The ideal urban scenario is the creation of a city-wide network of green infrastructure which provides the ecosystem services that facilitate growth and prosperity. Strategic planning at the city scale is critical, and London is showing leadership in this area. The Greater London Authority has recently published Natural Capital: Investing in a Green Infrastructure for a Future London.

Although city-wide planning for green infrastructure is important, area masterplans and individual projects can also play a key role, and planning authorities are likely to look favourably on proposals that integrate multi-functional green infrastructure from the start. Thinking big could increasingly pay dividends. Could you link green spaces in your development to those in neighbouring areas, helping to create a network of green infrastructure that facilitates walking and cycling and better health? In particular, cities and developers could consider natural rather than hard solutions to flood risk, something that will increase with climate change.

Photos by Luke Massey for the Greater London National Park City.

Natural capital accounting involves asking what natural capital assets are present in an area or site, what services these assets currently provide and who benefits from them, what services the land could potentially provide, whether any parts of the area or site should be particularly safeguarded to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services. ArchTam recently undertook natural capital accounting on behalf of London’s National Park City campaign.

Enlightened developers are increasingly pursuing this agenda. In London, developments such as Quintain’s Wembley Park, Capital and Counties’s Earls Court, and the Wild West End have natural capital at the centre of their plans.

More controversially, thinking about multi-functional green infrastructure could lead to a re-evaluation of the merits of protecting land from development that is ostensibly ‘green’ but doesn’t provide a wide range of ecosystem services for community benefit. London’s Green Belt was created in response to planning concerns around sprawl and coalescence, but with growing demand for housing and associated infrastructure in London, is this the time to review the Green Belt in light of a modern understanding of green infrastructure? Such a review would raise all sorts of issues, not least the methodology for determining the value of different land parcels in terms of natural capital and ecosystem services. However, given the level of population growth that cities like London are experiencing, difficult issues like this will be increasingly need to be tackled.

ArchTam’s London 2065 manifesto proposed a more strategic view of the role of green infrastructure to support development intensification and housing delivery while maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services.

Dr. Steve Smith is a technical director in London specialising in environmental and sustainable development, including total capital accounting and ecosystem services.

*Ben Smith is no longer with ArchTam.

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Cities often have the solutions – the group cited re-planning and re-settlement programmes in Bangladesh, transport and mobility programmes in Medellin and Mexico City, solar power projects in Johannesburg, and sewer improvement programmes in Beira, Mozambique as great examples of cities that have found, and are delivering their own solutions to urban problems.

Bottom up, top down people power – there was a call for slum dwellers to be consulted in urban planning projects to make sure local expertise is captured. Examples were outlined of slums that have already delivered imaginative projects – e.g. collecting biogas from communal toilets to generate energy and fertilizer. In parallel there was an acknowledgment that it can be challenging to connect the money and the ideas. Lack of financial models and instruments to access the cash, legal constraints, or simply lack of human resource in local governments were all cited as problems.

Better dialogue and collaboration – national governments, regional and local governments need to work harder to drive efficiency. So much effort gets wasted by multiple local authorities working to deliver the same or similar things, each overcoming the same obstacles. National and regional governments can work harder to direct traffic, share lessons and properly distribute funds. Dakar was mentioned as a city that had worked hard on dialogue and partnerships to leverage finance for urban projects, and which had struggled to overcome some hurdles.

Cities need to be higher up the governance pecking order – local and city government is often viewed as less important than regional, state, federal or national government. If the city’s role is growing, and they are getting more autonomy, then it has to be more attractive to work at this level of government. We need the best people in city governance positions to help create and deliver the city’s ambitions. Graduates need to want to work in local government!

Second tier cities growing fastest – if you’ve heard of the city it probably has resources. It’s the ones you’ve not heard of that need attention. It’s the second tier of cities where the mass growth is coming from; it is also these cities that struggle most with resources and capacity.

