Posts tagged with 'air quality'
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 ...
Transit-oriented development strategies can help urban areas develop sustainably, uniting land use, transport planning, and urban design to create more people-oriented cities. Pictured: Small businesses and pedestrians at a hub near Mexico City's Metrobús bus rapid transit (BRT) system. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
People-oriented Cities: Demystifying transit-oriented development
The “People-oriented Cities” series – exclusive to TheCityFix and WRI Insights – is an exploration of how cities can grow to become more sustainable and livable through transit-oriented development (TOD). The nine-part series will address different urban design techniques and trends ...
Combining environmental education with cycling helps children make sustainable mobility a life long decision. Photo by Nasos Efstathiadis/Flickr.
Educating the next generation for sustainable mobility
Today’s children are inheriting an environmental crisis – a simultaneous combination of depleting resources and increasing pollution. Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE), launched in 2003 by the European Commission, seeks to find sustainability initiatives around the region that can help Europe’s ...
China's new urban plan seeks to build competitive, livable cities while combatting the rising phenomena of congestion, air pollution, and sprawl. Photo by Rob Chan/Flickr.
Preparing for the urban billion: “New-type” urbanization in China
While cities are drivers of economic growth, this prosperity does not always come naturally. The fate of a city lies in its ability to balance the positives of dense, connected communities – mobility, accessibility, and innovation chief among them – ...
Trees bring a multitude of benefits to cities, helping the environment as well as residents' quality of life. Photo by Tristan Higbee/Flickr.
Urban trees boost quality of life for city dwellers around the world
Trees often fade into the background of what people understand as the city, yet they bring immense value – including environmental benefits like filtering water run-off and cleaning the air as well as increasing health and quality of life – ...
caption: Cities around the world celebrate the many positive impacts of trees on Arbor Day. Photo by longzijun/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Promoting a culture of sustainability—celebrations of Arbor Day around the world
Arbor Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the many positive impacts of trees on our lives, has expanded from a small effort by American pioneers to transform Nebraska’s arid lands, to a global celebration that brings hope for a more ...
The city of Indore is a pilot city for the creation of a new Health Impact Assessment methodology that will be used to evaluate the potential impacts of transport developments and policies on city residents. Photo by McKay Savage/Flickr.
Integrating health benefits into transport planning and policy: The case of Indore, India
India alone accounts for about 10% of traffic fatalities worldwide. Fourteen lives are lost every hour, totalling 330 people that die each day on India’s roads. Out of this number, pedestrians comprise 21% of these deaths. In order to combat ...
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 ...
Although congestion pricing is often a contentious issue, its ability to decrease congestion and air pollution while increasing revenue for sustainable transport projects makes it a policy many cities find worth pursuing. Photo by Zhou Ding/Flickr.
How local governments can take congestion pricing from concept to reality
Few urban policies have been as contentious or as fruitful as congestion pricing. Congestion pricing is a travel demand management policy that charges a fee for vehicles that enter a certain urban area or a certain street during specific periods ...
Conducting Health Impact Assessments can help policy makers throughout India choose transport projects that will decrease air pollution, while increasing connectivity and health. Photo by John Hoey/Flickr.
The intersection of public health and transport in Indian cities
Typical transport investment and policy proposals in India often consider few factors, some being connectivity with surrounding areas, land use and socioeconomic impacts, available funding, and the level of support from local stakeholders. All too often, these assessments consistently overlook ...
Air quality and smog in China. Photo by Niccoló Mazzati/Flickr.
Air pollution in China forces short-term responses, requires long-term solutions
As severe air pollution grips Beijing, China and the surrounding region, the sharp rise in harmful particulate matter has forced authorities to consider both immediate responses and long-term strategies to combat air pollution. The current situation The height of the ...
Cape Town, South Africa calls for increased transport demand management (TDM). Photo by Warren Rohner/Flickr.
Lessons from the C40 Mayors Summit: Scaling up solutions for resilient, livable cities
More than 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. So cities represent the single greatest opportunity for targeted, meaningful actions that create impact on the ground, improve the quality of life for billions of people, and reduce ...
Boats anchored in a harbor outside of Qingdao, China. Photo by Li-Cah/Wikimedia.
Sustainable Cities: From a Vision to Reality
The C40 Cities Mayors Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa kicks off today. It’s the fifth biennial meeting of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a collection of mayors from cities around the world committed to advancing urban solutions to climate ...
Beijing bans street barbeques in effort to improve air quality
Beijing bans street barbeques in effort to improve air quality
Banning street barbecues is Beijing’s latest effort at improving air quality. Photo by Kaj17. Given China’s population growth, and rapid urbanization, Beijing is on its way to becoming a super city – a city with a population greater than 20 ...
An auto-rickshaw transports passengers in Gujarat, India. Photo by lecercle.
Promoting ridesharing for the daily commute in Mumbai
Recently, the State Government of Maharashtra (the third largest state in India, located on the western side of the country, and home to the cities of Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur) began looking into a proposal to run long-distance, point-to-point shared ...
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