The Weight of Cities: Resource Requirements of Future Urbanization (Report)

According to the latest report from the International Resources Panel, the future of our cities will depend on their level of resource efficiency and how they are planned, connected and governed.

The report calls for substantial changes in urban form, governance and design, each of which require re-thinking of how cities are created and developed, and in some cases replacing social, economic and political practices.

Representative image, Image source: Pixabay

The report recommends:

• Monitoring the flow of natural resources entering and leaving a city; doing so can help cities develop strategies to manage their resources more efficiently.
• Establishing a new model for city governance and politics that supports imaginative business propositions and experimentation.
• Planning a city to have:

1. Compact growth, to economize on the asphalt, concrete, electricity and water consumed in urban sprawl.
2. Better connections through efficient, affordable public transport.
3. Liveable neighbourhoods where design and small city-block size encourage people to walk or cycle.

• Designing in resource-efficient components such as car sharing, charging point networks for electric vehicles, efficient energy, water and waste systems, smart grids, cycle paths, energy-efficient building, and new heating, cooling and lighting technologies.
• Developing infrastructure to take advantage of cross-sector efficiency, such as using waste heat from industry in district energy systems, and industrial waste in construction, such as in fly-ash bricks.

Read & Download the report: The Weight of Cities

Read full article: UN Environment

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Taxonomy

• Urban Drainage
• Smart City
• Urban Water
• Urban Resource Management
• Urban Water Supply
• Infrastructure
• Integrated Infrastructure
• Urban Drainage System
• Urban Water Infrastructure
• Infrastructure Management
• Eco-City Development
• green infrastructure
• urban water security