Q: Is your city any good? A: Depends how green it is
“Why are you moving to That City?” “Well, a few reasons …but mostly it’s just greener than all the others we were considering”
This is an interesting piece, arguing that cities are being increasingly defined by their sustainability and greenness. This was surprising as we’d only relaly thought of cities being “defined” fairly traditional definitions such as having pretty architecture, great nightlife, or being a hub for particular kinds of commerce.
In essence, it’s climate change: it’s forcing cities’ hands to change how they’re designed, built and run.
There’s emissions reduction of course, but also adaptation. Features of trees – like their absorbent powers help protect from flooding, and the vital shade and humidity they bring to already-overheating streets in concreted landscapes – make them a major contributor to essential “green infrastructure”.
“…green infrastructure isn’t about beautifying cities; it’s about future-proofing them.”
And this piece has some great practical calculations of where we can retrospectively add trees to existing cities – such as every intersection…
Image credit: Victor Dover
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