IES ENDS Adverts - Portrait - NO-BLEED (2)210x297_1.pdf 1 23/12/2014 13:41 INTRODUCTION There are many SCIENTIST environmental Professionalism August 2015 reasons why Journal of the Institution of Environmental Sciences Our common urbanOur future common we’re one of the Sound Science UK’s August 2015 August Quality assurance fastest growing Responsibility C M Y CM Equality MY professional CY Equity CMY bodies. K Find out why you Integrity should join us. www.the-ies.org OUR COMMON The Institution of Environmental Sciences URBAN FUTURE August 2015 | environmental SCIENTIST | 1 ies_augst_cover_2015_spreads_fin.indd 46 26/08/2015 17:35 IES ENDS Adverts - Portrait - NO-BLEED (2)210x297_1.pdf 1 23/12/2014 13:41 There are many SCIENTIST environmental Professionalism August 2015 reasons why Journal of the Institution of Environmental Sciences EDITORIAL Our common urbanOur future common CONTENTS > we’re one of the Sound Science INTRODUCTION 4 UK’s Our urban future James Hale describes the work being done to design sustainable and liveable August 2015 August cities. Green cities FEATURE 9 Quality assurance Cities Alive: rethinking the cities of the future Tom Armour asks whether nature can help restore harmony in our cities? fastest growing Responsibility CASE STUDY ore of us than ever before live and work in energy, resources, food and nature. The Bristol Green 33 1 C cities nationally and globally . But cities are Capital Partnership has increased its membership from 65 Belfast: back to the future M heavily dependent on their interaction with to over 800 in two years. During 2015, over £15 million from Joseph Martin and Mary Maguire outline the way that Belfast is embracing a M sustainable future. Y their surroundings for resources such as food, energy national and local government, partners and businesses CM and water, access to nature, and as a fi nal resting place has supported green initiatives, neighbourhood projects Equality OPINION 48 MY professionalfor people and waste. Cities are dependent on other and wider activities. Thousands of students have become CY cities for trade, fi nance and knowledge exchange. They more involved with sustainability and the city has hosted Smart cities – industry and transparency are also signifi cantly impacted by the actions of those Equity many debates and conferences on subjects ranging from Michael Groves describes the advances that make continuous environmental monitoring CMY bodies. outside the city: air pollution, fl ooding, or through fair trade to health. Bristol is "In it for good". possible. K traffi c. It is important to make cities as sustainable as practicable while at the same time ensuring the But is Bristol more sustainable? Will attitudes and actions sustainability of their surroundings. have changed? The monitoring and evaluation of impacts will take years, but it has already started. Reports on Find outThis issue of the environmental SCIENTIST seeks to address why you the 'Bristol method' will show how a city can become a some of the questions that arise around our common urban IntegrityGreen Capital, how it can build partnerships, involve shouldfuture. The papers that follow draw on work from across join us. volunteers, explain where the city has changed practices. the environmental sciences, exploring the challenges that Our MOOC (massive, open, online course) Green City: cities will face over the coming decades, and the exciting Global Challenges, Bristol Solutions will show everyone and innovative environmental solutions and projects being what is being done. Meanwhile Bristol is determined undertaken to improve our urban areas. to deliver on the other criterion for being a sustainable city – to have fun. Bristol is a city that aspires to be sustainable2. In the late 1960s and early 70s, Bristol saw the closure of the city centre docks and the decline of many local industries. Martin Bigg is the Professor of Environmental Technologies There were proposals to fi ll in and redevelop the docks Innovation at the University of the West of England in Bristol, and construct a major new road network across the city. where he runs the Environmental Innovation Network (iNet) ANALYSIS 17 FEATURE 39 CASE STUDY 54 www.the-ies.orgThe backlash and wider environmental awareness were helping small businesses develop environmental goods and OUR COMMON Eco-urban systems in the UK: what lies ahead? Designing the cities of the future Reviving the flora of Cape Town probably the starting point of the city-wide commitment services. He is a Director of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership Joe Ravetz explores different futures for UK Emilia Plotka shows the need for new ways Nadine Coetzee describes a proposal to The Institutionto achieve sustainability of Environmental goals. Sciences and Chair of