace the technologies that allow us the benefits of modern
life while sustaining the planet.”
That’s roughly 50 years. Not a long time, but who would have
imagined even a decade ago the apiary that now produces local honey atop New York’s
Whitney Museum
of American Art? I can see a day when city dwellers will take an elevators to
the 27th floor to buy organic vegetables from skyscraper farmers
using compost to help power the building-and lifting us closer to a sustainable
future.
nice place to visit.
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