“The Good Day” in Paris: Moving Towards inclusive Urbanization and Zero-Carbon in Cities

On 20 June 2019, at the Parc de Saint-Cloud in Paris, ENGIE presented “The good day“, a day to experience the zero-carbon transition.

Between now and 2050, the world has been called upon to lead the second wave of the zero-carbon transition. We are therefore at the heart of an unprecedented revolution for our planet.
In application of SDG 17, partnerships for the achievement of the goals the event saw the participation of 1000 pioneers of the energy revolution, leaders of the economic world and civil society, experts, researchers, business leaders, international start-up entrepreneurs. The good day was the gathering of pioneers of the zero carbon world, the place where concrete and replicable solutions that were forecast and discussed, now awaiting implementation. A day of inspiration, sharing and commitment to contribute collectively towards harmonious progress.

One of the main panels saw the participation of Chilean architect, Alejandro Aravena winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2016, Nicolas Hazard, President of the strategic council of the city of Paris and social entrepreneur and French diplomat Laurence Tubiana, Director of EU Climate Foundation as well as BoD President of the French Development Agency, discussing the future of cities and territories.

Introduction

One of the biggest changes previewed for 2050 and strongly connected to the energy sector is the one of  Urbanization. By 2050 it is predicted that 64.1% and 85.9% of the developing and developed world respectively will be urbanized. The topic of Urbanization refers to the increasing number of people that live in urban areas. It predominantly results in the physical growth of urban areas, be it horizontal or vertical. The United Nations projected that half of the world’s population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008.

Urbanization is closely linked to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization. Around the world, unplanned urban expansion is multiplying slums, overburdening housing, transportation and infrastructure systems, stifling economic growth, and leaving millions vulnerable to new environmental and health threats.

This is a call to cities to be better prepared and to build a stronger ability to take care of a widening range of global issues. These competences are usually prerogatives of the central state.

The century of the City. Urban space, social platforms and environmental calls

One in every ten people lived in urban areas a century ago. Now, for the first time ever, most people live in cities. This is to be named the century of cities. Cities have a big role in getting everybody on track and are called upon to be able to build homogenous plans to project a future that is both glocal and greener. Urban spaces have to be built as places where you can breathe and live a decent life. The problem of cities nowadays, stems from the decision making process on mobility, energy and in terms of relationship with their citizens. From social justice to embarking all the citizens to the vision of the future with no one left behind. It is important that, through capacity building, local administrations draw solid and holistic plans for the future that encompasses all these aspects. Cities are key element for the mission of contributing to climate change mitigation and emissions reduction.

In Europe alone, extreme weather events cost 14 billion last year. Cities have the capacity to confront these challenges, because they have small scale systems with more accountability and authorities. Often have to comply with decisions taken elsewhere, resulting in a massive disconnect between their capacity and the huge needs of citizens. Giving decision power to the cities would result in giving the decision back to the people through the closest institution to them, instead of a top down approach.

From the social point of view, the age of cities can be seen as the turning point of our civilization with huge challenges to be faced, from climate to social inequalities. When addressing the topic of  cities and environmental issues, we also have to talk about society. They’re both connected and part of the city’s problems and have to be addressed at the same time. An example comes from the French issue of  “Gilet jaunes” showing that you can’t have a policy that on one side is pro-environment fighting climate change and on the other is widening social injustice, by failing to answer to the social questions that the citizens are facing right now. The two need to be connected and cities have a big role to play in that circumstance due to their growing importance and  responsibility for social justice of their inhabitants. Moreover they are becoming policy-hubs of future lifestyles, besides developing the new wave of economy based on shared services that aim at reducing their carbon footprint and general waste.

Problems of the city of tomorrow: Urban planning tasks.

The current age we are living in could be deemed the Urban age, as peculiar of an age, perhaps, as the stone age or bronze age. On one hand this is good news and on the other hand it is bad.
On the positive side Cities are like magnets. They attract people, concentrate opportunities and abilities making them able to tackle major challenges. In principle the overlap of the two, even if is counter intuitive, is good news. Besides this they are efficient. They create wealth and ensure that local administrations can be effective in building public policies that correct inequalities concerning access to sanitation, education, healthcare and urban recreation. So from this point of view, the more people in cities the better it is, resulting in more people having access to  vital services.

