Urban footprint

ISSUES

The Ecological footprint of cities

Despite the hostile environment, animal and plant life manage to develop in cities. It occupies parks or fallow lands; not only rats and cockroaches proliferate, but also foxes and birds of prey. In certain neighborhoods of Zurich, for example, the density of foxes is 10 times higher than in the countryside! If for some, there is no nature in the city, the city being by definition the opposite of nature, there is however a very particular form of biodiversity.
The urban ecosystem distinguishes itself from natural eco-systems due to the creation of artificial environments that change, amongst others, the climate (bursts of heat, less powerful winds) and disturbs the water cycle (water runoff,…) Air pollution directly affects plants; noise, vibrations, lack of light and space underground harm the development of trees.
Maybe expectedly, studies show that salt spread about in order to melt snow is the first enemy of vegetation in...

NEWS

Bloomberg unveils plan to save NY from climate change

Climate and land use: Europe's floods raise questions

Urban Indians 'growing concerned about pollution'

Univers GoodPlanet par Netvibes

DEBATES

Growing food in greener cities

FAO

Urban horticulture supplies fresh food, creates jobs, recycles waste. By 2025, more than half the developing world's population -...

Brasilía: from utopian city to today’s urban agglomeration

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The Challenge of Urban Slums

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FOCUS

Nobel Price of ecology

Designed to recognize grassroots environmental heroes, the Goldman Environmental Prize, founded by Richard and Rhoda Goldman in 1989 In San Francisco, is awarded annually to individuals from the six inhabited continental regions for sustained and significant efforts to...

VIDEOS

03/05/2013	Unfazed by powerful political opponents and a pervasive culture of...	14/03/2013	In 2010 New York City added 54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide...
27/11/2012	Since 1860, geologists have discovered over 2 trillion barrels of oil....	16/07/2012	The city of Ghent has broken down the barriers to cycling and moved it...

GREEN TIPS

North-South solidarity

Development aid is a transfer of funds and skills to help poor countries and populations towards development....

INDICATORS

Urban population
IT indicators
Electricity use
Ecological footprint

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