They endanger pedestrians, they are annoying, and people throw them away like garbage: E-scooters. Many citizens, especially pedestrians and cyclists, do not care for them. But let’s be clear: the potential of e-scooters is high, and we need to find a way to include...
Sedentary behaviour has become part of our everyday lives. It’s dangerous for our health, wellbeing, the environment, and the economy. Walking provides an antidote. But what do you really know about the wonders of walking? And just how can it benefit your city? From...
If you think that only big cities can substantially contribute to sustainability efforts, you couldn’t be further from the truth. A network of small- and medium-sized European cities shows you exactly what can be done and how they are big enough to cope and...
Debates about housing can be frustrating. People point fingers, refuse to listen, or simply aren’t interested at all. The International Social Housing Festival (ISHF) addresses this problem. Its aim: organise a productive debate on housing and engage everyone. We sat down with Sina Rasilainen,...
Water impacts on everything we do, so the problems that mount from handling it poorly are many and varied. To help contextualise the importance of H20 to populous places, we bring you some of the choicest water facts and stats about its many uses...
Despite being ranked as the world’s most congested city, bicycles in Bogotá are blooming. This is the remarkable story of how the bicycle weaved its way through – and how it shook up social statuses and the sound of Sundays in Colombia’s capital.
Bogotá’s Bicycle Story:...
Half of the world’s population is living in mud constructions. And we can understand why. Take a look at the following facts, primary building methods, and the main uses of earth in construction to find out how the very substance beneath our feet can...
It’s always important to know your stuff and be able to back it up with solid data. That’s why we’ve collated all the essential facts and figures on sustainable construction that you CityChangers might need. These will be sure to get your adversaries thinking...
There's a lot to the food-water-energy nexus. From too little to too much, and how we manage these extremes and everything in between - it can be difficult to keep up with it all. So, we've put together a helpful list for some of...
If you think prefab houses are revolutionary, check this out! Homes produced by an advanced soft serve ice cream machine and houses floating thanks to an ancient Greek principle – these and other unusual homes are what we’ve got in store for you.
As our...
Let’s talk hypothetically – what if we had the ability to grow our own houses? Out of plants? No greenhouse gas emissions, no grey concrete, no building-material waste, no heat island effects. Wouldn’t it be amazing? Good news: a project working in this direction...
Is there a market for recycled concrete? This was such a sizeable question that the EU part-funded a multi-million-Euro project to find out. Leading SeRaMCo, Christian Glock set out to ascertain how construction and demolition waste can be put to good use. We caught...
This article was written by and for the C40 Knowledge Hub, which delivers cutting-edge insights and practical resources from leading climate cities for others working in city government. It was originally published here in September 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by the C40 Knowledge Hub.
Collaborating...
The growing population of urban dwellers has an archenemy: space. Many cities don’t have enough of it. Or so it seems. Creating more space in dense cities is a tricky (yet possible) task. Below we’ve summarised some of the challenges you may stumble across.
Even...
Wherever you’re at in your change-making journey, there’s no doubt that you’re going to need a bit of help somewhere along the line. In fact, it’s safe to say you won’t be able to implement the drastic, much needed changes our cities need without...
The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way we move. It has highlighted the need to reallocate space and take a new perspective on city planning. Early in 2020, Dublin set a plan in motion to boost active mobility and make the Irish capital...
As an urban developer, Mikaela Åberg improves lives in one of Helsingborg’s most socially deprived districts: Drottninghög. Just a month before she is due to speak at the UF22 conference, this CityChanger tells us what led her here, why neighbourhoods like this matter, and...
With the increase in cities’ populations comes the higher need for food in an, often dense, urban environment. How to best make use of the little space left, and feed the citizens with healthy, fresh food? These EU projects are working on the solutions!
In...