The problem is the so called “Three S minus”: the scale, the speed and the scarcity of means with this phenomenon of people coming to the cities looking for opportunities, since there is no precedent in human history. Out of three billion people living in cities nowadays, one billion are under the poverty line. In the next decade growth will rise up to five billion living in cities and two billion under the poverty line. . That means that local administrations have to face the issue of planning and realizing buildings for one million people in a few years with a relatively low budget per family. We still don’t know how to do that. If this and other questions stay unsolved, you may think that people would  stop coming to the cities. However, this is not the case, generally, they would rather come and live in really awful conditions further compounding issues related to social injustice.

The biggest trouble is the geographical location of this change. The process of fast-urbanization is mainly going to happen in the tropics, in the poorest countries of the world. On average the budget of the ministry of housing in these developing countries is ten thousand dollars to finance, provide infrastructure and build housing to accommodate a growing number of people. The problem with the money aspect is that it is a “Catch 22 situation”. The mission is to find a way to build for one billion and more people in the upcoming years, using the minimum carbon footprint. It is demonstrated that poor conditions and social injustice work as a boom effect in terms of environmental exploitation, with the slums of the megalopolis of the developing countries as an example of  social and urban injustice and environmental degradation. The sustainable building system on the verge of development now, is the only way to solve this vital issue.

Thus, the future development, both on urban and social sides, has to comply not only to social-political issues, but also to new environmental processes. This is influenced by climate change but also by migration, conflicts and demographic growth in emerging areas.

Innovation and technology inclusive or divisive?

Technology can be of a great help but it is not enough. Tech is rather a controversial matter, because the owners of big tech giants often state that they want to make the world a better place through tech by enabling citizens. But actually, this doesn’t happen because the current technological innovation seems not to be social solution focused but instead market and profit oriented. Some companies are now shifting in this thinking, aiming to use tech as an enabling factor to fight the big challenges of our time moving further in helping the public sector and civil society.

Another controversy of technology in the urban space is the growing divisive effect on people that are physically in the same space and place but connected only virtually. Using 21st century software doesn’t cancel the needs of a “Prehistoric hardware” which are our human bodies.

A revolutionary idea came from Joan Clos, UN Habitat 3 executive director and former mayor of Barcelona; he wanted to convince people to reverse the paradigm and relationship between principles and development. Reversing the scheme that usually goes from becoming rich, then going to the national Minister of Finance to ask for money to build sustainable cities. He thought that the path to be followed was to directly convince decision makers, i.e. Central Government, that by financing and building sustainable cities we contribute to development and become rich and socially just at the same time. The idea was to put cities as the cause and not the consequence of development. For that to happen  three things are needed: Good rule of law, the right financing mechanisms and the right kind of urban design. For what concerns design, the main issue is to make sure that the ratio in public spaces and private space is close to 1:1 as testified by the examples of the most liveable cities. Where coming together generates good and not just a threat. In uncoordinated cities, for what concerns planning and not money, that ratio is 1:10.

Cities are crucial for sustainable and smart urban planning, technology can provide services to “smart cities” enabling people to enjoy human contact. Technology can also play a vital role in creating work-life balance. an example can be a technological improvement reducing commuting time; as suggested by NYC Mayor de Blasio at the release of “One New York: The Plan for a Strong and Just City,” a comprehensive plan for a sustainable and resilient city for all New Yorkers that addresses the profound social, economic, and environmental challenges ahead.

Conclusions

Mayors are stepping up to situations like climate change because they directly face the real problems and impacts of the issue. Seven million people die yearly because of pollution and GHGs emissions, and in cities it is even worse. This impact is felt most by children , resulting in a huge intergenerational inequality situation that harms both the planet and future generations.

Cities are more and more at the core of realizing SDGs and climate change mitigation, having sound data of the effects both from an environmental and social point of view. They need to be empowered to work effectively on their scale to face the huge issue of fast growing urbanization.

The big wave of people moving to cities has to be transformed into an opportunity with no one left behind. City urban planning encompasses technological development but also environmental and anthropological changes that have to be analysed in both the developed and developing world, with the latter at a major risk of urbanization disruption. Moreover, it is needed to target contemporarily the challenges for rural areas abandoned and suffering from the urbanization process, working towards a sustainable connection between urban and rural.