1 How to make cities sustainable? Lecture Ton Dietz at Changsha University Professor Human Geography University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, specialisation: Environment and Development Former director of the Netherlands research school for ‘resource studies for development’, CERES Director of the African Studies Centre, Leiden Involved in the initiative for a Green University in a Sustainable City at the University of Amsterdam Borrow from a lecture given at UNESCO-IHE, Delft, NL Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

2 The Growth of Urbanization and of (mega)cities World Urbanization: from 13% in 1900 = 220 million people to 50% in 2009 = >3 billion people mages/urbanisation/wykr1.jpg Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

3 Megacities in 1800 nr 1: Beijing: 1.1 million nr 2: London: 0.9 million Dietz Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

4 Megacities Tokyo: New York: Seoul: Mexico city: Mumbai: 17.6 Metropolitan World Atlas Van Susteren 2007 Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

5 Sustainable Cities: THE Challenge of the 21st Century A combination of challenges: –How to reduce the use of energy, mainly in buildings and transport? –How to make cities climate neutral? –How to re-use urban waste? –How to keep water and air clean and healthy? –How to make cities green and biodiverse, and how to connect this to human well-being? –How to diminish the city’s negative footprint on area and people elsewhere? Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

Scientific background Origin: urban ecology: city as a social system: the Chicago School of Social Science 1920s: Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, Rod McKenzie; later Brian Berry: “Contemporary Urban Ecology” (1977). 1970s: City as a social-ecological system; ‘health, environment and social life’, early environmental movement USA, Europe 1999: David Satterswaite: “Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Cities” : environmental + social sustainability, environment AND development 2003: Haughton & Hunter: “Sustainable Cities” 6 Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

7 Sustainable city movement Global attempt to make cities more sustainable, even if national governments are not ‘green’ (or even anti-green). Alliances between local municipal governments + local universities and think tanks + civil society + local business organisations Important role for education: lecturers and teachers + teacher trainers Develop a ‘rainbow approach’ Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

Red Sustainability in Cities Develop smart transport systems energy-poor mobility, virtual traveling, tele-work, mobility-poor communication, smart linkages home-work-shop-leisure ‘compact city’, public transport, bicycles, ‘ smart’ spatial organization, ‘ smart’ parking arrangements avoid noise pollution, and create silent spots in the cities

Orange Sustainability in Cities -zero-energy buildings -cities as energy producers -‘smart’ architectural design -Low-carbon architectural design -climate-proof buildings -Disaster-proof buildings -Integrate buildings and water

Yellow Sustainability in Cities low-carbon city climate neutrality use of wasted heat and cold GHG mitigation, adaptation, compensation urban vulnerability and resilience (climate-shock proof) energy security smart grids alternative energy

11 Green Sustainability in Cities Green Urban landscape planning with attention for parks, public and private gardens, green buffer zones, greening the streets and rooftops, urban eco-diversity, re-creation of urban nature, greening waste dumps, cleaning chemically polluted areas, urban agriculture, leisure agriculture. Monitor ‘’ healthy urban nature’ (Lifewatch project; see cordis.europa.eu). Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

12 Blue Sustainability in Cities Clean surface and ground water, clean water transport, innovative water management (‘ smart water’), good water storage facilities and calamity provisions for droughts and floods, flood-alert planning, aquatic biodiversity, urban fisheries for leisure and for food security/quality. Attention for the water footprint (see virtualwater.eu ). Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

13 Indigo Sustainability in Cities Solid waste management separating ‘ grey’ and ‘ black’ water (urban sewage management) waste limitation re-use of waste (e.g., waste as bio-energy) emission-free cars clean air; avoid air pollution from industries, heating/cooling systems, and transport Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

14 Violet Sustainability in Cities Reducing resource use, resource efficiency, value- chain management, conscious consumers and traders, sustainable and fair companies (socially and environmentally responsible business), slow food movement, meat and fish-poor diets, organic lifestyles, environmentally caring lifestyles, lower ecological footprint elsewhere, consumers as producers (‘prosumers’). Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

