Sustainable cities

?

Curitiba - Brazil

  • Population of 1.8 million people
  • budget of 6 million dollars per year

Reducing cars

  • Bus system - used by 1.4 million people every day
  • Cheap fare on all journeys - for poorer residents
  • 20% lower car usage than national average
  • Lowest levels of poultion in Brazil

Green Space and Natural environment

  • 0.5m to 52m squared of green space per person
  • Tax incentives for builders with green spaces
  • over 1000 national parks built (in flood prone zones - not a lot of damage)

Recycling schemes

  • 70% of rubbish is recycled
  • Where streets are too narrow for bin collection - residents given tickets for food and buses to recycle
  • save 1200 trees every day

Successful in the future?

  • Less pollution and fossil fuels - fix future damage
  • Fewer resources used and less waste - less land fill sites
  • Green spaces - people are :) here!
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Masdar City - Abu Dhabi

One of the most sustainble cities powered with renewable energy:

  • Ensuring a low carbon footprint during and after its construction.
  • Being completely powered by renewable energy.
  • Reducing waste to as near to zero as possible, through encouraging changes in behaviour and regulating materials which can be present in the city.
  • Leading research and education into sustainable technology.
  • Designing the city streets and buildings to help create comfortable environments reducing the need for air conditioning, heating, and artificial light.
  • Educating three quarters of the 40,000 residents with 5 hours of sustainability education each year.
  • Leading research at its university to ensure the city retains its sustainable identification and leading knowledge in sustainable living.
  • Full pedestrianisation within the city, without vehicles in the space. The transport network would be below ground.
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Whitehill Bordon - UK ecotown

In 2009 the UK Government named four towns as "eco-towns". The towns receive some government funding and are granted eco-town status on the basis of the potential for achieving a high level of sustainability.

  • Around £10 million was given by the government. This money funded many local projects.
  • MOD land (a brownfield site) will be converted into an exhibition house informing residents about how low carbon living can work. The grounds will be designed to encourage local wildlife and grow food.
  • Energy saving measures have been started in public buildings. The redeveloped fire station is to have a biomass boiler.
  • Free wi-fi in the town centre will enable communities to join together.
  • Free loft insulation is given to householders to help save energy.
  • Over 50 green spaces around and within the town are identified to protect and enhance wildlife. A broadwalk, made from recycled materials, is being built.
  • Eco-grants are available to local businesses to help reduce their carbon footprint.
  • The initiative hopes to create 5,500 jobs by 2028.
  • There is a strong link with the community - with local consultations and representatives.
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Cities for Life - bedZED London

The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is the UK's largest carbon-neutral eco-community - the first of its kind in this country. BedZED is a mixed-use, mixed-tenure development that incorporates innovative approaches to energy conservation and environmental sustainability. It is built on reclaimed land owned by the London Borough of Sutton, sold to the developers at below market value due to the planned environmental initiatives.

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Hull

REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT!!!

Deal with -

  • crime
  • housing
  • unused buildings
  • green spaces
  • littering
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Dongtan - Shanghai

Sustainability:

> Arup’s aim is that Dongtan will be self-supporting, generating all its energy needs, including transport, from renewables and will have zero emissions from the tailpipes of vehicles

> Farmland around the city will grow food for the city and there will be nutrient and soil conditioning recycling between city waste and the surrounding land

> The city’s design will aim to prevent pollutants reaching the adjacent wetland areas

Energy:

> The city region will supply the bulk of its energy from wind turbines, bio-fuels and recycling organic material

> An Energy Centre will contain the energy supply centre for the entire city of Dongtan.  It will also be a tourist attraction, as well as a leisure park, science exhibition and an education centre

Recycling:

> Most of the city’s waste will be recycled and organic waste will be composted or used as bio-mass for energy production

> There will be no landfill of waste and human sewage will be processed for irrigation and composting

Buildings:

> Where possible, labour and materials will be sourced locally to reduce transport and embodied energy costs associated with construction

> A combination of traditional and innovative building technologies will reduce energy requirements associated with heating and cooling of buildings by up to 70%

> Good public transport will reduce air and noise pollution, which enables buildings to be naturally ventilated, and in turn reduces the demand on energy

> Green roofs on buildings improves insulation, water filtration and potential storage for irrigation or waste disposal

> A compact city (made of villages) reduces infrastructure costs as well as improves amenity and energy efficiency to public transport systems

Transport:

> Dongtan will be a city linked by a combination of cycle-paths, pedestrian routes and varied modes of public transport, including buses and water-taxi’s

> Canals, lakes and marinas will permeate the city, providing a variety of recreation and transport opportunities

> Public transport will use innovative technologies, which may include solar powered water taxi’s or hydrogen fuel-cell buses

> Visitors will be encouraged to park their cars outside the city and use public transport while in the city

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Newnam - London

Disparities in Wealth

  •  The 6th most deprived borough in the UK.
  • 69% of Newham’s children live in struggling, low income families where parents are receiving key in or out of work benefits, with 55.7% living below the poverty line. At 50,690 this means Newham has a larger number of children growing up in struggling families than any other London borough.

4 in 10 London project -

  • A Fair Deal for Newham Children (to receive similar school funding to other boroughs)
  • Better Homes for Newham Families

In Newham there are three campaigns:Kit for Kids (school clothing grants)

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Comments

FMS

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This is good but I find it difficult to use a couple of these case studies including Mazdar City and Dongtan, because they are still in development, and the other was a failure.

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