Green Cities: Eco cities and density…

I have blogged about green eco cities in the past particularly focusing on Curitiba, Montreal and a tad on Toronto. As an undergrad student who is planning on studying urban planning at grad school, this is a good time to continue a lively discussion on why green eco cities are critical for sustainable development in the 21st century. But really, green eco cities in the 21st century are those that are going to execute new initiatives that embrace and benefit the environment, local economies and quality of life.

There are many perspectives to the green eco city debate. Some believe that sound public transit systems are the most optimal way to reduce pollution and congestion and overall increase the efficiency and livability of city life. Some turn our attention to adequate waste management programs including recycling, composting etc. Some believe in taxes to reduce pollution like London’s congestion charge zone, which I have blogged about in the past. And the technological optimists point to green roofs on city buildings, wind turbines on the waterfront (assuming the city has one), solar panels including photovoltaic and micro-solar and finally geothermal power. I am a vehement advocate for all of these wonderful initiatives; however my interest lies with density.

Cities like San Francisco and Vancouver are firm believers in transport and density planning. Transport and density planning for these cities have included infrastructure to support walking, cycling and public transit. This means that city planning has focused on limiting outward growth and preserving large amounts of open space in their respective urban centres. This has in some way created a greater sense of community. Of course, density patterns will always be correlated with urban amenities meaning that areas with multiple services, green spaces, public transit access and educational institutions will have larger groups of people living in them. For instance, San Francisco and Bogota have high population densities and therefore the need to design neighbourhoods of high-density with urban amenities is justified.

The green eco cities that concentrate their energies on density planning are going to have both economic and environmental success. Let me take you through an example of density planning as it pertains to urban water systems: Sometimes a person living in a low-density neighbourhood pays the same rate for water as a person who lives in a high-density neighbourhood. In theory, the person in the high-density neighbourhood should pay less as they use a smaller amount of piping (because housing complexes are so much closer together) than individuals living in low-density areas. Higher density housing helps lower the costs of piping installation and reduces the maintenance costs for actually pumping the water through it. The water department loses money on low-density neighbourhoods; therefore causing high density areas to bear the burden of this financial loss through higher water rates and tax payments. Cities that begin to recognize these discrepancies and remedy them will gain tremendously.

Key message: Density planning is the indispensable component of green eco cities. High-density neighbourhoods can only be designed and built if citizens see the numerous economic, social and environmental aspects of doing so. Generally though, and as epitomized in Curitiba, a high-diversity and high-density urban environment creates employment opportunities, ultimately providing an impetus for citizens to live in closer propinquity to the urban centre.