15 Sustainable City Drivers Occasional disasters help to mobilise support Impact of Disasters is often a combination of a natural event (e.g., earthquake, flood, drought, heatwave) and inadequate preparations (e.g., bad quality houses, built at wrong sites, lack of security, faulty regulations) Local Disasters have Worldwide Impact: e.g. Katrina New Orleans; Chengdu earthquake China Climate change becomes a major driver. Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

16 The use of (website) information to support the movement for sustainable cities Report all local initiatives, and highlight the alliances and innovations Show successes and failures (you can also learn from failures: be transparent) Link with good examples from elsewhere and support learning by comparison Stimulate local businesses and government agencies to show their attempts to become more sustainable Stimulate students and teachers/lecturers to share their studies on sustainability Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

Sustainable Universities Support universities to get a ‘green portal’ on their websites: about the role of a university in sustainability: –Role in teaching/curriculum development –Research activities –Outreach activities (alliances with others) –Sustainable management of the university as an organization. –E.g. (‘duurzaamheid’) 17 Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

18 Find a balance Avoid being only alarmist (only showing disasters and suffering) But make use of images and information that can shock people –And make them prepared to change their way of thinking –And their way of acting/way of life And also show that there are (many) alternatives to non-green or anti-green lifestyles

19 Images of climate risks in the humid tropics g2008_photos_04.jpg images/2009/08/images _flood-LaiChau.jpg Flash flood Vietnam 2009 Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar 2008 Storm Hanna, Haiti Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

20 Climate refugees and urbanisation? Of course climate upheavals (droughts, floods, storms) cause refugees Nouakchot for instance: From 20,000 in 1960 to 600,000 after the Sahelian drought; urbanisation from 50% However: migration is a complex phenomenon, and not only, and often not at all related to climate-related disasters refugee-1.jpg Somali flood refugees in Kenya blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ climate_refugees.jpg Sahel experience:Get out of the drought Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

21 Risk prone More people than ever before live in vulnerable locations: there has been a massive movement to the coasts Many new slum areas in flood-prone zones with inadequate buildings inadequate drainage Weak sanitation infra- structure Major health risks Source: Dietz & Veldhuizen, 2004 Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

22 Major uncertainties Source: The Impact of Climate Change in Drylands, Dietz et al; 2004 Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

23 Major problems In their study ‘Beyond 2015’, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency summarises the impact of greater climate risks as a result of climate change (NEAA, 2009, p. 53): “A range of water resources management problems are recognised that could become worse because of climate change. The two most often mentioned are -increased pollution of water supplies as a result of increased and more frequent flooding; -and reduced water supplies and increased costs associated with silting resulting from lower flows and higher evaporation rates”. Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

24 More competition, but also more opportunities and more synergy? Growing water demands (anyhow), but what to do with more fluctuations? Competition between municipalities in the same water provision area, and between cities and countryside (energy, irrigation): how to design water sharing institutions? Ever wider supply-demand chains? Growing scale? And what about the re-use of wastewater? Urban and peri-urban irrigation? How to prevent health risks in case of floods? Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

25 Municipalities coping with climate risks and climate change Cities for Climate Protection campaign Clinton initiative Climate-neutral cities Tensions between mitigation (mainly: lower CO2 levels) and adaptation (be better prepared for disasters; because they will come) globe%20in%20hands%20poster.png JPG Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

26 Rotterdam NL the municipality of Rotterdam has an ambitious programme to make the city more flood proof, combining national programmes to “make room for the river”, with local initiatives to separate sewage from rainwater, and reducing pollution risks in case of floods. flood_prone_areas.jpg riba-flood-proof-house-design-competition/ Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

