The Sustainable Cities Blog

They Are Part of the Solution

A new paper in the journal, Environment and Urbanization claims that the oft quoted statistic, that cities produce 75-80% of total green house gas emissions, is not accurate. According to the author, David Satterthwaite--a researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, cities are more likely responsible for about 30-40% of such global emissions. His data is based on findings from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

From the Press Release

“Blaming cities for greenhouse gas emissions misses the point that cities are a large part of the solution,” says the paper’s author, David Satterthwaite... “Well planned, well governed cities can provide high living standards that do not require high consumption levels and high greenhouse gas emissions.”

He goes on to mention that it is quite impossible to see a drastic quality of life difference between residents of Detroit and Copenhagen. The former have a higher footprint than the latter. I would argue that the quality of life in Copenhagen is perhaps higher, but that might have more to do with health-care, economic versatility, and a multitude of other things.

For those of us interested in planning and the phenomenon of our increasingly urbanized planet, this report is good news. Even though there will certainly be refutes and people striking back against the claims. But it is worth noting that someone is giving acclaim to the concept that cities are actually solutions to environmental problems, if we plan them right. The real problem might be that urbanization in all it's economic, environmental and practical efficiency still must compete with the stereotypical notion that cities are not good places to raise healthy families or have a high quality of life. There are still attractive things about a white picket fence and a two car garage. So reports can be written based on factual evidence and scholars can talk about this ad-nauseum, but we still value small-town America and we have even exported the merits of that picket fence. Until people believe that a Copenhagen lifestyle is better than the lifestyle offered by suburban Detroit, we are spinning wheels. And we will keep spinning them, even at $5 a gallon because this is not just about emissions and numbers and statistics. It is a values issue...just like politics.