While occupying under two per cent of the earth’s surface, cities contain half the world’s population and this is set to increase. They are currently responsible for up to 80 per cent of man-made greenhouse gases and will therefore be central to any solution for anthropogenic climate change. Meanwhile, ineffective land use, sprawl-incentivising planning and poor resource efficiency are substantially increasing many cities’ economic and social costs through impacts on travel time, air pollution and inefficient energy use.
The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate commissioned LSE Cities, via LSE Enterprise, to explore whether there is an economic rationale for early-action policies that foster low-carbon, resource efficient growth in cities.
The study, which included case studies from Copenhagen to Curitiba, showed significant and economically attractive opportunities in the buildings, transport and waste sectors to boost resource productivity and reduce emissions in the next few years. Rapidly expanding cities in emerging economies, in particular, with much of their infrastructure yet to be built, have the potential to become leaders in this area. However, sustaining these benefits would require compact, connected and coordinated urban development, ranging from cycling infrastructure to minimum density building requirements.
The authors suggest that policymakers should strengthen the role of strategic planning and land use regulation at the national and city level, reflect the full costs associated with unstructured urban expansion, introduce smarter, more resilient urban infrastructure and technology, and build effective and accountable institutions to support coordinated programmes and investment.
