In the rapidly evolving landscape of the 21st century, cities have emerged as models of innovation in terms of sustainable development goals. Cities creatively address pressing urban challenges, including density, transportation, housing, and resilience. They hold the potential to pioneer a comprehensive climate agenda, serving as laboratories for sustainable initiatives, cross-sectoral innovations and community-oriented strategies. Cities act as catalysts for revolutions, implementing impactful solutions that can be applied worldwide.
Countless cities currently struggle with environmental degradation, insufficient urban infrastructure and uncontrolled growth. The environmental impact of cities is disconcerting, posing a threat to the natural resources essential for sustaining economic development and alleviating poverty. Striking a balance between economic growth and establishing sustainable, habitable cities is the central challenge for urban areas globally.
The interconnectedness of social, political, economic, and ecological systems within cities and metropolitan regions highlights their role in the global march towards a sustainable future. From the Italian city Milan's and Singapore's green skyscrapers to Barcelona's initiatives in incentivizing sustainable public transport, the year 2023 saw prosperous initiatives from cities worldwide:
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What Makes an Outstanding City? 10 Cities in Focus in 2022How Cities Can Balance the Needs of Citizens and the Environment - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In 2020, in the midst of the first wave of lockdowns due to the pandemic, the municipality of Amsterdam announced its strategy for recovering from this crisis by embracing the concept of the “Doughnut Economy.” The model is developed by British economist Kate Raworth and popularized through her book, “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist”, released in 2017. Here, she argues that the true purpose of economics does not have to equal growth. Instead, the aim is to find a sweet spot, a way to balance the need to provide everyone with what they need to live a good life, a “social foundation” while limiting our impact on the environment, “the environmental ceiling.” With the help of Raworth, Amsterdam has downscaled this approach to the size of a city. The model is now used to inform city-wide strategies and developments in support of this overarching idea: providing a good quality of life for all without putting additional pressure on the planet.
How Cities Can Embrace Socio-Ecological Urbanism - Ganvie, Benin
Located in the southern part of Benin-Republic, near the port city of Cotonou, is Ganvie; the largest floating village in Africa. It is situated in the middle of Lake Nokoué and is characterized by colorful wooden stilt houses arranged around artificial islands dating back to the 17th century. It has been sustained over time by their communal socio-ecological aquacultural systems and has now become a global tourist attraction for the country. Aquaculture has become increasingly challenging to maintain as the village struggles to retain its economic foundation. Additionally, traditional building practices have given way to modern ones, and the village faces ongoing environmental challenges. Nevertheless, the unique lifestyle of the locals around the water still offers many lessons for the design of prospective floating cities.
How Cities Can be Rebuilt in Light of Rising Sea Levels - Jakarta, Indonesia
The Indonesian parliament has approved a bill to relocate the capital from the city of Jakarta to a completely new city to be built on the island of Borneo, 1,300 kilometers from the current capital. The decision, first announced in 2019, comes as a reaction to the myriad of challenges faced by Jakarta, including pollution, traffic congestion, and, perhaps the most threatening, rising sea waters. As a consequence of excessive groundwater extraction, rapid urbanization, and rising sea levels, 40% of the city is currently below sea level, making it increasingly difficult for the infrastructure to protect the residents. President Joko Widodo proposes an alternative: relocating the administrative center of the country to a new green metropolis, to be named Nunsantara, meaning ‘archipelago’ in ancient Javanese.
How Cities Can Deal with Rainstorms - New York City, USA
In September of this year, New York City experienced a severe storm that inundated its streets with more than 7 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, causing a number of roads to close, cars to submerge, and buses to get trapped. This event again highlighted the city's old infrastructure's inability to handle fast and heavy rainfall. As climate change intensifies, experts warn that such extreme weather events will become increasingly frequent. This vulnerability is especially concerning in densely populated urban areas such as New York City, where flooding risks increase due to the large amounts of impervious surfaces.
How Cities Can Reduce Carbon Emissions by Limiting Building Heights - Paris, France
The city of Paris has officially reinstated a rule that limits the height of new buildings in the French capital to 37 meters, or 12 storeys. Among the factors for the decision was the controversy surrounding the construction of the 180-meter-tall Tour Triangle, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, which began in 2021 after more than a decade of legal battles and backlash. The new urban planning regulation is introduced as part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo's Local Bioclimatic Urban Plan, which aims to reduce Paris' carbon emissions.
How Cities Can Design Responsive Landscapes - Hangzhou, China
In 2018, Archi-Tectonics NYC and !Melk were announced as the winners of a competition to develop a masterplan transformation for the Hangzhou Asian Games Park 2022. Spanning 116 Acres, the now-completed project includes an expansive Eco Park and seven buildings. Although its initial purpose was to serve as a venue for the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022, the team extended its vision far beyond this event, charting a new path for the city’s environmental future. Following a “Sponge-City” landscape approach, the project established a hilly oasis intended for year-round recreational use. In fact, the oasis acts as a green lung, revitalizing the local ecosystem.
How Cities Can Foster Reforestation Initiatives - New Orleans, USA
New Orleans experiences the worst urban heat island effect in the country, with temperatures nearly 9 F° higher than nearby natural areas. The city also lost more than 200,000 trees from Hurricane Katrina, dropping its overall tree canopy to just 18.5 percent. The non-profit organization Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL) partnered with landscape architects at Spackman Mossop Michaels (SMM) to create a highly accessible, equity-focused reforestation plan for the city that provides a roadmap for achieving a tree canopy of 24 percent by 2040. But more importantly, the plan also seeks to equalize the canopy, so at least 10 percent of all 72 neighborhoods are covered in trees. Currently, more than half of neighborhoods are under the 10 percent goal.
How Cities Can Map Progress in Sustainable Construction - Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen hosted the largest gathering in the realm of sustainable architecture, bringing together over 6,000 participants from 135 nations. The UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 focused on the theme "Sustainable Futures – Leave No One Behind." This event served as a forum for distinguished researchers and professionals of various backgrounds and ages to delve into methods of creating buildings that address climate change, bolster biodiversity, and foster social inclusivity. As the congress drew to a close, "The Copenhagen Lessons" were unveiled, comprising ten principles intended to facilitate swift and transformative progress in the field of sustainable construction.
The imperative of sustainable cities goes beyond the aspirations of urban planners and environmental enthusiasts - it is a crucial necessity in the battle against climate change. Sustainable infrastructure serves as a defense against a wide range of challenges, from flooding and heat waves to compromised water supplies. Notably, even the spread of diseases, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can be curtailed or eliminated through sustainable urban planning. Cities that proactively mitigate climate risks and natural disasters stand to benefit from reduced property damage, lower insurance losses, and fewer casualties, underscoring the indispensability of sustainable urban practices for long-term success. Recognizing that impactful change must occur at the city scale, efforts to drive transformation in urban areas become pivotal in meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. As cities change, so too does the world, emphasizing the interconnectedness of urban resilience and the global environmental footprint.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Year in Review, presented by Randers Tegl.
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