Modern cities make a huge impact on their environments, but would still prosper if they were to dramatically reduce their consumption of resources and energy. Waste recycling can massively reduce urban use of resources whilst creating many new jobs; new materials and architectural designs can greatly improve the environmental performance of urban buildings. Cities can also adopt imaginative new approaches to transport planning and management, and the use of urban space. We can dramatically improve the experience of urban life by the creation of new urban villages, reducing the peoples’ desire to escape from the pressures of city life.
How can we put the pulsing heart of conviviality back into our cities? How can we make sure of creating cities of diversity for the new millennium-places of cultural vigour and physical beauty that are also sustainable in economic and environmental terms? This Schumacher Briefing shows the way forward.
Herbert Girardet, Chairman of the Schumacher Society, is a UN Global 500 Award recipient, the author of the acclaimed The Gaia Atlas of Cities and co-author of Making Cities Work, published by Earthscan for Habitat II. His documentary on London’s metabolism, Metropolis, was shown on Channel 4, London, in 1994. His report Getting London in Shape for 2000 was commissioned by London First. He also co-authored the report Creating a Sustainable London. He is Visiting Professor for Environmental Planning at Middlesex University, London.
