Ideas for Europe — Europe of Cities

Earlier this week, Tomorrow City published an article on the polluting impact of urbanisation, and what Smart Cities can do to limit this. The article points to some uncomfortable truths, such as the fact that human-made materials, including concrete, bricks or plastic, exceeded the mass of all living things on the planet in 2020. And that’s before we even talk about the energy utilised to create these materials, or the environmental impact of widespread urban developments and how they affect both human health and surrounding biodiversity.

As we edge closer to our collective environmental goals for 2030 and 2050, and with growing numbers of the human population migrating to cities – what can we do, from the perspective of Smart Cities, to limit the impact of urbanisation?

The talk of circular economy has become a hot topic in recent years, aided by it being one of the key proponents in order to help achieve net-zero goals around the world. But there are key challenges in fully understanding what this means, and how steps taken to implement it are troubled by factors that simply replace existing issues, as opposed to fully solving them – so what can we do to adequately address our sustainability goals, and ensure that we have a robust way to go about it?

70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. With that in mind, at the top of the world’s green agenda lies the creation of resilient and sustainable communities for citizens, with rising urbanisation being both a challenge and an opportunity to get things right. One of the UN’s Global Goals is the reduction of the adverse effects of natural disasters, as well as ensuring access to green spaces. So which initiatives around the world can we look towards for inspiration? Here are my top five.