Corporate social responsibility, governance, substainable development

Dipping in to sustainable city focus areas

As indicated in our Sustainable Cities expert view, cities will need to address a wide range of challenges and opportunities to be true to the sustainable cities philosophy. There is already an incredible amount of great work happening on these issues around the globe, and this case study provides a brief snapshot of just some examples we have come across. Limited space means we cannot touch on every single challenge, but the following should give some sense of the initiatives and innovation that are underway.

Mobility

Sustainable transportation is a major focus of sustainable cities, especially with the proliferation of private vehicles that is accompanying economic success in developing countries. In most cases, these cities were built when there were few private vehicles meaning that their infrastructures are now struggling to keep up with the influx of vehicles.

Authorities need to identify and implement low-carbon transport solutions corresponding to the individual characteristics of their city to ensure residents can continue to access essential goods and services. Singapore and Hong Kong, for example, early on took the step of discouraging private vehicle ownership and encouraging public transport. Other cities like Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok have only more recently started building new public transport options, but the challenge will now be encouraging people to use them instead of their own vehicles.¹ Another innovation that commentators like Jaime Lerner believe will become more prevalent in cities is companies offering “private” vehicles without private ownership,² for example the Velib in Paris and Go Get in Australia.

Scenario planning has long been recognised as a powerful tool in determining non-financial risks in communities and organisations. This makes Forum for the Future’s Megacities on the move toolkit a must-have resource to help public bodies, companies and civil society organisations “understand and plan for the mobility challenges of the future”. The toolkit provides users with six sustainable mobility solutions, as well as four scenarios that are easily adaptable to local circumstances for anyone wanting to explore what the future might hold for their city.³

Energy

With global oil reserves becoming progressively more depleted and an increasing demand for energy, it is essential that cities identify ways of becoming more energy efficient and making better use of renewable energy sources. There are many ways that cities can do this, but Stephen Hammer suggests a cautionary approach before committing to significant investments. He suggests that decision makers take the time to develop energy master plans. They need to ascertain exactly what energy resources their city will need in the coming decades in the context of returns on investment such as cost savings, job creation, carbon emission reductions etc.⁴

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is also a strong advocate for sustainable energy and the vital role it plays in tackling poverty: “Energy transforms lives, businesses and economies. And it transforms our planet – its climate, natural resources and ecosystems. There can be no development without energy.” He is calling for urgent action through collaboration between governments, the private sector and civil society, a key message that he took to the World Future Energy Summit (Abu Dhabi) in mid January.⁵

Ban Ki-Moon is also leading a Sustainable Energy for All initiative, with rock group Linkin Park declaring their support. The United National General Assembly has designated 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. By 2030 this initiative aims to:

Ensure universal access to modern energy services
Double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency
Double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

As part of this initiative, the United Nations Foundation has also established a new global Energy Access Practitioner Network. This Network of private sector and civil society organisations will work together to “catalyze the scale-up of renewable and low-carbon technologies and spur the market toward universal energy access”.⁶

Water

Water (quality, access, conservation) and waste water (domestic and industrial) are critical issues for cities, especially with so many of the megacities being located in water-distressed countries. Urban planners often cite the case of Singapore as being a good example for other cities to learn from. Recognising they had a water scarcity issue, Singapore has started to educate the community to get used to the idea of water recycling and has now started treating waste water and putting it back into the water supply.⁷

The Jordan Water Efficiency Program demonstrates the value of research and social marketing in effective urban water sustainability initiatives. The Jordanian government had assumed that consumers needed to change their water usage behaviours, i.e. turn off taps when brushing teeth, take shorter showers etc. It turned out that Jordanians were already efficient water users with one of the lowest per capita water usage rates on the planet, so they took a different approach and initiated a successful campaign to encourage people to install an aerator on their taps, thus reducing water consumption and saving residents 30% on their water bills. This project also resulted in changes to the construction codes to standardise water flow rates and started work toward a uniform plumbing code.⁸

Food

Urban food supply is an especially interesting aspect of the drive towards sustainable cities. There are numerous examples of local communities working in partnership with local authorities, government agencies and industry bodies to roll out sustainable food initiatives. Invariably these initiatives are driven by passionate, community-minded citizens, although increasingly local authorities are taking a lead in replicating examples they have witnessed elsewhere.

