This document discusses strategies for building sustainable cities, including compact city forms with high density and infill development, low carbon transport options like public transit, walking and biking, and urban greening. It provides examples of these strategies from cities like Amsterdam, Zurich and Copenhagen, focusing on compactness, public transit priority, bike infrastructure, pedestrian zones and renewable energy integration. Key differences between sustainable city approaches in Europe versus the United States are also summarized.

1. PLAN 4003: Urban Form & Design
Week 14: Urban Sustainability & Resilience
Anuradha Mukherji
Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

2. STRATEGY FOR BUILDING SUSTAINABLE CITIES
Compact City Forms – Urban limits, high density, infill development
Low Carbon Transport/Mobility – Public transit, walking, biking
Urban Greening – Creating ecological corridors
Local Renewable Energy Sources – Solar panels, wind farms

3. COMPACTNESS & DENSITY
Not through skyscrapers and excessive high-rise
Building patterns of pre-dominantly low-rise structures at human scale
History of limited land base and and compact cities
Policies aimed at strengthening urban core:
Industrial reuse, urban redevelopment
Growth along transit corridors
Limits on building outside designated development areas
Strong role of municipal governments in developing new areas
Investment in transport and infrastructure to support compactness

4. BUILDING PATTERN IN AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Mi Chiel @ 2013 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

5. EASTERN DOCKLANDS, AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Marc Rauw @ 2010 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

6. EASTERN DOCKLANDS, AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Marc Rauw @ 2010 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

7. SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT/MOBILITY
Priority to transit on streets – protected & dedicated bus & tram lanes
Reduce interference of autos with transit movement
Single ticket good for all transit modes (bus, tram, underground metro)
High frequency of service
Integration of transit modes through coordination of routes
Cross-national travel by high speed rail
Investments in new routes along with new developments
All part of the city no more than 600 meters from a tram station
Car sharing companies and strategies

8. TRAMS IN ZURICH
This image is attributed to Andreas Praefcke @ 2007 (CC BY 3.0)

9. TRAM STATION IN ZURICH
This image is attributed to Ronald Zh @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

10. ZURICH HIGH SPEED RAIL TRANSIT HUB
This image is attributed to Roger Price @ 2008 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

11. CAR2GO (CAR SHARING, ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING), AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Mariordo @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

12. BIKE SHARING, PARIS
BIKE ORIENTED
Commitment through modest investment, planning and design
Bike lanes along all major streets
Separated bike lanes with separate signaling & priority at intersections
Extensive bicycling parking facilities (trains, public buildings)
Minimum bicycle parking and storage standards at new developments
This image is attributed to Coyau @ 2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

13. SOLAR POWERED BICYCLE PAY STATION, BOULDER, COLORADO
AUTOMATED BIKE SHARING PAY STATION, PARIS
This image is attributed to Tyree303 @ 2013 (CC BY-SA 3.0) and Mariordo @ 2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

14. PEDESTRIAN ORIENTED DESIGN
Creating walkable cities through compact, dense and mixed-use
Mixed use provides shops, services, cafes at walking distances
Outdoor space – people socialize & interact, children play, democracy
plays out
Continued attention to the issue – expansion of pedestrian areas
Gradual conversion to pedestrian uses, politically difficult to do at once
Copenhagen: 2-3% of downtown parking converted each year
Good public transit and alternate modes of travel a critical factor

15. PEDESTRIAN ZONE, COPENHAGEN
This image is attributed to Furya @ 2010 (CC BY 2.0)

16. URBAN GREENING & RENEWABLE ENERGY
Urban greening strategies – green roofs, preserving forests, ecological
corridors
Closed loop cities – input and output of energy cycles
CHP Systems – Combined heat and power (using heat from electric
generation), incentives and benefits to companies
Solar energy integration in design of homes, schools, other buildings
Financial & technical support for renewable energy at multiple levels

17. EUROPEAN GREEN BELT
Old forest area along eastern European borders
Multinational movement to conserve & protect
Connects national parks, nature parks, biosphere reserves
This image is attributed to Smaack @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