Spatial planning framework essential – most of the problems in developing cities are not really caused by climate change – of course this compounds the problem – but the real issue is just that stuff’s in the wrong place! In many of these second-tier, low-capacity cities there’s no planning happening. These places need a 2030 or 2050 vision, a framework – something for the children!

Hearing people working across several continents, and speaking so knowledgably about such a wide range of cities brings home just how much work there is still to do. In the [paraphrased] words of William Cobbett of Cities Alliance, “In many of these places there is simply no plan; bad decisions at the local level and no attention to the urban poor leads to people being dislocated to the most dangerous land”.

Download ArchTam’s ‘Designing City Resilience, Emerging City Report’.

Ben Smith is a director of sustainable development for ArchTam.

The post Notes from COP 21: urban challenges and insights appeared first on Blog.

Although ArchTam is working across a number of the programmes being showcased during the session and are supporting development of all kinds of tools, I was speaking on behalf of UNISDR. I was promoting their ‘Making Cities Resilient Campaign,’ explaining its connection to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, outlining UNISDR’s Ten Essentials for disaster risk reduction, and specifically sharing our progress in evolving the City Resilience Scorecard co-developed by ArchTam and IBM.

The key point I tried to make today – Action Day – is that the tools themselves are not an outcome. Right from the outset we looked on the scorecard as a conversation starter, a way to meaningfully engage with cities. The real value comes from building capacity in the cities and through cross-disciplinary dialogue. The tools support an understanding, but they must lead quickly to action and commitment if they are going to gain traction. We know that the scorecard has sparked dialogue in the 30 cities where it’s being tested and we’ve received especially frank and helpful feedback from the 5 cities in the EU (UK, Sweden and Portugal) that are participating in a funded pilot study (U-SCORE). I spoke today about this project, some of the feedback and the ideas we have to further refine and improve the scorecard.

Walking back out of the conference centre, through tight security, I bumped into clients and friends from cities and businesses in Australia (#MAV) and the UK (#Bioregional) – all people with great intentions fighting to make a difference in their cities – and then enjoyed catching up with the rest of the ArchTam team.

Ben Smith (left) is a director of sustainable development for ArchTam.

The post Notes from COP 21: tools and action appeared first on Blog.

With over half the world’s population, two-thirds of the world’s energy consumption, and 80% of the world’s GDP, cities not only have direct influence over greenhouse gas emissions, but also face the greatest concentration of physical, social and economic risks associated with climate change.

CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) is an international, not-for-profit organization providing a global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information. This year, 308 cities have reported to CDP, with a focus on the mode of electricity generation – clean versus fossil fuel. Electricity generation is the single largest source of carbon emissions globally, generating 12.6 gigatons of CO₂ (2015).

Analysis of the CDP 2015 data shows that of the participating cities, Latin American cities average 76% of their electricity from clean sources. European cities in the study average 59%. Participating cities in the Asia Pacific region collectively receive 15% of their electricity from non-fossil fuel sources. Overall, cities are making great strides in the shift away from fossil fuels toward the adoption of clean energy: with 35% of cities getting three quarters of their electricity from non-fossil fuel sources.

Cities leading the transition to a lower carbon model include Aspen, Basel, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Stockholm. All of these cities have targets for 100% non-fossil fuel electricity. Ninety-six cities are already taking actions to de-carbonize their energy supply. And these cities understand the business case for doing so: 86% of them say they see economic opportunities from efforts to tackle climate change.

A faster move away from fossil fuel dependency could be accelerated with more private sector support. Many cities cite a need for public finance to help realize their ambitions for low-carbon growth, and more than half of the projects seeking support are located in the developing world, mainly in Latin America and Africa.

The 2015 results from CDP’s cities program are released in an infographic hosted on cdp.net, and city electricity generation mixes can be found here. The disclosures from all cities participating publicly in CDP’s cities program can be found here.

