Many cities around the world are aiming to become more sustainable. Their primary goals are to reduce city noise, create a greener space and improve the air quality. There is more to being more sustainable than those mentioned but let’s take a deeper look at how cities aim to be more sustainable.
Encourages More Green Spaces
There are multiple benefits to having more green spaces in city centres. It provides the opportunity to escape the hectic lifestyle in those concrete walls. Not only this but they also help with improving the air quality and are believed to help reduce the crime rate. This is a simple method for making a city greener.
Now, we know that you cannot implement more green spaces in a city if there is no space. However, there are several things a city can do to make it greener with the land they already have.
Firstly, you can repurpose existing land that isn’t used. Many areas in city centres are no longer used and have unused buildings. Secondly, a council can collaborate with private businesses to turn some of their existing space into a park or garden.
Planting more trees is always encouraged to provide a greener space. Additionally, they can provide shade and help to make the air cleaner. Plus, it is easy to plant trees in city centres, especially if there are some city parks.
Improve The Frequency of Transportation and Make It More Affordable
Increasing public transport in city centres is also encouraged. The more buses and trains that come into the city, the more people will use public transport rather than driving into the city.
Not only can the council increase the number of public transport options but they can also make it more affordable. This is something which has occurred in Manchester. Andy Burham, the Mayor of Manchester, has made all buses charge two pounds that travel in and out of Greater Manchester.
Finally, buses can also have electric engines rather than petrol-powered engines. You will see more electric public transport vehicles in major cities such as London and Manchester. Plus, solar lights are also used at modern bus stops.
Improve Building Methods
The construction industry has had a massive impact on the environment, especially in city centres. That is why more construction aims to be more sustainable and help play their part in building a greener city.
Some councils are offering tax breaks and rebates to those who are meeting the sustainable standards set in the city. This will make many buildings more affordable to reside in.
Many countries including the UK are aiming to reduce their carbon emissions. For example, the government in the UK has set a target to reach net zero by 2050. Other companies such as Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Canada have also passed the laws to achieve this goal by 2050.
Increase The Use Of Renewable Energy
One of the main priorities that cities are looking to do is to increase the use of renewable energy. This means that cities are reducing the use of fossil fuels and instead installing renewable energy plants around the city.
There are many renewable sources which can easily be implemented such as solar and wind energy. There are many wind highrises across the world which are installing wind turbines at the top and in between twin highrises.
Cities should be encouraging renewable energy projects, for example, by promoting the use of solar and wind farms in and around city centres by investing in them themselves and encouraging solar panels on top of most buildings to increase solar energy. To help increase the number of renewable energy projects, councils enforce laws to improve renewable energy development.
There are already some laws in place that include zero emissions zones. This is in highly dense parts of the city where vehicles are subject to certain restrictions on exhaust emissions. This means that if a car isn’t hybrid or electric and a vehicle is over a certain age have to pay a fee to drive through those areas.
To help increase the use of electric vehicles in city centres. There are several car parks which now have EV charging stations to charge their vehicles. Usually, these will be next to shopping centres and other busy areas such as car parks in Leeds. This encourages those with an electric vehicle to drive into the city centre and charge their vehicle.
Summary
There are many things councils need to do to help improve the sustainability of their cities. Additionally, there is a lot that has been done already to improve this. Nevertheless, much more is needed, especially if countries like Japan and Canada want to reach the goal of zero emissions by 2050.