Posts in the 'Energy + Climate Change' category
Ljubljana recently won the European Green Capital 2016 Award based on its comprehensive approach to sustainable development, which has transformed urban life in the past decade while minimizing the city's environmental impact. Photo by Rhobinn/Flickr.
Sustainable development and integrated planning mark Europe’s new green capital
Ljubljana, Slovenia has won the 2016 European Green Capital Award, given annually by the European Commission to cities that set an example of sustainable urban development best practices. With an ambitious sustainability plan and that has led to significant improvements in the ...
By prioritizing sustainable transport solutions, Beijing can shift away from car culture and improve quality of life for its rapidly growing population. Photo by Philip/Flickr.
The making of a livable city: Inspiration for a sustainable, healthy Beijing
Each year, 440,000 people move to Beijing in search of economic opportunity and better lives. Their rural to urban migration is a driver of economic growth, part of a larger plan to catalyze economic development through urbanization across China. However, ...
Mexico City’s new mobility law prioritizes alternatives to car transport. Photo by karmacamilleeon/Flickr.
Mexico City’s new mobility law shifts focus towards people, not cars
Sustainable mobility is a key challenge for city leaders. Mexico City – the world’s fourth most populous city, with more than 20 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area – is no different. The city must overcome a long history of urban ...
The BIG bus network in Bangalore is an example of an integrated transport solution that offers better accessibility through connectivity between transport modes and networks. Photo by Benoit Colin/EMBARQ.
From the director's chair: Sustainable urban transport solutions worth spreading
Holger Dalkmann, Director of EMBARQ – the producer of TheCityFix – wrote about the importance of developed and emerging cities improving sustainable transport in the 2014 Commonwealth Ministers Reference Book. Read his thoughts on growing trends contributing to sustainable cities worldwide. ...
Transport systems play an important role in shaping the character of an urban environment. Photo by Trey Ratcliff/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Are automated roads the next transport revolution?
Fresh off our discussion of the latest advances in solar-powered roadways, TheCityFix brings you the next future-oriented innovation in road technology: electric roadways. The Tracked Electrical Vehicle (TEV) Project is a radical new concept looking to transform the look, feel, ...
The newly released 2050 Global Calculator illustrates the potentially disastrous impacts of failing to act on climate change, and highlights transport as pivotal to containing global temperatures. Photo by Metrovía/SIBRT.
New data from 2050 Global Calculator indicates sustainable transport critical to combating climate change
Disclaimer: the calculations below are based on a preliminary, beta version of the Global Calculator. To view and explore the final version of the Calculator, visit tool.globalcalculator.org. Experts predict that a 2 degree Celsius rise in world temperatures could have drastic ...
Helsinki’s “mobility on demand” system will integrate a variety of transport options and could make car ownership obsolete. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Two cities’ bold plans to make cars obsolete
Helsinki, Finland and Hamburg, Germany are both striving to vastly improve urban transport in less than a generation. The Helsinki Times boldly states that “the future resident of Helsinki will not own a car.” Hamburg, meanwhile, has announced a plan ...
Increasing motorization in cities across China is threatening air quality and public health, causing many to ask what reforms can combat the country's growing culture of car-dependency. Photo by ilmari hyvönen/Flickr.
Turning the car around: Decreasing high-emission automobiles is the first step to a greener China
China currently has enough roads and infrastructure to accommodate 300 million vehicles. With car ownership reaching 137 million at the end of 2013, and 74 Chinese cities already reporting pollution surging above the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO) for over two thirds ...
Mumbai, India and Smart Cities
Three key themes from the Bonn climate talks
Editor’s note: Two weeks ago, TheCityFix wrote about the need to include urban mobility as a core tenet of the Bonn climate talks. Cities are the arena in which the regulations formulated at Bonn, and passed at COP 21 in ...
The Buriganga River in the Bangladeshi city of Dhaka provides transport for the city---yet reminds Dhaka's residents of the need to build resiliency into the city as water levels rise. Photo by William Veerbeek/Flickr.
Pitfalls and potential: Climate change vulnerability in Dhaka, Bangladesh
According to the United Nations, temperatures are likely to warm anywhere from 3 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, and scientists warn that “the world is ill-equipped to deal with the impacts of warming.” To help the lives impacted by ...
New York City, like many cities around the globe, is reshaping the design of its waterfront to be increasingly resilient to rising sea levels and an unpredictable climate. Photo by Stefan Georgi/Flickr.
Planning for Climate Change and the Urban Future
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and ICLEI, the largest worldwide association of local governments, released a study last week showing how climate change has become a priority for cities across the globe. Entitled the “Urban Climate Change Governance Survey,” ...
What future do you want? Photo by Africa Renewal/John Gillespie/Flickr.
TheCityFix’s roadmap to the Bonn climate change negotiations
From June 4 – 19, 2014, environmental leaders, policymakers, and the international climate community will descend on Bonn, Germany for the intersessional negotiation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This event is a chance for leaders ...
Introducing the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Photo by Christian Haugen/Flickr.
Introducing the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
TheCityFix, produced by EMBARQ, is excited to announce the launch of the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, which will focus on research, tools, and on-the-ground action to develop accessible, healthy, equitable, and environmentally friendly cities. The Center will build ...
Cities around the world seek out ways to shift, avoid, and improve their infrastructure and transport modes to decrease air pollution. Photo by WBUR/Flickr.
Right to breathe: The link between transport and air quality
Today, the highest levels of air pollutants are concentrated in developing cities, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Motor vehicles contribute between 25 and 75% of this air pollution. In March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released ...
Green spaces in cities, such as New York's High Line, promote an active, sustainable lifestyle for city residents. Photo by David Berkowitz/Flickr.
World Urban Forum highlights opportunities for sustainable cities
In recent months, popular protests have broken out in cities around the globe. The causes were different: soaring pollution in Beijing; violent gender-based crime in New Delhi; and access to public services in São Paulo. But, for each, inequality was ...
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