A look back at recent years’ reports:

2014 | 207 cities reported | The report spotlighted cities disclosing that climate change presents a physical risk to their businesses, and that this is serving as a driver for local governments to take action in response.

2013 | 110 cities reported | The report highlighted how climate change action is giving us healthier, wealthier cities. Cities reported annual energy savings of up to US$13 million, and their residents benefitting from healthier living and better business environments.

2012 | 73 cities reported | The report flagged that economic opportunity was a principal motivator for action on climate change.

Ben Smith (ben.smith@archtam.com) is director of sustainable development in ArchTam’s London office and is part of the ArchTam CDP team that has partnered with CDP since 2012, volunteering expertise to provide data analysis, communications and visualization techniques. ArchTam’s full CDP team can be viewed here.

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In November, I was at an Royal Town Planning Institute conference in London when someone walked onto the stage and opened with the classic line, ‘I have an idea’. I sat up; he went on: “I want to turn London into a National Park”. He said some other things that day, about children, gardens, awareness and biodiversity, but it didn’t really matter. I was hooked on an intuitive level within two minutes. I committed immediately and have spent the eight months since trying to get my brain to catch up with my heart and to try to enlist others with the right skills to support the campaign.

ArchTam has been doing pro-bono work for the campaign to help quantify the economic value of some identified green spaces, using an ecosystem services approach. This is intended to support the business case for the London National Park. Whilst we’ve been doing this work, the broader campaign, led by Daniel Raven-Ellison (the man with the idea), has been gathering pace.

A steering group has been established made up of individuals from University College London, London Wildlife Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, John Muir Trust, Queen Mary University and ArchTam. The idea has been reported in most of the UK national and London newspapers, and Daniel has appeared on the television and radio. High-profile individuals such as Stephen Fry, Bear Grylls, Bill Oddie, Terry Farrell and Zac Goldsmith (perhaps London’s next mayor?) have all come out in support of the idea. And last week a motion was passed unanimously by the London Assembly to call on the existing Mayor to get behind the campaign.

What might have seemed bonkers to some people at the start, is now really starting to snowball.

Last week, I joined Daniel and Matt (editor at large for the Londonist) in an attempt to visit, in just one day, a piece of open space in each of London’s 33 Boroughs. Together we got to 19 before calling it off due to bad light (See #33OpenSpaces on Twitter). By the time we got home another Twitter user (@alanoutten) had turned our photos from the day into a photo collage covering half of London and already posed the question – so when are you guys going to finish the jigsaw? Add two days, and a new challenge had begun on Twitter to photograph green space in each of London’s 629 Wards (#629Wards). One hundred of 629 were completed in the first weekend and a new map popped up to help track progress (@spacedapenguin).

Map by ArchTam’s Anna David

The priority for the campaign now is to raise money to support production and publicity for the London National Park business case and charter – due for release in July. This will set out the benefits that can be delivered by an umbrella organisation for London’s green space. It will also outline what the managing entity will look like, its responsibilities, collaborations, costs and value add.

I’m confident there are a hundred twists and turns left for this idea yet. There will be people who will help lift it up and others who will be keen to bash it down. But to me, it’s already been a huge success. Now when I walk down the street in London, I’m not craving the countryside – I’m seeing it, hearing it and photographing it. Forty-seven percent of London is green space, yet I had become disconnected from it.

Why is it a bonkers idea to create a vehicle that can encourage Londoners to engage with the green spaces that surround them? Now the summer is coming, the birds are singing, the strawberries in the allotment are about to bear fruit, and it’s hard not to feel positive about this great city.

Feel free to add your photos, to support the crowd funder or to spark the idea in your city.

Ben Smith (ben.smith@archtam.com) is director of sustainable development in ArchTam’s London office.

