Songdo in the Republic of Korea. (CC) Flickr
This is the third in a series of guest blogs by the Earth Day Network.
Throughout Asia and Australia, cities are taking steps to make their buildings, transportation, and energy infrastructure more sustainable.
The city of Songdo in the Republic of Korea is at the forefront of this movement. What used to be a vast wasteland of mudflats is now being built up as a completely green city, with 100% of its buildings set to meet LEED certification requirements and 40% of its land space to be reserved for parks and green space. It is being designed as a completely walkable city, so that cars will be almost completely unnecessary. Songdo has also designed a revolutionary waste management system that will recycle most trash and 40% of wastewater.
A park in Songdo
Another prime example is Bhubaneswar, India. Bhubaneswar recently put into place several initiatives to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and encourage its residents to save energy. Not only did they install 20 kilometers of a bike path through the city, but city officials also facilitated the move of street vendors to areas near the path to encourage more people to use it, and convinced many street vendors to install more efficient lighting systems. On top of that, Bhubaneswar passed a mandate requiring all buildings with water heating systems to install solar-assisted water heating systems, and set up an information center in the city to inform people about climate change and environmental issues.
Bhubaneswar, India
Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, is also joining the effort against climate change by introducing the world’s first completely electric, solar-powered bus. The bus – named the Tindo after an aboriginal word for “sun” – transports residents of Adelaide completely free of charge and is expected to save 70,000 kilograms of carbon from being released into the atmosphere and 14,000 liters of diesel fuel from being used.
Adelaide, Australia
Whether it’s through redesigned public transit systems, energy efficiency measures in buildings, or more walkable streets, cities in Asia and Australia are doing their part to not only fight climate change, but also to propel the world into a more energy efficient and healthy future. The examples they’ve set should be widely replicated.
This entry reflects the views of the Earth Day Network and does not necessarily represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.