the Evaluation Group, helping Bristol to win and urban ecosystems services of thinking about urban design. start the regeneration of the Cape Floristic deliver the title of European Green Capital 2015. He is also a URBAN FUTURE Region in South Africa. In 2008, environmentally committed organisations and Director and Chair of the Council of the Institute of Environmental ANALYSIS 24 ANALYSIS 43 businesses and the City Council created the Bristol Green How to work with joined up eco-urban-systems Improving cities with smart data OPINION 62 Management and Assessment and was awarded Chartered Joe Ravetz outlines a synergistic way of Alan Shingler and Martin Sagar make the Capital Partnership, with a pledge to help Bristol become Smart or happy? Designing cities for people Environmentalist of the Year 2014 by the Society for the working with complex systems. case for the intelligent use of data to create a Robert Ashcroft talks to Riccardo Marini "a low carbon city with a high quality of life for all". The Environment. He was previously the Head of Industry and Waste dialogue between the virtual and physical worlds. about people-focused approaches to urban European Commission set up the annual competition for a Regulation at the Environment Agency. ([email protected]) design and building happier cities. ies_augst_cover_2015_spreads_fin.indd 46 European Green Capital later that year and, following major 26/08/2015 17:35 changes and improvements, Bristol won the competition to Cover design by Darren Walker darrengraphicdesign.com become European Green Capital for 2015. Winning cities REFERENCES have to have achieved high environmental standards, show commitment to ambitious goals for sustainable development, Views expressed in the journal are those of the authors and Editor Robert Ashcroft 1. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook, www.cia. do not necessarily reflect IES views or policy. Sub Editor Caroline Beattie and provide a role model to inspire other cities and promote gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2212. The Journal of the Institution ([email protected]) Published by best practices and experience. of Environmental Sciences html (Accessed: 14 July 2015). The Institution of Environmental Sciences Designer Darren Walker ([email protected]) 2. Emmelie Brownlee (2011) Bristol's Green Roots: The Growth 3rd Floor The award has encouraged the City Council and its Volume 24 No 2 140 London Wall, Printers Lavenham Press Ltd of the Environment Movement in the City. The Schumacher ISSN: 0966 8411 | Established 1971 London, EC2Y 5DN partners to engage further with communities and Institute, Bristol. organisations across and beyond the city to address local, The environmental SCIENTIST examines major topics within Tel 020 7601 1920 the field of environmental sciences, providing a forum for Email [email protected] national and international issues including transport, experts, professionals and stakeholders to discuss key issues. Web www.the-ies.org 2 | environmental SCIENTIST | August 2015 August 2015 | environmental SCIENTIST | 3 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION BOX 1: LIVEABLE CITIES Transforming the engineering of cities for global and societal wellbeing Liveable Cities is a five-year, £6M, EPSRC-funded programme of research dedicated to transforming the engineering of cities to deliver global and societal wellbeing within the context of low carbon living and resource security by developing realistic and radical engineering that demonstrates the concept of an alternative, liveable future. It will achieve this through the creation of an holistic, integrated, truly multi-disciplinary City Analysis Methodology (CAM), which uniquely integrates wellbeing indicators, is founded on an evidence base of trials of radical interventions in cities, and delivers realistic and radical engineering solutions. Liveable Cities is led by Professor Christopher Rogers and colleagues at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with University College London, Lancaster University and the University of Southampton. It will run from May 2012 to April 2017. www.liveablecities.org.uk Project Managers: Amy Beierholm ([email protected]) and Audrey Nganwa ([email protected]) URBAN SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS Unsurprisingly, the challenge of developing more © Sergey Kichigin | Dreamstime sustainable cities has inspired the creation of numerous solutions. Many of these make use of technological advances, with increasing interest in citizen-generated data, fine-resolution physical models, real-time pollution-monitoring networks and intelligent buildings. Other softer solutions include the use of also have less obvious drivers. For example, one of the green infrastructure to deliver ecosystem