31st October is World Cities Day when the UN seeks to raise awareness of particular issues concerning our urban systems with a hope that political and practical action can be stimulated. It is only the last decade which has seen the world’s population shift from being predominantly rural to predominantly urban, and this trend will lonely continue. While on the face of it cities can appear highly dirty concentrations of noise, air, water & light pollution and highlight all the issues humanity faces with the way it lives, they also represent immense hope for the future if addressed properly.
By concentrating human activity into smaller spaces there are huge efficiencies to be had, most obviously with transport and energy. Of course this has to be set against studies concerning construction which may counter-intuitively show low rise buildings to be lower impact. But all kinds of sustainable systems can be deployed if we properly harness the social and economic benefits of efficiency under community level decision making to enjoy urban areas which utilize environmental sustainability as a cornerstone of achieving that social and economic sustainable living.
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