Can green cities save the global economy?

It's a bold statement: green cities can save the global economy. But Alex Steffen thinks it's possible.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Steffen makes the case that as billions of us pack into cities, we have an opportunity to not only make our cities more sustainable, but also turn around the global economy. That's because as cities look to save energy, they'll build more walkable and dense cities. It's a move that's good for businesses, real estate, and the environment.

As cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam (and others) build carbon-neutral cities, the development patterns will begin to shift away from the sprawl economy and will and transform outdated housing, energy, transportation industries. Here's how Steffen imagines getting the green city innovation ball rolling:

Carbon-neutral cities will also help uncage urban innovation, given that making them carbon-zero will involve a million opportunities to do things better in nearly every industry. I suggest new innovation zones: specific parts of cities (perhaps currently underutilized or abandoned) that can be turned over to small- and mid-scale experiments in carbon-zero work, commerce, and living. Think of them as seedbeds for new urban ways of life. Guided by clear, basic rules and fast-tracked permitting, and encouraged by connections with local industry and universities, such zones could quickly become hothouses for growing the kinds of city-building businesses that will feed the global economy as it surges into this urban century. If they bloom, they will draw the kind of creative young people every city is fighting for; what many of the brightest of the next generation want most of all is to participate in making a better future.

We won't be able to survive on sprawling housing that's connected by gas-guzzling cars forever. Our future economy won't be based on that model. Walkable urbanism is where our future economy is headed. The sooner we realize that, the better off we'll be.

"How to Save the Global Economy: Build Green Cities" [Foreign Policy]

Photo: abbilder/Flickr

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com