Nordic Solutions for Sustainable Cities
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NORDIC SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES Copenhagen / Helsinki / Mariehamn / Nuuk / Oslo / Reykjavik / Stockholm / Tórshavn Copyright © Nordic Council of Ministers All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. The material must be attributed to the Nordic Council of Ministers and the title of the document should be specified as “Nordic Solutions for Sustainable Cities”. Further information Copies of the Report are available from The Nordic Council of Ministers, Ved Stranden 18, 1061 Copenhagen K Email: [email protected] Welcome 04 Meet the Nordic Eight 06 The Challenges Cities Face 08 Urban Planning, Transport, Street Lighting, Energy, Water, Smart Information Management, Behaviour Looking to the future: Join Us 48 Contact Details 50 Urban Planning: 10 Water: protecting our 34 growing compactly most important resource and efficiently Holistic water management 36 (Copenhagen, Helsinki & Oslo) Turning brownfield to green 12 Harbour baths: regenerating a disused district (Stockholm) 37 harbour (Copenhagen) Planning better use of energy 13 Waste water treatment (Mariehamn) resources (Nuuk) 37 Compact urban growth (Oslo) 14 Green roofs (Tórshavn) 15 Smart Information 38 Transport: keeping cities 16 Management: streamlining moving forward decision making Investing in pedal power 18 Green ICT (Stockholm) 40 (Copenhagen & Stockholm) Get smart with meters (Helsinki & Nuuk) 41 Getting more people onto buses 19 (Tórshavn) Integrated public transport 20 (Copenhagen) Greener cars (Oslo, Reykjavik 21 & Stockholm) Behaviour: changing 42 Climate neutral public transport 22 attitudes and actions for (Oslo & Stockholm) Private cars get the red light 23 a better future (Oslo & Stockholm) A city government leading 44 by example (Helsinki) Implementing an environmental 44 management system (Mariehamn) Ecocompass - identifying green 45 business (Helsinki) Street Lighting: switching 24 Green Steps (Reykjavik) 45 Getting public support for wind 46 to intelligent technologies (Copenhagen) Raising awareness and providing Enlightened streets (Copenhagen, 26 46 Oslo & Tórshavn) education (Helsinki) Energy: moving on 28 from fossil fuels Energy from the sea (Tórshavn) 31 Using its geothermal power (Reykjavik) 31 District energy networks (Nordic Eight) 32 Making use of every last bit of energy 33 (Copenhagen & Helsinki) Decarbonising data centre cooling 33 (Helsinki) 04/05 As Mayors of the Nordic capitals, we are proud to enjoy an international reputation for being ‘green cities’. MAYORS OF THE NORDIC EIGHT Frank Jensen Jussi Pajunen Mayor of Copenhagen Mayor of Helsinki Edgar Vickström Asii Chemnitz Narup Stian Berger Rosland Mayor of Mariehamn Mayor of Nuuk Mayor of Oslo Jon Gnarr Sten Nordin Heðin Mortensen Mayor of Reykjavik Mayor of Stockholm Mayor of Tórshavn WELCOME In the Nordic region we take a long term view, considering sustainability and future benefits alongside more immediate pressures and opportunities. As city leaders, we have championed green growth, actively supporting innovations in products and services that could help to secure a more sustainable urban environment. The Nordic Eight cities comprise a mix of small and larger cities, each responding to challenges at a scale and in a manner most appropriate to them. Over the years, we have found great benefit in sharing knowledge between our eight cities, learning each other’s lessons and collaborating, through both our formal channels of co-operation and our informal collaborations. We have been able to jointly fund projects, sharing the risk of experimentation and all benefiting from the results. In an increasingly global community, we are more connected and integrated with other cities than ever before; sharing markets and resources across borders and continents in both real and virtual ways. Although every city is unique in its totality, we all face the same generic challenges of climate change and resource depletion. Many of the solutions to those problems are transferable – we have certainly learned much from our engagement with other cities. We have produced this catalogue together to outline some of the solutions we have found to creating more sustainable cities, in the hope that it may be useful or even inspiring for other cities outside the Nordic region. The future of the world is increasingly urban - more than half of humanity now lives in cities. We want to work with other city leaders across the globe to make sure that our shared future is a sustainable one, improving quality of life and protecting our environment for future generations. Here’s to cities changing the world! 