Eco-cities

An eco-city or ecocity is 'a human settlement modeled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems', as defined by the Ecocity Builders (a non-profit organization started by Richard Register who first coined the term). Simply put, an eco-city is an ecologically healthy city. The World Bank defines eco-cities as “cities that enhance the well-being of citizens and society through integrated urban planning and management that harness the benefits of ecological systems and protect and nurture these assets for future generations”. Although there is no universally accepted definition of an 'eco-city', among available definitions, there is some consensus on the basic features of an eco-city. An eco-city or ecocity is 'a human settlement modeled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems', as defined by the Ecocity Builders (a non-profit organization started by Richard Register who first coined the term). Simply put, an eco-city is an ecologically healthy city. The World Bank defines eco-cities as “cities that enhance the well-being of citizens and society through integrated urban planning and management that harness the benefits of ecological systems and protect and nurture these assets for future generations”. Although there is no universally accepted definition of an 'eco-city', among available definitions, there is some consensus on the basic features of an eco-city. Eco-cities are commonly found to focus on new-build developments, especially in developing nations such as China, wherein foundations are being laid for new eco-cities catering to 500,000 or more inhabitants. Initial ideas behind the eco-cities can be traced back to 1975 with the formation of a non-profit organization called Urban Ecology. Founded by a group of visionary architects and activists including Richard Register in Berkeley, California, the organization worked at the intersection of urban planning, ecology, and public participation to help formulate design concepts centered around building environmentally healthier cities. Some of their efforts included initiating movements to plant trees along the main streets, promoting the construction of solar greenhouses, developing environment-friendly policies by working with the Berkeley city planning division and encouraging public transportation. Building on these strategies, Richard Register later coined the term 'ecocity' in his 1987 book titled 'Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future' describing it as a city where human beings live in harmony with nature and therefore greatly reducing their ecological footprint. Urban Ecology began publishing articles focused on similar complex urban issues that elevated the movement further with the creation of their magazine, 'Urban Ecology' in 1987. For two decades, they also publish two newsletters, 'The Sustainable Activist' and 'The Urban Ecologist' to pursue their vision. Urban Ecology further advanced the movement when they hosted the first International Ecocity Conference in Berkeley, California in 1990. The conference focused on urban sustainability problems and encouraged over 800 participants from 13 countries to submit proposals on best practices to reform cities for a better urban ecological balance. Following this, in 1992, Richard Register founded the non-profit organization Ecocity Builders, to advance a set of goals outlined in the conference. Since its conception, the organization has been the convener of the International Ecocity Conference Series (IECS). The IECS has been the longest standing international conference series consisting of biennial Ecocity World Summits (EWS) and has been held in Adelaide, Australia (1992); Yoff, Senegal(1996); Curitiba, Brazil (2000); Shenzhen, China (2002); Bangalore, India (2006); San Francisco, United States (2008); Istanbul, Turkey (2009); Montreal, Canada (2011); Nantes, France (2013); Abu Dhabi, UAE (2015), and Melbourne, Australia (2017). Other leading figures include architect Paul F Downton, who later founded the company Ecopolis Pvt. Ltd., as well as authors Timothy Beatley and Steffen Lehmann, who have written extensively on the subject. An ideal eco-city has frequently been described as one that fulfills the following requirements: Besides these, each individual eco-city has an additional set of requirements to ensure ecological and economic benefits that may range from large-scale targets like zero-waste and zero-carbon emissions, as seen in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city project and the Abu Dhabi Masdar City project, to smaller-scale interventions like urban revitalization and establishment of green roofs as seen in the case of Augustenborg, Malmö, Sweden. With a growing popularity of the concept, in the last few decades, there has been an exponential growth in the number of eco-cities established around the globe. To assess the performance of these eco-cities and provide future guidance, the Ecocity Framework and Standards Initiative (EFSI), established by Richard Register's Ecocity Builders and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) School of Construction and the Environment, provides a practical methodology for this to ensure progress towards the intended goals of eco-cities. The four pillars in this framework include: