Sustainable Cities: Business Opportunities from Resource Efficiency in Urbanization

The exodus of people from rural environments to the cities continues around the world. There are now 7 billion people on earth and it is anticipated that by 2050 there will be at least 9 billion people, most of whom will be living in cities. As of 2011 there were 3.6 billion people living in cities by 2050 that number is expected to almost double to 6 billion people living in urban contexts. Cities must find ways to deal with this massive population influx.

The question that we all face is how to make urban existence sufficiently sustainable so that burgeoning populations do not outstrip the carrying capacity of the local environments in and around these cities. How are we to provide food, water, electricity, roads, vehicles etc. Nowhere is this problem more serious and more pressing than in the developing world.

Event - Smart to Future Cities 2013

The second annual Smart to Future Cities event will take place on June 11 and 12, 2013. Too many smart city conferences do not distinguish between what is possible in developed countries as opposed to emerging economies. Equally many focus on a futurist vision of what may be possible in the future and not what we can do now. This is often compounded by not giving enough emphasis on the practical roadmap to implementing a future city and how you measure success.

Event - Green Roof Professional (GRP) Accreditation Training Program

Green Roof Professional (GRP) Accreditation Training Program with take place on Feb 21 to Feb 24, 2013, in Toronto, Ontario.

Green Roof Design 101: Introductory Course will take place on February 21st, 2013. This introductory training course on green roof infrastructure design presents many of the tools and techniques needed to meet your green roof project objectives on schedule, to specification, and within budget.

Green Roof Infrastructure: Design & Installation 201 Friday, February 22nd, 2013 An immensely practical course that provides participants with in-depth information on the multitude of green roof implementation issues from first client meetings through scheduling, insurance and permit issues, site analysis, construction considerations and more.

Event - Sustainable Communities Conference and Trade Show

The Sustainable Communities Conference and Trade Show will take place on Feb 13 - 15, 2013 at the Caesars Windsor, Windsor Essex, Ontario.

Help Reader's Digest Find Canada's Greenest Towns

Reader’s Digest is holding a competition for "Canada’s Most Interesting Towns" and one of the categories is "Canada's Greenest Cities." Canadians from coast to coast are welcome to share their stories and images. To participate simply send a story and photos reviewing a town that leads the way in environmental issues and action.

Some of the accomplishments that qualify a city as "Canada's Greenest," include:

Sustainable Jersey Certification Program for Municipalities (Event)

The "Sustainable Jersey Fall Networking Event" will take place on October 23, 2012 at 6:30 pm at Careme's Restaurant in Atlantic Cape Community College Campus 5100 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing.
The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) invites towns and interested members of the public to this event.

The honorable Dr. Ed Mahaney Jr., Mayor of Cape May City, will be the guest speaker and will share his experience leading his community to a more sustainable future. Sustainable Jersey is a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey interested in taking steps to sustain the quality of life for residents. Sustainable Jersey identifies concrete actions that municipalities can implement to become "certified" and be considered leaders on the path to a sustainable community.

Canada's Best and Worst Green Cities

According to a 2011 index sponsored by Siemens, Vancouver is the greenest city in Canada and Montreal is the least green. The index measured and rated the environmental performance of 27 cities in the US and Canada in nine categories: CO2, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air and environmental governance. The index was a project run by the Economist Intelligence Unit, an in-house research unit of the British magazine The Economist. Cities were selected independently rather than through requests from city governments to be included. A panel of global experts in urban environmental sustainability advised the unit in developing methodology for the index.

The Mediterranean City Conference: An Integrated Approach to Climate Change Adaptation (Event)

On June 25-27, 2012 at the Sheraton Downtown, Los Angeles an event will be taking place on Mediterranean cities and climate change. Although countries across the Mediterranean regions may have differing developmental priorities, the urban centers face similar challenges. The Mediterranean City Consortium will work to collaborate and develop integrated climate change adaptation strategies and seek to share resources, technology and information for regionally relevant responses.

The Growth of London's Green Economy

London’s green economy is growing fast and with ambitious green initiatives from the UK government it will keep growing. According to an Innovas report commissioned by mayor of London Boris Johnson, areas like renewable energy and low carbon building technologies are growing the economy and creating jobs. Despite difficult economic headwinds in Europe, the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector grew by more than four per cent during 2009-2010. Some 160,000 people were employed by the sector across 9,000 companies.

Video: Components of a Sustainable City

This video reviews the elements that go into making a sustainable city. These elements include public transportation, farmscrapers, vertical farms, green roofs, as well as the reliance on renewable forms of energy like solar panels, wave power, and wind mills.

Related Posts
Smarter Cities' Best Green American Municipalities
Berkeley's Climate Action Plan
Oakland's Green Jobs and Energy Initiatives
The Greening of China's Cities

Smarter Cities' Best Green American Municipalities

American cities are showing leadership by making their cities more green. A Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) project called Smarter Cities, assessed American cities by their investments in green power as well as energy efficiency and conservation measures.

Out of a total of 655 cities, the 2010 Smarter Cities report names 22 “beacons of energy innovation” in ten states. According to the report, the best cities include six Californian cities (Berkeley, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Oakland, Santa Clarita, Santa Cruz and San Francisco), four Texan cities (Austin, Dallas, Denton and El Paso), and New York, N.Y. For a complete summary of the top 22 green cities see the High Performers Survey Data Table.

Winning cities were assessed on nine dimensions including electricity consumption, EPA green power usage, distributed generation, state legislated energy reduction, greenhouse gas inventory, energy reduction strategy, conservation incentives, energy services and tracking progress.

Columbus’ Ohio is also a leader amongst green cities, they are doing everything they can to incentivize green innovation. The city is proving that sustainable business is good business, they have minimized energy costs and improved the quality of life for residents.

The most successful cities employ conservation tactics like energy audits, weatherization programs and energy-efficiency upgrades. One of the most effective strategies with a wide ripple effect involves supporting green business.

Smarter Cities' next plan is to tackle car-less commuting including public transportation and bike paths. They expect to complete their evaluation in the fall of 2010.
___________________________________

Related Posts
Berkeley's Climate Action Plan
Oakland's Green Jobs and Energy Initiatives
California's Government Partnerships
Electric Vehicles Combat Smog
Environmental Impact of Overpopulation and Sustainable Development
US Green Legislation
Midwest Best Practices Conference for Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Brands Innovation Open Finalists
Electric Vehicles Need New Business Models
Greener Commercial Transport Vehicles
Business for the Environment Global Summit
The Green Job Market