The San Francisco farmers’ markets are a well-known success story, with the combined efforts of various players helping to effect changes in regulation to make sales of farmers’ produce more efficient and less wasteful, while building public and media support. The markets, in turn, are helping to enhance links between rural and urban communities and improve understanding of nutrition.⁹

The urban garden phenomenon is also taking on renewed momentum with urban gardens growing in scale, popping up in increasingly unique locations and being used for ever more innovative purposes. The Rooftop Farms project is a great example of this. Instigated solely by local residents, this garden is located on the roof of a vacant factory. The vegetables from the rooftop garden are consumed by the volunteers and sold to other residents and local restaurants.¹⁰ Similarly in London, the Capital Growth partnership initiative is aiming to help Londoners create 2,012 new community food growing spaces by the end of 2012. Capital Growth provides practical support and advice, funding and training to anyone who wants to set up a community food growing project.¹¹

These types of sustainable food initiatives offer urban areas a range of benefits, such as:

Economic – providing a locally grown source of food at a time when food prices are increasing; creating new jobs
Health – improving access to nutritious food; increasing the number of green recreational areas
Environmental – improving air quality; regenerating natural habitats; increasing flood protection.

Health & wellbeing

Health and wellbeing are central to quality of life, and cities have a responsibility to provide access to safe and equitable healthcare services. In many cases, this is proving increasingly difficult as cities are faced with budget cuts at the same time as their populations are growing rapidly. Our View from the Field, brought to you by Julie Huibregtsen of the Municipal Health Service of Rotterdam, provides an overview of the Working Together on Good Health initiative. This innovative programme focuses on improving perceived health to improve the wellbeing of people who are less healthy and the socio-economic strength of Rotterdam.

Another unique health-focused initiative is the Chinese government’s outdoor gyms project which encourages a culture of healthy lifestyles by giving Beijing’s citizens free access to public exercise facilities. This innovative project has resulted in approximately 4,000 outdoor gyms being created in parks, streets and other public areas across Beijing since 1998. It has been supported by an educational campaign, demonstrating that healthy choices can be fun.¹²

Technology

Data can pose challenges for local governments working on the sustainable cities agenda. Whilst there is generally substantial data available, it is often held in separate databases making big picture thinking and planning difficult. The city of Austin in Texas is undertaking a project with technical assistance through the IBM Smarter Cities initiative that will help to resolve this issue. When launched the Sustainable Places Analytic Tool will enable local authorities to access multiple data sets within the same tool so that they can better understand what different development patterns might look like, and base decision making on analysis of the interdependent economic, environmental and social factors.¹³

The rapid expansion of digital tools and social media into our everyday lives has altered traditional views of what a community is, and online social networks have become important channels for grassroots-driven social change. An example of this trend in action is 7 Billion Actions,¹⁴ an initiative established by the UN Population Fund to provide a platform where people can share stories, films and music about what they are doing in their local communities to tackle the numerous issues facing humanity now that the population has clicked over to 7 billion. The idea is that by sharing stories at www.7billionactions.org, people will learn from others’ experiences and be inspired to take positive action in their own communities. Urbanisation, ageing and environment are amongst the key themes covered.

Poverty & inequality

There is still no universal consensus as to how best to reverse the growing divide between rich and poor within cities or between cities in developed and developing countries. However, as with international development practice, there is general agreement that the true solution lies in empowering people to help themselves.

In cities, one practical way of doing this is ensuring there is meaningful, local employment for people. Tim Ferguson argues that small companies can provide the stimulus for economic growth and increased employment opportunities, but only if they can “get the capital they need to expand their operations and hire more people in city neighbourhoods where the best social program is a job”.¹⁵

Michael E Porter also recognises the significant role inner city businesses play in generating economic activity and encourages cities to “exploit the competitive advantages of inner cities that will translate into truly profitable businesses”. He cautions against the tendency to increase social investment without addressing the root cause of the issues; it requires wealth creation rather than wealth redistribution.

Sources:

Sustainable Cities – Challenges for the Asia Pacific, ABC Radio Australia, 2008
Lerner, J, Urban Acupuncture, HBR Blog Network, 18 April 2011
Megacities on the Move, Forum for the Future
Hammer, S, The Smart Grid May Not Be the Smartest Way to Make Cities Sustainable, HBR Blog Network, 29 September 2010
Ki-Moon, B, Powering Sustainable Energy for All, The New York Times, 11 January 2012
Sustainable Energy for All initiative website
Sustainable Cities – Challenges for the Asia Pacific, ABC Radio Australia, 2008
Kotler, P & Lee, NR, Social Marketing: Influencing Behaviors for Good (third edition), SAGE Publications, 2008
Sustainable Cities, a part of Danish Architecture Centre
Sustainable Cities, a part of Danish Architecture Centre
Capital Growth website, the campaign to support 2,012 new community food-growing spaces for London by the end of 2012
Sustainable Cities, a part of Danish Architecture Centre
Otto, M, Tools for Sustainable Cities, HBR Blog Network, 20 April 2011
7 Billion Actions website, a global movement for all humanity
Ferguson, T, Why is Capital Afraid of Cities?, HBR Blog Network, 25 April 2011