TOP 10 Best Eco-Smart Cities
January 26, 2015 at 8:44 pm 1 comment
According to National Geographic’s book World’s Best Cities: Celebrating 220 Great Destinations
Songdo, South Korea
This uber-wired suburb of Seoul has no need for garbage trucks: All household waste is sucked from individual kitchens through a huge underground network of tunnels to processing centers, where it is automatically sorted, treated, and deodorized.
Freiburg, Germany
This bright city has resolved around the sun since 1986, when the local government voted to focus on solar power as its main energy source. Today it boasts more than 1,700 solar installations on public buildings, and at least 100 solar businesses, making it a darling of renewable energy fans.
Berkeley, California
Highly developed recycling services absorb more than three-quarters of the city’s waste (2020 target: 100 percent). As the city council say, if something cannot be recycled, it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production.
Masdar City, UAE
Driverless electric “pods” whiz residents underneath this low-carbon, enviro utopia on the desert fringe of Abu Dhabi. Wafer-thin solar panels create both energy and shade, and it’s never too hot: A wind tower standing 148 feet (45m) channels a perpetual breeze through the streets.
Santander, Spain
In this high-tech coastal city with 12,000 hidden sesnsors, smartphone apps not only let you call up store specials, surfing conditions, and dumpster levels, but also upload the latest pothole locations. When no one’s around street lamps dim on their own.
Frankfurt Germany
Home to the world’s first “green” sky-scraper (the 57-floor Commerzbanz tower), this banking hub holds the European record for the number of ultra-low-energy, super insulated “passive” buildings: 1,000!
Malmö, Sweden
In this southern Swedish city, the so-called “City of Tomorrow” is Europe’s first carbon-neutral neighborhood. The 600-home development collects warm summer rainwater in a thermal aquifier and pumps it up with wind energy to heat homes in winter. The city has also established minimum standards for green space in new projects.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The Danish capital not only has an offshore wind farm but also more bikes than you can shake a spoke at. Space-age complex 8Tallet—a figure eight of nearly 500 sustainable apartments—boasts a grassy insulating roof, precise layouts to maximize sunlight and ventilation, and a ramp to walk (or cycle0 from ground floor to penthouse.
Vancouver, Canada
In Canada’s third largest city, wastewater and raw sewage are converted to energy for apartments in the onetime industrial district. To heat their high-rises, occupants just need to pull the plug in their bathtub or kitchen sink, sending wastewater spiraling into their eco-utility plant.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Reykjavik’s Blue Geothermal Lagoon
Iceland is famous for its breathtaking scenery, geysters, and blue Lagoon—and its sophisitcated use of renewable energy. Hydrogen buses roam the streets of the capital, which generates all its power by tapping hydro and geothermal resources at the island’s volcanic roots.
World’s Best Cities: Celebrating 220 Great Destinations
Entry filed under: Sustainability & Lifestyle. Tags: ecofriendly cities, ecofriendly places to live, ecosmart cities, environmental cities, environmentally conscious sities, national geographic, sustainable cities, sustainable living, worlds best ecosmart cities.
1.
Solar Melon | July 21, 2017 at 12:28 am
It is funny how some republicans don’t understand investing in the future. Even after the 2000’s when energy spiked and put this country into a world of hurt. When I went to get a new furnace in 2010 there were 80 percent up to 97 percent efficient. The 97 percent was more money but I was able to get tax credits/rebate to put it on par with the 80 percent. Republicans think that is welfare but I think it is a smart plan for the whole country. If everyone used 17 percent less energy that would mean we would use less which will keep prices lower. Even if there were a spike everyone would still save 17 percent which allows for more money spent buying goods and services.