Boomers go in pursuit of green space, sustainability and renewable energy
LOS ANGELES: Boomers are pursuing green space, sustainability and renewable energy within central city living communities.
To see Rotterdam’s most interesting park, you have to look up. While the Dakpark is in many ways a typical stretch of urban greenery, studded with trees and vegetable gardens, where children splash in the water while their parents picnic, what makes it remarkable is its location: on top of a shopping centre.
The kilometre-long Dakpark is Europe’s largest public roof park, and it is an example of the inventive thinking that has made Rotterdam one of the world’s most sustainable cities.
As the world struggles to become more climate friendly, some cities are sprinting ahead. Increasingly, they are finding that their eco-friendly approaches are drawing more visitors, even when they aren’t as eye-catching as rooftop parks or high-rise buildings covered in plants.
After all, many of the measures that make a city more sustainable – planting more trees, reducing the number of cars, making its centre more walkable – also make it more pleasant to visit.
All of the cities in our list, from those in Scandinavia to Singapore, have taken a different road to going green. Some cities turbo-charged their efforts as part of an Olympics bid. For others, a sluggish economy and a resulting rise in the number of vacant buildings, created opportunities for experimentation that led to big results.
One thing is clear: compared with these pioneers, Australia has a long way to go (although a tip of the hat goes to Canberra, Hobart and Launceston, all powered by renewable energy).
Given that cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions despite covering less than two per cent of the Earth’s surface, it is worth supporting those places that are getting it right.