“Little by little, the world understands that mankind is now urban and continues its urbanization at a fast pace. In the next decades, almost all of the demographic growth will take place in cities of developing countries, and the world is going to double its urban population”.
Climate change has become one of the most crucial issues in world view. Global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have doubled since the early 1970s, reaching 74 gigatons of CO2 rate in 2005. If such trajectory continues, global greenhouse gas emissions will increase into more than 50% by mid-century, causing global temperatures to rise from 1.7 to 2.4 degrees Celsius (°C) way above pre-industrial levels, approximately by 2050, and presumably from 4 to 6 °C in the long-term. Increasing rate of greenhouse gas emissions are likely to lead to massive disastrous phenomenon: floods and droughts, violent storms, intense heat waves, and even worse, escalating conflicts over food and water and resources (this is definitely shows how environmental issue could lead to political conflict). Moreover, cities are obviously part of the climate change problem, but they are also a key actor that able to offer revolutionary solution. It is true that cities consume the vast majority of global energy and are major contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, at the same time, the coastal location of many cities makes them became the common targets for climate change impacts such as sea level rise and much fiercer storms.
How to Explain Cities Relation to Climate Change?
Cities have a key role in addressing the challenge of climate change. Nowadays, approximately half of the world’s population lives in the cities; by 2050, that proportion will probably have increased to two-thirds. Playing the role as key instruments of the national and even global economy, cities are responsible for the amount of national output, innovation and employment. Therefore, it is not surprising if cities consume a great majority of energy production worldwide and taken into account for an equal share of global greenhouse emissions. All projections indicate that this trend will continue as urban populations grow. If urbanisation is contributing to the increase in CO2 emissions, many cities are also likely to be affected by climate change. The tendency for cities to be located in coastal areas increases their vulnerability to water-related disasters, increasing the risk to property, livelihoods and urban infrastructure.
On Deterioration
As we have acknowledged, cities also hold responsible for the deterioration of climate change. Nowadays, at least half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this share is increasing from time to time. Cities consume a great majority of energy production worldwide and account for an equal share of global CO2 emissions. Countries that have more urbanised cities tend to create higher levels of CO2 emissions. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in these cities are increasingly driven more by the energy services required for lighting, heating and cooling, appliance use, electronics use, and mobility. Growing urbanisation will mostly lead to a significant increase in energy use and CO2 emissions.
The tendency for cities to be located and its activity to be centered in coastal areas increases their vulnerability to water related disaster, increasing the risk to property, livelihoods and urban infrastructure. Rising sea levels are a critical issue for major cities, and this also has been a crucial issue in Kyoto Protocol as well as its possible successor -in any name- that emphasize second period of commitment. In Europe, 70% of the largest cities have areas that are less than 10 meters above sea level. Port cities like Kolkata, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Miami, New York City, Tokyo, Osaka, Rotterdam and Amsterdam are among those cities which face risk of coastal flooding and heat waves.
In most metropolitans or urbanized cities, energy use (that is obviously lead to carbon emission) is primarily driven by how electricity is produced and how it is being used. Urban population density and spatial management are significant factors that influence energy consumption, especially in the transportation and public buildings. The increase rate of urbanisation has been accompanied by the fact that urban land area is doubling.
When it comes to lifestyles, cities’ emissions can vary depending on it, alongside with city spatial mapping and transport management. In other words, it is not only city’s policy or simply the rate of urbanization that contribute to GHG emissions, but also the way people move in and around the city as well as the way people use energy at home and how buildings are heated (or cooled). Yet, as urban areas become more populated and rely heavily on public transport, carbon emissions are likely to be reduced. It has to be put in mind that not all cities in the same country have the same lifestyles, nor do they contribute to carbon emissions in the same way. For example: although the US in general is the country with the highest rate of carbon emissions (heavily affected by its very high private vehicle use), one city such as Los Angeles shows higher concentration of CO2 emissions than New York City, even though New York City has the largest population in the country (approximately 60% bigger than New York City).
On Improvement
Many cities around the world are taking action on climate change, even in the absence of national policies - notably Seoul, Stockholm, Toronto, Copenhagen, New York, London, and Tokyo have done several programs that could be called unique or even revolutionary. Middle size and smaller cities have also created revolutionary climate policies, such as Mannheim and Freiburg in Germany, Toyama in Japan, Nantes in France and Boulder in US. It is clear that cities have the ability to take action relating to climate change through their responsibilities over urban sectors such as land-use spacing, transportation, natural resources management, buildings, waste and water services as well as disposal.
City or municipal officials are also able to make decisions that determine or influence public transportation systems, renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, as well as sustainability in development. Cities are definitely a key player in developing policy that offers solution which are suitable to specific geographic, climatic, economic, and cultural conditions. Once the innovative policy has been developed by the cities officials, the solutions derived from it could be adapted into regional or national programs. Last but not least, cities could provide its land as micro-laboratory for national pilot programmes on the urban level.
One great example must be Freiburg in Germany, a historic town in South-Germany that has long been a leading role-model as eco-town with its solid environmental policy for over two decades. Freiburg's eco-town development came about through a combination of necessity and innovative thinking:1.) Land for development is scarce. It is one of the few cities in Germany with a growing population, and has to build 850-1,200 homes a year to keep pace. 2.) Freiburg was rebuilt almost completely after the Second World War, on the principles of good urban design and landscaping, with a large traffic free centre and a 3,000 km network of light rail, buses and urban railways. 3.) The city government has been controlled by the Green Party for several decades, and has a history of environmental innovation dating from the mid-70s.
Conclusion
“In the class discussion after I had finished my presentation, the apparently simple question that most puzzled my students was one whose actual complexity hadn’t sunk into me before: how on earth could a society make such an obviously disastrous decisions as to cut down all the trees on which it depended?”
Jared Diamond, Collapse, 2005
The question above is considered to be important by the writer since it is obvious that even though many cities have managed to arrange their own environmental policy, most of others are still carrying the status as “climate change evils”. What should be notice is that, environmental policy relies heavily on the success of group decision-making. In this context, group decision-makings include cities’ citizens and their officials. It is definitely hard to unite every interest that vested in the mind of individuals and groups, but postponing any policies that are crucial for climate change means denying the deterioration of climate change itself. By denying it, people are contributing to their own misfortune concerning the environment. It should be put in mind that the whole cities, with their citizen and apparatus, must make some sacrifices for a no-regret policy.
References:
Cavin, J. Salomon; Leippert, Anouk and Helluin, Jean-Jacques. (2009). Climate Change and the Role of Cities in the Strategies of International Institution. Fifth Urban Research Symposium.
Kamal-Chaoui, Lamia and Alexis Robert (eds.) (2009), “Competitive Cities and Climate Change”, OECD Regional Development Working Papers N° 2, 2009, OECD publishing, © OECD.
UN - United Nations. (2007). World Urbanization Prospect: the 2007 Revision, Population Division, http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wup2007/2007WUP_Highlights_web.pdf
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