27 New Orleans USA Vulnerability is socially and geographically unequal New Orleans Katrina disaster: the poor were hit most; the poor have lowest recovery capability Who should pay for the insurance premiums of the poor in cities like New Orleans? Risk sharing ethics i=82_KatrinaDevastatoin.jpg Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

28 Health risks WHO study 2003: “Any increase in frequency of extreme events such as storms, floods, droughts and cyclones would harm human health through a variety of pathways. These natural hazards can cause direct loss of life and injury and affect health indirectly through: loss of shelter; population displacement; contamination of water supplies; loss of food production; increased risk of infectious disease epidemics (including diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases; and damage to infrastructure for provision of health services (These can be) devastating impacts, particularly in densely settled populations with inadequate resources” Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

29 Increased Diseases as a result of floods and droughts Floods: increase in bacteriological diseases like cholera and typhoid, and in an increase in parasitic diseases Droughts: limited water supplies can have a higher concentration of pathogens, and hence higher risks of water- borne diseases, but low supplies may also affect personal hygiene and result in skin infections ess.com/2008/08/cholera.jpg relief.com/Uploads/emergency/2Niger-child-skin- problem.jpg Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

30 Reduced water supplies Ouagadougou; 1960: 59,000 people Now: > 1 million Per person available: In 1978: 57 l/d In 1986: 39 l/d In 1993: 26 l/d Needed: Extra water dams, far away + urban water harvesting + subsidised water for the poor + health care for those without clean water 0/8870/ouagadougou_etm_ jpg hamburg.de/images/filmbilder/2005/ouagasaga.jpg Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

31 Reduced water supplies? Ouagadougou September 03, 2009 Ouaga under water 12 inches (300 mm) of water in under 10 hours - the heaviest rain there in 90 years - no wonder the city is flooded. Thousands of houses have fallen down. Schools and churches at 193 sites across Ouagadougou are sheltering 110,000 flood victims. ng.JPG Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

32 Most important Higher climate risks mean Higher vulnerability More variability Less predictability So: Municipalities need to have more robust disaster-prevention measures against storms, floods, drought, heat and dust + more flexibility + more early warning capability And if disaster strikes: a better recovery capability + be better shock proof = higher resilience content/uploads/2008/08/oceansdie-20city- 20hall.jpg Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

33 What can be done? Each organisation and each territory in the city could set targets for ‘greening’ –Lower energy use per capita or per area And transparent information! Smart grids! –Lower waste generation or higher re-use of waste –Lower water use, and better information about water use and water quality –Greening the direct environment –Lower carbon and other greenhouse emissions And transparency about it, with sticks and carrots Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

34 But also: Stimulate awareness about impact elsewhere of own personal lifestyles (for consumers) and of value chains (for producers): the ecological footprint, or the water footprint. Stimulate ‘slow food’ (“eat locally”; “eat products from the seasons”) and restricted meat- and fish consumption –Show local celebrities doing that –Show top restaurants stimulating vegetarian and local dishes –Use popular magazines and websites to propagate this –Stimulate ‘urban agriculture’; ‘leisure gardening’ Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

35 Use Sticks and Carrots Reward positive role models, the best performers, in schools/universities; at work; in municipality: ‘green awards’, ‘innovation prices’ Do ‘naming and shaming’ for the worst performers: pictures and articles; legal cases against them; block their activities directly (government) or indirectly (consumer boycot). Target the most visible worst performers for a change of attitude Use environmental and social impact assessment as a tool for ‘awakening’ and do ‘people’s monitoring’ of new initiatives. Ton Dietz 2010 Changsha

36 Give special attention to Buildings Buildings are very visible symbols of ‘ways-of-life’ Involve architects and building firms to think about greening their building practices In low-lying areas with flood risks: experiment with water architecture In areas with risks of earthquakes or landslides: invest in robust building Stimulate climate-neutral building: combining building-related energy production (e.g. solar) with energy saving, and transparancy about use