Sustainable Urban Living and Green Cities

What Is Sustainable Urban Living?

Creating a better quality of life for residents and tourists is at the heart of sustainable urban living. By embracing this concept, cities are building greener public spaces and investing in sustainable technologies and public transport. The idea of a 15-minute city is the main aim of most regeneration projects, seen in the likes of Leeds South Bank and Grand Central Birmingham, and makes it simpler to travel around the city without a car, with everything residents could need within walking distance. This encourages healthier living and keeps air pollution to a minimum.

Sustainable Transport

Promoting walking, cycling, and using electric vehicles aims to decrease congestion, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the health and well-being of cities. Many regeneration projects have been improving roads and more accessible cycle routes, with bikes for hire swiftly becoming a common sight over the years in cities like London, Liverpool, and Manchester.

Encouraging public transport, too, whether by bus or train, significantly reduces carbon emissions. Trainline claims that travelling by train emits 70% less CO2 than by car. Now, with all-electric buses making their way across the country and the zero-carbon HS2 Railway Project currently underway, travelling by public transport will be even more rewarding.

The electric car revolution is growing every year, especially with the country’s aim to end petrol and diesel car sales by 2030. To support this, cities like Bradford, Birmingham, and Sheffield, (and soon Manchester) have introduced Clean Air Zones to encourage lower-emission vehicles. It is no surprise that London is the city with the most EVs and public chargers. Birmingham has over 60,000 EVs and less than 100 charging stations with the plan to meet the growing demand. Leeds currently has 18,000 electric vehicles and 130 public charging stations. In comparison to both Birmingham and Leeds, Manchester has 213 public chargers with only 2,000 registered EVs. However, this does not mean that residents think little of electric vehicles. In fact, 70% of Mancunians believe that EVs are the future.