SUBMITTED BY

APARAJITA MALHOTRA
A1904014019
SEM 5 SECTION A
B.ARCH, ASAP

SUSTAINABLE CITIES
A sustainable city is a city designed with consideration of environmental
impact, inhabited by people dedicated to minimization of required inputs
of energy, water and food, and waste output of heat, air
pollution - CO2, methane, and water pollution.
There remains no completely agreed upon definition for what a
sustainable city should be or completely agreed upon paradigm for what
components should be included. Generally, developmental experts
agree that a sustainable city should meet the needs of the present
without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs. The ambiguity within this idea leads to a great deal of variation in
terms of how cities carry out their attempts to become sustainable.
Ideally, a sustainable city creates an enduring way of life across the four
domains of ecology, economics, politics and culture. However, minimally
a sustainable city should firstly be able to feed itself with a sustainable
reliance on the surrounding countryside. Secondly, it should be able to
power itself with renewable sources of energy. The crux of this is to
create the smallest possible ecological footprint, and to produce the
lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land; compost
used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and thus the city's
overall contribution to climate change will be minimal, if such practices
are adhered to.
It is estimated that over 50% of the worlds population now lives in cities
and urban areas. These large communities provide both challenges and
opportunities for environmentally-conscious developers, and there are
distinct advantages to further defining and working towards the goals of
sustainable cities. Humans are social creatures and thrive in urban
spaces that foster social connections. Because of this, a shift to more
dense, urban living would provide an outlet for social interaction and
conditions under which humans can prosper.
Contrary to common belief, urban systems can be more environmentally
sustainable than rural or suburban living. With people and resource
located so close to one another it is possible to save energy for
transportation and mass transit systems, and resources such as food.
Finally, cities benefit the economy by locating human capital in one
relatively small geographic area where ideas can be generated
Today, more than one billion people live in overcrowded, poorly serviced
neighbourhoods. They lack clean water and adequate sanitation, their
garbage is uncollected and the air that they breathe is polluted. Local

authorities have been unable to keep pace with the rapid growth of their
cities and towns, and the poor suffer most.
So the aim is :
1. To improve urban environmental planning and management
processes by supporting city demonstration projects, assisting
policy development and promoting decentralised city-to-city cooperation.
2. To build local institutional support for environmental planning and
management by creating partnerships with selected local
institutions, supporting networks of national and regional technical
institutions and supporting the national adaptation of EPM tools.
A good approach to that is:
Community-based solid waste management
Urban mobility
Cultural heritage management and promotion of tourism
Sustainable water management
Access to urban services and social integration
Revision of master plans
Establishment of municipal environmental management system
Strengthening of citizen participation in urban environment
planning and management
To make a city a sustainable city, the UN has given some guidelines as
the AGENDA 21 and SDGS that form a basis to make our cities
sustainable.

AGENDA 21
In AGENDA 21 chapter 7 talks about sustainable human settlement
which requires the following goals to be met :
1) providing adequate shelter for all;
2) improving human settlements management;

3) promoting sustainable land-use planning and management;

4) promoting the integrated provision of environmental infrastructure:
water, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management;
5) promoting sustainable energy and transport systems in human
settlements;
6) promoting human settlements planning and management in disasterprone areas;
7) promoting sustainable construction industry activities; and
8) promoting human resource development and capacity-building for
human settlements development.

SDG 11
A set of 17 goals for the worlds future, through 2030 which are
backed up by a set of 169 detailed targets. These were negotiated
over a two-year period at the United Nations and agreed to by nearly
all the worlds nations, on 25 September 2015
These goals apply to every nation, and every sector. Cities, businesses,
schools, organizations, all are challenged to act.
It is recognized that the goals are all inter-connected, in a system. We
cannot aim to achieve just one goal. We must achieve them all.
It is widely recognized that achieving these goals involves making very
big, fundamental changes in how we live on earth.
Goals:
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls
Ensure access to water and sanitation for all
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for
all

Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and

decent work for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and
foster innovation
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse
land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development