Fernando Alcoforado*
This article represents the continuation of the article whose title is Como fazer com que as utopias planetárias se realizem visando a construção de um mundo melhor (How to make planetary utopias come true with a view to building a better world) [1]. This article is the eighth of 12 articles that address the 12 planetary utopias that need to be realized in order to build a better world and contribute to the achievement of happiness for human beings, individually and collectively. This article aims to present how to make the eighth of the utopias considered, that of building green and smart cities in all countries, come true to eliminate the dystopia represented by increasingly degraded cities in the vast majority of countries in the world.
Building green cities means making cities sustainable. Basically due to migration, today half of the world’s population (more than 3.9 billion people) live in cities. There are 19 megalopolises on the planet, 15 of which are located in peripheral capitalist countries, with a population of over 10 million inhabitants. Forecasts point to the existence of 23 megacities after the year 2015. Large metropolises are the ones most in need of sustainable urban planning. This need arises due to urban and environmental problems arising from disorderly densification, lack of planning, lack of resources and services, deficiency in infrastructure and built spaces, backward management standards, aggressions to the environment, among others.
The article Como tornar as cidades sustentáveis (How to make cities sustainable) [2] informs that sustainable cities are cities that have an economic and social development policy compatible with the natural and built environment. It is in cities that the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development converge most intensely, making it necessary for them to be thought out, managed and planned in accordance with the sustainable development model that aims to meet the current needs of the population of the Earth without compromising its natural resources, bequeathing them to future generations. It means to say that the model of sustainable development in the cities must be adopted aiming at the compatibility of economic and social factors with the environment. What characterizes a sustainable city? It is the population’s right to urban land, housing, environmental sanitation, urban infrastructure, transportation and public services, work and leisure, for current and future generations.
The article Como construir cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis (How to build smart and sustainable cities) [4] informs that improving the quality of life of the population depends on the conditions of its existence in terms of job offers, housing, basic sanitation, urban infrastructure, urban mobility and access to education, culture, health and leisure services. The sustainable development of a city will only be achieved when the degradation of natural resources is avoided and there are clear and comprehensive policies for sanitation, garbage collection and treatment, water management, with collection, treatment, economy and reuse, transport systems that favor mass transport with quality and safety, actions that preserve and expand green areas, the use of clean and renewable energies and, above all, transparent public administration shared with organized civil society. In turn, the democratization of government decisions with the participation of the entire population will only exist when it becomes involved not only in providing data, but also deciding on the directions of the city.
In the contemporary era, when the problems of global warming can lead to catastrophic climate change at the planetary level, every city needs to have a climate change adaptation plan, especially those subject to extreme events. Coastal cities, for example, must plan against the foreseeable rise in sea levels and be concerned about hillside landslides, flooding, etc., resulting from inclement rainfall. In short, they must have flexibility and adaptability to new climate requirements. It is necessary to redesign the urban growth of cities to integrate them into the natural environment, to recover their beaches and rivers now compromised by the release of sewage, so that cities do not receive a hostile response from the natural environment.
Economist Intelligence Unit carried out, in partnership with Siemens, a study to point out the greenest cities in Europe. The 30 most politically or economically significant urban centers on the continent were analyzed, classified according to 8 performance categories: carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption and waste, land and waste management, energy consumption and use of renewable sources, air quality, mobility and environmental policies. All data were calculated by the team of researchers from The Economist, who also used the environmental goals set by the European Union for the year 2020 as a reference for the score. In this ranking, the top 10 cities were as follows: 1) Copenhagen; 2) Stockholm; 3) Oslo; 4) Vienna; 5) Amsterdam; 6) Zurich; 7) Helsinki; 8) Berlin; 9) Brussels; and, 10) Paris.
The article As 100 cidades mais sustentáveis do mundo em 2022 (The 100 most sustainable cities in the world in 2022) [3] informs that Arcadis, a consultancy and sustainable solutions for design and engineering, publishes an annual list of the most advanced cities in sustainability in the world. For Arcadis, a city works based on sustainable development, if it acts in such a way that its three pillars – Social, Economic and Environmental – coexist and interact with each other fully. The Norwegian capital, Oslo, leads the overall Sustainable Cities 2022 index. Stockholm (Sweden), Tokyo (Japan), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Berlin (Germany) complete the top five positions on the list of sustainable cities. With the exception of Tokyo, the top 20 is occupied only by European and North American cities, with emphasis on the Scandinavian ones, which hold three places in the top five positions. The best placed Brazilian city in the general evaluation is São Paulo, in 84th position.
About Oslo, the number 1 sustainable city in the world, with a population of around 650,000 inhabitants, it has historically always had a strong environmental concern and has intensified these efforts in recent years. In the transport sector, for example, since the 1990s, the population has been encouraged to use electric vehicles. Today, Oslo is a world leader in electric mobility and intends to reach 100% of electric cars in 2025. At the same time, large investments are being made in public transport, cycling infrastructure and waterways. Waste management is another strength in Oslo. In addition to a full collection service and a range of recycling programs, Oslo is the first city to test carbon capture and storage through waste incineration.
The article As 100 cidades mais sustentáveis do mundo em 2022 (The 100 most sustainable cities in the world in 2022) [3] informs that waste management is a global challenge that currently generates enormous emissions of greenhouse gases because large volumes of waste are deposited in landfills in the vast majority of cities. Recovering energy contained in these wastes using carbon capture is part of the solution. It is predicted that Oslo will become a carbon negative city from 2030 with the climate strategy that establishes that the city will become practically without greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, with a 95% reduction in emissions compared to 2009 and 52% less in 2023. The intention is to contribute to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through biological means and industrial carbon capture and storage. A 10% reduction in total energy consumption is still projected by 2030 compared to 2009. Resilience is being built to withstand the impacts of climate change expected by 2100, with adaptation measures such as green roofs and run-off spaces water to fight floods.