Notes:

1. The following ArchTam staff have given their own time (half an hour or more) to support this campaign: Petrina Rowcroft, Michael Henderson, Lili Peachy, Jennifer Black, Ian Brenkley, Doug McNabb, Mark Fessey, Ryan Burrows, Anna David, Alex White and Christian Bevington. The work has been supported by a number of other senior leaders in our business. Thanks go to Andrew Jones, John Lewis, Tom Venables and Steve Smith.
2. ArchTam opted to support this campaign principally because it aligns so neatly with one of the main recommendations from our own manifesto for the future of London. #London2065.

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A few weeks ago, I took part in the Climate Reality Project’s Leadership Training Corps in Melbourne. The project — with former US Vice-President Al Gore as its founder and chairman — is a non-profit organisation aiming to educate, advocate and act on climate change through its growing network of international supporters. There are now 6000 trained climate leaders worldwide.

Over three days, we heard from leading scientists, psychologists, engagement specialists, emergency services professionals, and ordinary people who have gone to extraordinary lengths to advocate for action on climate and the environment. We heard about some of the tragic impacts of extreme weather events that are already happening around the world, and which often impact on vulnerable populations; 13 of the 14 hottest years on record have been in this century.

But we were also given hope and heard from individuals and businesses that are either successfully and profitably manufacturing and deploying renewable energy, considering alternative land management techniques, investing in clean technology or increasing community or business resilience.

After listening and reflecting, I was left wondering what I might be able to do to also help catalyse some action. Through my project work at ArchTam, I frequently have opportunities on projects to consider actions to mitigate greenhouse gases or to increase climate resilience. I am currently working on a regional strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and two regional strategies to increase resilience to the expected impacts from climate change. But is that enough? After three days I was left thinking — probably not.

Let me say straight away:  I’m not a “perfect green specimen.” I’ve flown several times in the past year; I may have left the odd light on longer than I should, I wear a suit to work, and I do occasionally print a document that I think I need. I’ve not written to my local MP. I’ve not taken time out to make a presentation at the local school and, perhaps most significantly, I have no idea what all the various pensions and super-annuation funds I have scattered around the world are invested in.  So, there’s clear room for improvement.

It’s so easy to complain about the government, about policy or about the media. But, they are only responding to the demands of the population, their electorate and customers. People like me who might not be “perfect green specimens” but who hold diverse friendships and acquaintances need to lift, do more to bring this conversation into the mainstream, and give businesses and governments the clear signals they need.

So I make the following pledge. In the next 12 months, I will:

1. Consolidate pensions and super-annuation funds and check what I’m investing in. Change if necessary/possible.
2. Install solar photovoltaics on my home
3. Investigate/join suitable local community/volunteer organisations
4. Sign up for a car share scheme
5. Offset emissions from personal flights
6. Drop off and pick up my children from childcare more regularly — to find out who actually lives in my neighbourhood and what they all do
7. Grow some veggies with the kids
8. Bring a packed lunch to work to at least three days of the week — to save time, money and packaging
9. Introduce 50 new people to the Climate Reality Project.

Have I just distanced myself from the mainstream, or are you all with me? If you see me around, stop me and ask how I’m tracking, and let me know what you’re doing. Find out more about the Climate Reality Project here: http://climaterealityproject.org/ Notes:

• When ‘The Inconvenient Truth,’ Al Gore’s Academy Award winning film on climate change was released in 2006, ArchTam block booked the Electric Cinema in Portabello Road in London and filled it with 110 clients, contacts and staff.  If you were there that night, or you are also supporting the Climate Reality Project, I would love to hear from you. Have you been moved to act?
• As Climate Reality Leaders myself and Peter Steele (also Melbourne) now have access to the famous (but updated) Al Gore slide show. Let us know if you want a re-cap.

Ben Smith (Ben.Smith@archtam.com) is director of sustainable development for design, planning & economics in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The main image features his two daughters, Ava and Lily, overlooking the city of Melbourne.

Twitter: @Smithster76
LinkedIn: Ben Smith

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