One hundred European cities, seven of which are Spanish, are being tested against the climate challenge on the mobility, energy, urban planning and innovation fronts. Thanks to Community funding put on the table 360 million €With the horizon set in 2030, they will have access to advice and pilot projects to move towards climate neutrality. best practices between different cities and support for citizen engagement. This last point is decisive, as emphasized by Vicente Inglada, general secretary of the Valencia Community Consumers’ Union. “Without citizen awareness, the task is nearly impossible,” he says.
Valencia, Zaragoza, Madrid, Barcelona, Valladolid, Seville and Vitoria-Gasteiz These are the cities chosen to enter this transition towards full sustainability. A shared path with metropolises that aim to be safer, more inclusive and more resilient, such as Munich, Rome, Athens, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Nantes, Paris, Riga or Lisbon. But Not only is a less polluting and more comfortable city model followed. The challenge also includes improving the health of citizenswith more innovation and technology to advance cancer treatment.
Going down to the practical realm, it means connecting cities through digitalisation, for example, more efficient ways of selective picking glass and buried debris. Or to prevent the accumulation of garbage on the street by emptying the debris when it is full. this implementation of smart water meters It is another example of efficiency in the management of a limited resource. Global Omnium and Telefónica Tech signed an agreement last year to purchase and install a total of 150,000 SIM cards with Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) technology to increase the data communication power of 450,000 domestic and industrial meters and install them throughout the facility. Spain, where the Valencia company operates and serves, benefits more than 3 million customers.
Cities like Barcelona, Valencia or Seville are already betting on measures that facilitate decarbonisation, but the 2030 climate mission will allow for the proliferation of projects such as sustainable mobility or housing rehabilitation. In addition, all selected Create Low Emission Zones, restrictions on the most polluting vehicles, and fines for non-compliance. This is mandated by the state-level Climate Change and Energy Transition Act. A measure that will affect 148 places across Spain.
The new regulations, supported by Minister Teresa Ribera, reveal that these boards should never take action until after 2023 to reduce greenhouse gases from road traffic in urban planning.
A greener and more efficient Valencia
In the case of Valencia, the climate mission 2030 seeks to energize homes with innovative formulas to promote these interventions by adapting them to income level, through public urban development company Aumsa, social services or the Climate and Energy Foundation. Regarding power generation on the roofs of public buildings, the ‘Requiem in Power’ initiative will transform the municipal cemetery into the highest power urban power plant in Spain with 2.8 MWats for municipal self-consumption, but also offer it to the neighbors.
Madrid, 120 shares
Madrid structured its candidacy around a commitment to reduce the time spent on public transport journeys by an average of 32.5%; traffic congestion up to 10%; 65% of CO2 emissions (determined in the COP25 agreement) and 50% of road deaths and serious victims compared to 1990. It’s a challenge that previous mayor Manuela Carmena hopes to accomplish with 120 actions and 32 measures, despite an attempt to reverse Central Madrid’s commitment.
Seville, more trees and trams
Seville, for example, has planned to move into larger wooded areas that reduce high temperatures and create more intimate environments. The extension of the tram and the promotion of the northern part of the city will be considered as redevelopment projects with healthier landscape parameters. The Smart Accessibility, Tourists and Events initiative will also enable the development of a geo-located and detailed system that will provide a real-time X-ray accessibility for the entire city and remove architectural barriers.
Zaragoza, trees and solar power
In the case of Zaragoza, the European Commission has acknowledged the work the Consistory is developing to achieve zero emissions in ten years. He has four projects he wants to implement: El Bosque de los Zaragozanos, residential rehabilitation plans to increase energy efficiency, 100% electric transport, as well as the implementation of photovoltaic power plants in neighborhoods and industrial estates.
Barcelona, more urban connectivity
Meanwhile, Barcelona is making progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The first annual monitoring report of the 2030 Agenda, corresponding to 2021, shows that 56% of actions are going in the right direction. Not in vain, the city of Barcelona was named third out of fifty cities clever Seoul is the largest in the world, along with New York, Beijing and Shanghai. A reduction achieved through transport and infrastructure, energy and lighting, management and technology, or urban connectivity. It is this last aspect that he hopes to develop in the EU Mission.
Vitoria-Gasteiz asks the neighbors
Vitoria-Gasteiz, for her part, will conduct a survey that will serve residents to find out how they see the city and how they want it to be in the future. Prior to this participatory process, the Sustainability, Climate and Energy service encouraged internal work with all departments where more than 40 municipal plans were compiled to integrate all these sectoral strategies into this new agenda.
Valladolid, positive energy zone
As for Valladolid, its commitment is through comprehensive interventions for sustainable rehabilitation and energy efficiency with the creation of at least one positive energy zone. These are urban areas with almost zero net CO2 emissions, aiming to generate an annual local surplus of renewable energy. That is, they produce more energy than they consume and share this surplus.
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INTERVIEW. DEBORA SUNDAY. Vice-chancellor of Valencia Polytechnic University.
“There is a political will to make cities healthier”
The vice-chancellor for Sustainable Development of Valencia Polytechnic University Campuses points out that cities are changing with policies that respond to the needs of their residents.
What role does the Polytechnic University of Valencia play in the European Union’s mission to achieve climate neutrality?
Basic paper. UPV has a network of corporate presidents fighting climate change and linked to public administrations. However, this previous study of the chairs allowed UPV to corporate itself, a year ago, a “Living Laboratory” (a real test bench, technological prototypes are developed and tested to improve the well-being of citizens, and this will be its real and proven effectiveness) .
Is climate neutrality a pipe dream?
No, it’s a way of setting a goal. If we don’t measure our carbon footprint, if we don’t measure CO2 emissions, we won’t be able to implement abatement policies and ultimately there’s no point in compensating. Climate neutrality is the goal we will achieve if we follow a certain process, and the real interest in being increasingly sustainable lies in this process.
The most critical environmental voices say that development can never be sustainable.
Because they put the economic benefit above everything else. Sustainability has three pillars: social, environmental and economic. Sustaining economic growth alone may solve the problems of the present, but it mortgages and exponentially increases the problems of the future.
Are universities laboratories where they will test public policies that can be implemented later in terms of innovation?
It is an excellent “sandbox” for testing policies and initiatives that can be replicated in larger and more diverse communities such as universities and cities. UPV also has all the technological know-how that makes research and innovation possible and therefore positions itself as an excellent institution in terms of knowledge transfer. This is the spirit of the “Living Laboratory UPV” underlying the university-city binomial.
What should cities do to transform themselves? Is it a political or a civic issue?
Cities are transformed by policies that respond to the needs of their residents, and politicians must design a better future for the city. This is a political and civic issue. Thanks to the neighborhood movements of the 70s, today Valencia has a nature park in El Saler or a park on the Turia river. Thanks to citizenship, it was possible to do politics. Currently, there is the political will to transform cities to make them healthier and more sustainable, and it depends on many factors, but in urban planning we are talking about mobility, quality of public space, green infrastructure and biodiversity.
Europe is taking very decisive steps towards decarbonisation. Enough?
Europe’s steps are necessary, but more progress is needed. All experts state that we are already late for the harmful effects of climate change and that more effective and faster measures should be taken. The problem is complex and requires agreements, so all that has been achieved is positive and we must keep adding.
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