Green
Cities are solutions to Climate Change crisis
Earth Day
2014 will focus on Green Cities, mobilizing a millions of people to create a
sustainable, healthy environment by greening communities worldwide. Today, more
than half of the world’s population lives in cities.
The India’s
population is expected to reach about 1.5 billion by 2030 looking at the
current trends of population index. This
high population growth to concentrate in cities with higher economic output
enables the migration from rural areas causing a tremendous impact on the
existing urban infrastructure. It is predicted that India will have six
megacities having a population of more than ten million each and 68 cities will
each have more than one million inhabitants, by 2030.
The rapid
growth of cities have challenged the urban infrastructure planners and
designers how to resolve the burgeoning
issues like., inadequacy of water supply, overloading of urban drainage
systems, insufficient power supply, unreliable public transportation
systems and limited access to adequate medical treatment. To address
these issues, a reliable and efficient urban infrastructure complimenting
the population growth needs to be updated accordingly. As the urban population
grows and the effects of climate change worsen, our cities have to evolve. However,
this being highly complex requires creating a knowledgeable manpower to help the cities to become more
sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint. Wherein, the cities can accelerate their transition to a cleaner, healthier, and more economically viable future through
improvements in efficiency, investments in renewable technology, and regulation
reform in three key elements – buildings, energy, and transportation.
Green
Cities the theme of world Earth day 2014; to emphasis on the study of complex
behaviour of urban agglomeration, to impart the requisite skills for planning,
designing and executing the systems responsive for reliable, effective and
efficient urban infrastructures, which can reduce the Green House Gases (GHG) considerably, few to
name are., Firstly; Energy, switching to
sustainable and renewable energy sources. Secondly, Green Buildings:
implementing Green Building Code (GBC) in the design and construction of
buildings reduces one third of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
Thirdly, Transportation: Transportation
is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, three
quarters of which comes directly from road vehicles. To reduce these emissions
and the resulting smog, by implementing car pooling to work, restraining private
vehicle entry to busy commercial areas, emphasis be on public transportation options, invest in alternative
transportation, like mono rail, metro etc, and have dedicated lanes for Cycling
and Walking.
It’s time
for us to invest in effective, efficient, environment friendly mode of
transportation, Green buildings, and use of Green Energy, like renewable energy, to rebuild our cities and
towns, and begin to solve the climate crisis. More than that, sustainability
implies responsible and proactive decision-making and innovation that minimises
negative impact and maintains balance between ecological resilience, economic
prosperity, political justice and cultural vibrancy to ensure a desirable
cities for all species now and in the future.
Lastly I would like to conclude with an
appeal of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “I appeal to all people everywhere
to raise their voices. Speak out on behalf of this planet, our only home. Let
us care for Mother Earth so she can continue to care for us as she has done for
millennia."
References:
UN International Mother Earth Day- 2014.
Liam Magee, Andy Scerri, Paul James, Lin Padgham, James Thom, Hepu
Deng, Sarah Hickmott, and Felicity Cahill, ‘Reframing Sustainability Reporting:
Towards an Engaged Approach’, Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol.
15, no. 1, 2013, pp. 225–43.
