The Importance of Making Environmentally Friendly Cities

Urbanization trends are continuing, and the rate is likely to increase in low-income countries as they continue to develop. Thus, it falls to architects and engineers to construct more environmentally friendly cities to help reduce climate impact.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, it is estimated that 75% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from cities. With the biggest emitters in the form of transportation and construction.

And if more people continue to move from rural areas to cities, these numbers will only get worse.

Why Do Cities Create So Many Emissions?

If you can remember how life was before the Covid-19 pandemic, traveling in a large city was a nightmare. Cars backed up for blocks in bumper to bumper traffic for hours at the same time every day.

The increased population size means that more cars are on the road in a very condensed area. And to make matters worse, trips typically take longer because there are more cars on the road. Thus, not only are there more cars but more emissions in general.

However, that’s only one half of the emissions problem.

Building a city is no easy task, and building giant cement structures has a serious impact on the environment. In fact, cement is one of the biggest emitters in the world. Building skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and parking lots are having a serious impact.

And it’s not even just the CO2 emissions you need to worry about.

Construction sites typically release PM2.5 particles into the atmosphere, which are a health hazard.

Thus, it is essential to construct more environmentally friendly cities.

What Innovations Are They Considering?

Architects and engineers around the world have already come up with a variety of ideas that could help solve the problem.

Some of these innovative ideas include self-driving cars to reduce traffic, vertical farms, underground recycling systems, and many more. However, these will remain ideas until they are actually implemented, and if it doesn’t happen soon, it’ll be too late.