Making a sustainable city is not an easy task, but it is not an impossible task either, as demonstrated by the city of Oslo in Norway. The great strategic challenge of the moment are the metropolises. If they don’t work well, the planet becomes unviable. However, compact contemporary metropolises, such as the capitals of Scandinavian countries, provide greater sustainable development. The reason is that they concentrate technology and new growth opportunities and generate innovation and development. This is the great challenge presented to the big cities. The path is to remake them, instead of expanding them, compacting them, making them more sustainable and transforming them into a strategic network of compact and dense polycentric nuclei.
The big challenge is to think about all the parts related to the construction of a city in a systemic way, encompassing economic, social and environmental aspects along with other aspects such as its distance from food sources, waste treatment, heating, use or reuse water, recycled and recyclable materials, etc. The pursuit of sustainability must be pursued on a global and local level. Cities, especially megalopolises, should adopt the model of sustainable development, aiming at making the environment compatible with economic and social factors. To achieve this goal in cities, it is imperative to improve energy efficiency by developing actions that lead to energy savings in buildings, industries and means of transport in general, thus contributing to the reduction of global emissions of carbon and, consequently, the greenhouse effect.
The article Como construir cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis (How to build smart and sustainable cities) [4] informs that every city reaches the condition of smart city when its managers consider it as a system and make use of information technology in its planning and control process, counting on the effective support of its population. Every smart city requires the use of information technology with the use of various devices connected to the IoT (Internet of Things) network to rationally manage city operations and services and connect with its citizens. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a technological revolution that aims to connect everyday used items to the world wide web and is one of the main global trends its use in the administration of a city because it is applicable in solutions ranging from monitoring public lighting, monitoring pedestrians, cyclists, motor vehicles, public transport, education and health services, among others. The applications of the Internet of Things are almost endless. In addition, IoT will lead to a reduction in the waste of public resources in cities.
Driven by the rise of 5G Internet, IoT devices can bring benefits to people, businesses and the public sector. But it is worth mentioning that, to be considered an IoT solution, the administration system of a city needs to have three characteristics: 1) receive digital data originating from sensors; 2) connect to an external network; and, 3) process information automatically, that is, without human intervention. A new revolution in the media is about to take place with the use of 5G Internet all over the world, representing so far the greatest advance in communications after a long historical process of technological evolution. 5G Internet will have huge impacts on the economy and society. It is an absolutely innovative communications platform with characteristics that allow machine-to-machine (M2M) communication with great efficiency, effectiveness, reliability and security. In this sense, it is developed for the Internet of Things (IoT), that is, for personal applications, but also serves as a communications platform for the development of new and revolutionary applications for industry, cities, agriculture, transport and the services.
The 5G Internet will be a great driver for the development of Industry 4.0 and the advent of smart cities because it tends to accelerate the development of technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and machine learning (machine learning), whose potential will not consist of just improving connectivity for people, but allowing communication between objects, which can decisively transform urban services and spaces. Information technology allows city managers to interact directly with their executing agencies and with the population and monitor what is happening in the city and how the city is evolving in real time. Information technology should be used to improve the quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, reduce costs and resource consumption and increase contact between citizens and government. A smart city can be better prepared to respond to the challenges faced by its managers and its population. Every city will reach the condition of smart city when the goals of humanization of the city are achieved with the improvement of the quality of life for the entire population, of sustainable development of the city and of democratization of government decisions with the participation of the entire population.
It can be said that it is an imperative need to make cities sustainable because they have become humanity’s main habitat given that, for the first time in human history, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. This number, 3.9 billion people living in cities today, is expected to pass the 6.4 billion mark by 2050. Access to jobs, services, public facilities and greater economic and social well-being is its biggest draw for all those who go to her. It can also be said that most global environmental problems originate in cities, which makes it difficult for them to be sustainable without at the same time being smart cities. It is imperative, therefore, that cities are sustainable and intelligent.
REFERENCES
- ALCOFORADO. Fernando. Como fazer com que as utopias planetárias se realizem visando a construção de um mundo melhor. Available on the website <https://www.academia.edu/104881861/COMO_FAZER_COM_QUE_AS_UTOPIAS_PLANET%C3%81RIAS_SE_REALIZEM_VISANDO_A_CONSTRU%C3%87%C3%83O_DE_UM_MUNDO_MELHOR>.
- ALCOFORADO. Fernando. Como tornar as cidades sustentáveis. Available on the website <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/como-tornar-cidades-sustent%C3%A1veis-fernando-alcoforado/?originalSubdomain=pt>.
- EXAME. As 100 cidades mais sustentáveis do mundo em 2022. Available on the website <https://exame.com/negocios/100-cidades-sustentaveis-mundo-2022/>.
- ALCOFORADO. Fernando. Como construir cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis.Available on the website <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/como-construir-cidades-inteligentes-e-sustent%C3%A1veis-alcoforado/?originalSubdomain=pt>.
* Fernando Alcoforado, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science and of IPB- Polytechnic Institute of Bahia, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, college professor (Engineering, Economy and Administration) and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is the author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019), A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021), A escalada da ciência e da tecnologia e sua contribuição ao progresso e à sobrevivência da humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2022), a chapter in the book Flood Handbook (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida United States, 2022) and How to protect human beings from threats to their existence and avoid the extinction of humanity (Generis Publishing, Europe, Republic of Moldova, Chișinău, 2023).
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