Cities
Faced with ecological and economic challenges of the 21st century, cities are changing their focus. From implementing simple recycling programs, to training young people to renovate slums, to greening public transportation and buildings, cities are trying simple but innovative programs which collectively will change the way cities look and function in the future.
Theme Introduction
Date: 3 June
Time: 14:00-16:00
A panel conversation will take its starting point in the global challenges associated with urban development and will highlight a number of initiatives presented during the Summit to illuminate the more general issues related to how we see promising initiatives that are emerging being transformed into powerful forces of change.
Invited participants to this panel include:
Anna Tibajuka, UN Habitat, Geneva
Ulla Hamilton, City of Stockholm
Oystein Loseth, Vattenfall, Sweden
Chair: Christine Loh, Civic Exchange, Hong Kong
You can also find the session on our on-line community.
The Projects
In the area of cities, a great variety of interesting examples and visions form the basis for the discussions.
Majora Carter Group, USA
Green the Ghetto - and how much it won't cost us...
From 2001 to 2008 she was Executive Director of the non-profit she founded: Sustainable South Bronx - where she pioneered green-collar job training and placement systems in on of the most environmentally and economically challenged areas in the US. This MacArthur "genius" is now president of her own economic consulting firm, a co-host on Sundance Channel's The Green, and host of a new public radio series called, The promised Land.
Zero-waste as an engine for development, City of Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan, is an American city in the midst of a major transformation to a post-industrial economy. General Motors was founded in Flint and at its peak employed more than 80,000 in the Flint area. Today, after GM’s bankruptcy in 2009, fewer than 7,000 people in the Flint area are employed by the company. During the same period, the population of the city has declined approximately 50 percent to just over 100,000. Even as the city addresses serious challenges of crime, poverty, employment, and schools, Flint’s leaders are making important breakthroughs to ensure a more sustainable city. A notable example is a $10 million partnership with Swedish Biogas International to transform human waste into a renewable energy source. Leaders in Flint will discuss the biogas project in addition to the economic development of brownfield sites, large open areas in the city where automotive factories previously existed. Further, lessons will be shared about the experience in Flint developing multisector partnerships including government, business, universities, schools, and NGOs.
A social and physical renovation of the Swedish “million homes program”, Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten)
The Swedish Energy Agency wants to develop a vision for large-scale energy efficiency throughout the neighbourhoods and buildings that were part of the million homes program. The vision entails achieving major energy savings along with cost-savings.
Ecological brick-making for the construction industry, Development Alternatives
Development Alternatives uses a technology for manufacturing bricks for the construction industry, which does not require burning processes and thus saving fuel. The brick making is organised in small units of 20 brick makers to allow central distribution of materials and efficient sales into established value chains.
Please click here to read more about these and other projects.