Vancouver, British Columbia

Host city for the 2010 Winter Games, Vancouver rests beautifully between mountains and ocean, making it a major attraction for nature lovers. The City of Vancouver is a leader in climate protection, and was one of the first municipalities in North America to develop and resource Climate Change Action Plans. Vancouver has been actively working to implement these plans since 2004, and recently the City has set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets for the future.  In 2003, the City approved its Corporate Climate Change Action Plan.  As of 2006, GHG emissions from City operations were 5% below 1990 levels and the City was on track towards meeting its 2010 reduction target of 20% below 1990 levels.  In recognition of the cities leadership in climate protection, Vancouver has been invited as one of the four original member cities of the UN's Climate Neutral Network. With a population of about 600,000, Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada, and has ranked in the top three most livable cities in the world by the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey for 10 years running. Finally, the City of Vancouver has laid the foundation for becoming a carbon neutral city by implementing a general strategy which focuses on using the best practices to reduce emissions from civic buildings, fleet, and solid waste, and to offset remaining emissions by developing incremental, verifiable GHG reduction projects and programs in the local community. The Vancouver City Council has gone to great lengths to ensure that it meets its impressive emission targets, and for all its efforts, Vancouver continues to be renowned for its leadership in sustainability:

Vancouver’s ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets:

• 6% below 1990 levels by 2012
• 33% below 2007 levels by 2020
• 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and is located on the western coast of the green island of Zealand.  Copenhagen is home to an impressive environmentally conscious group of citizens.  This is most evident by the 36% of the population that cycle to school and work every day, making Copenhagen the second largest cycling capitol in Europe.  Since 1990, the city has reduced its CO2 emissions by 20%. This is most often attributed to the extensive wind farm projects throughout Denmark, but specific to Copenhagen is the 40 megawatt capacity wind farm just outside the city’s harbour. The wind farm is notable for supplying 3% of the city’s energy, equivalent to 32,000 homes. The city also boasts the world’s largest district heating system which covers 97% of all households in Copenhagen, as well as a waste management system which gives the ability to reuse about 90% of all building waste. Copenhagen is a member of the UN’s Climate Neutral Network and aspires to be the climate capital of the world by proving that high living standards, economic growth and environmental consciousness are not necessarily incompatible bedfellows. By 2015, Copenhagen will have reduced its CO2 emissions by a further 20%.

Portland, Oregon

SustainLane, a website resource dedicated to sustainable and healthy living, has yet again ranked Portland as the top sustainable city in the United States:  “Not surprising given that it got a 30-year jump on the rest of the country. That’s right: city-planners in Portland have been thinking green since the 70s, when the rest of the country was still embracing the strip mall.” Ever since Portland city planners had their green epiphany a generation before the rest of us got the memo, the city has enacted strict land-use policies, implemented an urban growth boundary and set a strong precedent for sustainable development.  Still not convinced? Well, thirty years ago Portland’s propensity to think outside the box led it to demolish a six-lane highway in favour of a waterfront park. And as of January 2009, Portland’s Bureau of Planning combined with its Bureau of Sustainability to become the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, further solidifying Portland's efforts to always keep the environment a top priority when it comes to governmental affairs. Perhaps most impressive is Portland’s ambitious “20 minute city” initiative, where residents need only travel 20 minutes to everything they need, including work, school, shop, or play. Portland has set a lofty goal of generating 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2010.

Bogota, Columbia

Enrique Peñalosa, mayor from 1998-2001, embarked on ambitious and visionary policy with the goal of turning Bogota, a city known for crime and slums, into one of the most accessible and sustainable cities in the Western Hemisphere. The key to Bogota’s sustainable standing is its transportation framework.  Writing in 2008, Peñalosa recognized that, “A good city is one that is built around the needs of its people, not cars. It is a city for the most vulnerable citizens: children, the handicapped, the elderly, and the very poor.” To this end, Peñalosa created a highly efficient bus transit system, reconstructed sidewalks so pedestrians could get around safely, built more than 150km of bike trails, and revitalized 1,200 city green spaces.  The relative difficulty of these achievements is exacerbated by the fact that Bogota is an old city of 7 million people.  Until recently, Bogota was characterized by chaotic and inefficient urban traffic, which was taking up 95% of roads and was responsible for 60% of the city's pollution.  Sustainable Cities Net, a communications hub geared towards cities which are ecologically, socially, and culturally sustainable, describes how Bogota’s transformation to sustainability began in 1976 with the creation of “ciclovias,” a network of bike baths that are open on Sundays and holidays between 6am and 2pm.  During these hours, 121km of main avenues and streets are closed to cars and become freeways populated by 2 million bikers, skaters, and pedestrians.  Residents have embraced the concept, and ciclovias have become an integral part of Bogota’s identity.  Today, in a city with over 900,000 cars, Bogota’s 329 km of bike paths transport nearly 182,000 people daily.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Sustainablecities.dk, a website which circulates knowledge in order to help people and cities become more sustainable, illustrates how Reykjavik has been regarded as the world’s largest and most sophisticated geothermal heating user for quite some time.  To get this recognition, Reykjavik has been both lucky and forward thinking, drawing hot water from natural springs to heat its buildings as early as 1930.  Reykjavik’s ability to be powered entirely from geothermal energy sources is due to Iceland’s special position along the Mid Atlantic ridge – a deep sea mountain range with a high concentration of volcanoes.  The city boasts an electricity network which harnesses 750 MW of thermal power from steam, as well as a hot water distribution system which generates 60 million cubic meters of hot water a year.  It is estimated that the city’s use of geothermal energy has prevented up to 110,000,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere between 1944 and 2006, and at present saves up to 4 million tons of carbon emissions annually. Reykjavik Energy, the city’s utility provider, draws water from low temperature fields – fields below 150°C located around 1000m below the surface – as well as high temperature fields – fields above 200°C located far below 1000m. Low temperature field water can be used as hot tap water or can be used to directly space-heat buildings after it is sent into the city’s distribution system.  Water from high temperature fields is used to generate electricity, but the water must pass through heat exchanges and treatment facilities before it can enter the distribution system. Reykjavik’s impressive sustainability credentials are to a great extent the product of Iceland’s policy of removing itself from all dependence on fossil fuels by 2050.

Images Courtesy of Creative Commons

| More...