18. KEY DIFFERENCES WITH UNITED STATES
Economic & planning frameworks facilitate urban sustainability in EU
Energy prices very high in Europe relative to US, carbon tax in Denmark
Parliamentary government structure gives voice to small green parties
Government role as market stimulators, innovation promoter expected
Land not tied to sense of personal use (individual right) and freedom
Strong desire to live within city centers, history of urban culture
Importance given to the public realm & the value of public spaces

19. RESILIENT CITIES
Climate change and resource degradation threatening cities
Cities consume 75% of world energy, emit 80% of GHG
Energy sources needed for growth, global oil supplies dwindling
Need to look at alternatives – next generation of innovations needed
Cities that quickly adapt to the changing dynamics of fossil based
resources will prosper
Reducing oil use – political necessity, environmental & health impacts,
greater equity & economic gain, reducing dependence on foreign fuel
Diversity of land use systems & transport, multiple sources of renewable
power
Reducing ecological footprint and improving quality of life

20. CLIMATE SCIENCE
1. Linked to Green House Gas (GHGs)
2. Four principle GHGs: Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous
Oxides, Fluorinated gases
3. Increased emissions since the industrial revolution
4. Agreement:
Human activities changing composition of atmosphere
More GHGs will change global climate
5. Disagreement:
How much will it change
At what rate it will change
What and where the exact impacts will be

21. GLOBAL POPULATION INCREASE
This image is attributed to El T (Public Domain)

22. CITIES WITH ONE MILLION INHABITANTS
This image is attributed to Anwar Saadat @ 2007 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

23. THIRD REVOLUTION – HUGE URBANIZATION
- 1900 – 10% of world population in cities
- 1950 – 30% of world population in cities
- 2010 – 51% of world population in cities
- 2050 – 67% of world population in cities
(projected)

24. URBANIZATION TRENDS
- Urbanization and industrialization go hand
in hand
- Concentration in cities create market
efficiency – labor, specialized firms, access
- Cities generate land use change, impacts
on the environment – air, land, water
- Costs – congestion, pollution, migration and
unemployment

25. INDUSTRIALIZATION – YANGZHOU, CHINA
This image is attributed to Vmenkov @ 2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

26. TRAFFIC CONGESTION – HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM
This image is attributed to Ngo Trung @ 2010 (CC BY 3.0)

27. URBAN POPULATION CONCENTRATION – KATHMANDU, NEPAL
This image is attributed to Pavel Novak @ 2005 (CC BY-SA 2.5)

28. MEGACITIES
Urban Agglomerations
More Than 10 million Inhabitants
Largest City – TOKYO – 34 million population
Massive Environmental Footprint

29. MEGACITY – TOKYO, JAPAN
This image is attributed to Lux Tonnerre @ 2008 (CC BY 2.0)

30. MEGACITY – GUANGZHOU, CHINA
This image is attributed to chensiyuan @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

31. MEGACITY – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
This image is attributed to Patriotmissile @ 2007 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

32. MEGACITY – NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
This image is attributed to Francisco Diez @ 2009 (CC BY 2.0)

33. MEGACITY – SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
This image is attributed to Ana Paula Hirama @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

34. MEGACITY – SHANGHAI, CHINA
This image is attributed to Peter Morgan @ 2005 (CC BY 2.0)

35. Dhaka, Bangladesh – Urban Growth, According to UN Annual Growth Rate in Asia-Pacific is 2.3%
This image is attributed to United Nations Photo @ 2010 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

36. MEGACITY – MANILA, PHILLIPINES
This image is attributed to Alex Robinson @ 2013 (CC ?)

37. MEGAPOLITAN
Clustered networks of giant metropolitan
regions
11 Regions Identified in US
Largest Megalopolis – Washington DC to
Boston – 14% of nation’s population

38. MEGALOPOLIS – WASHINGTON, DC to BOSTON
This image is attributed to NASA (PD-USGov)

41. GLOBAL CARBON FOOTPRINT
The biggest footprints – US & China