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Three quarters of Europeans and more than half of the world population live in cities. They are places where people come together, work, trade, produce, enjoy social interaction, study and innovate. Like living organisms, cities require considerable flows and stocks of resources (such as energy, fuel, metal, wood, water, food, materials for buildings and infrastructure and land). After ‘use’, the residues are then discharged to the environment, in the form of air emissions, liquid and solid effluent and waste materials. These ‘outflows’ often exert significant pressures on human health and natural environments located well beyond the surroundings of cities.
Given their importance in our society and economy, increasing the resource efficiency of cities - producing greater economic value and wellbeing with less resource and less waste - would not only help alleviate the impacts on the environment and human health, but also support the transition towards a green, circular economy.
The three EEA reports ‘What is a resource-efficient city?’, ‘Resource-efficient cities: good practices’ and ‘Enabling resource-efficient cities’ address the following issues:
The reports conclude that an effective solution to urban sustainability requires an alignment of visions and strategies across governance structures, the implementation of which needs to be adapted to the characteristics of the city in question (e.g. geography, economy, climate, natural capital and social capital).
Resource-efficient and sustainable cities are identified as a priority in a number of EU initiatives and policies measures, including the Europe 2020 Strategy and the 7th Environment Action Programme. The reports aim to enhance the knowledge base in this area and support policy development and decision making related to urban management at local, city and regional levels.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/resource-efficient-cities-vital-step or scan the QR code.
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