06/07 MEET THE NORDIC EIGHT The Nordic Eight are eight cities located in northern Europe around the Baltic Sea and Northern Atlantic Ocean. The Nordic cities share many cultural Climate traits. Globally they are renowned Nordic city summers have long for their liberalism, strong sense of periods of daylight, whilst in winter design, ecological ethic, high standards they experience prolonged darkness. of education and abundant natural They mostly enjoy relatively mild, resources that have enabled them to temperate climates throughout the enjoy relatively strong economies and year characterised by pleasant, warm Nuuk a high quality of life. summers of 15 - 30°C and frosty (Greenland) winters of around 0°C; although some Together they: of the cities such as Helsinki have been • represent 2.8 million people known to experience temperatures of as • have 291bn US$ of global GDP low as -20°C. • emit 10,752 thousand tCO /year 2 of global greenhouse gases Working together - On a global stage, the Nordic cities Nordic Co-operation all fall within the city size classes of Nordic Co-operation is one of the less than 1 million inhabitants. 61% world’s most extensive forms of regional of today's global urban population live collaboration; involving Denmark, Finland, in settlements of this size (projected Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the to reach 67% by 2025), with nearly autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands, 50% living in settlements of less than Greenland and Åland 0.5 million1. As such, the Nordic cities demonstrate that being a smaller city is It has firm traditions in politics, the economy, not a barrier to committing to positive and culture; plays an important role in action for sustainability. If other cities of European and international collaboration; and their size take action, a huge global shift aims at creating a strong Nordic community in towards sustainability can be achieved. a strong Europe. Equally, these are actions that can be Nordic Co-operation seeks to safeguard Nordic universally shared between smaller and principles in the global community. Common larger cities alike. Nordic values help the region solidify its position as one of the world's most innovative and competitive regions. Through their Co-operation, the Nordic countries, and their cities, have created a strong community that plays an important role both in Europe and internationally. 1. World Urbanisation Prospects, the 2011 Revision, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2011 Fig.1 The Nordic Eight Copenhagen (Denmark) Oslo (Norway) Population 539,542 Population 614,798 GDP 87,200 US $/Capita CITY GDPCHALLENGES 123,794 US $/Capita Carbon Emissions 2.0 tCO / Capita Carbon Emissions 4.7 tCO2 / Capita 2 Carbon Targets Carbon Neutral by 20251 SPREADCarbon Targets 50% reduction by 2030 (1991 levels) Helsinki (Finland) HERO IMAGE Population 588,549 Reykjavik (Iceland) GDP 64,262 US $/Capita Population 118,810 GDP 36.8 US $/Capita Carbon Emissions 5.2 tCO2/Capita Carbon Targets 20% reduction by 2020 Carbon Emissions 2.69 tCO2/Capita (1990 levels) Carbon Targets 75% by 2050 (2007 levels) Mariehamn (Åland Islands) Population 11,232 Stockholm (Sweden) GDP 45,000 US $/Capita Population 861,010 (entire Åland Islands) GDP 143,767 US $/Capita Carbon Emissions 3.8 tCO / Capita Carbon Emissions 7.3 tCO2 / Capita 2 Carbon Targets 25% reduction by 2020 Carbon Targets Fossil fuel free by 2050 (2002 levels) Tórshavn (Faroe Islands) Nuuk (Greenland) Population 19,915 Population 15,522 GDP 44,074 US $/Capita GDP 36,500 US $/Capita (entire Faroe Islands) (entire Greenland) Carbon Emissions 7.0 tCO2/Capita Carbon Targets 35% reduction by 2020 Carbon Emissions 4.7 tCO2 / Capita Carbon Targets Currently calculating (1990 levels) and discussing a target based on 2008 levels and made up of realistically achievable results Reykjavik (Iceland) Tórshavn (Faroe Islands) Helsinki (Finland) Mariehamn Oslo (Åland Islands) (Norway) Stockholm (Sweden) Copenhagen (Denmark) 08/09 Seven City Challenges » Urban Planning » Transport » Street Lighting » Energy » Water » Smart Information Management » Behaviour » Reykjavik cityscape THE CHALLENGES CITIES FACE Climate change, population growth, urbanisation and resource depletion; these are all major global challenges facing human civilisation today and nowhere more so than in our cities. They are particularly at risk and vulnerable. To survive in the 21st century, it is crucial that cities adapt to and address these challenges. Cities are also major contributors actions are addressing seven of to many of the problems we face. the challenges cities face today. For example, 80% of global They want to share their technical greenhouse gas emissions innovation, holistic systems contributing to climate change approaches and methods