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C40 Cities, a global network of mayors taking action to confront the climate crisis, and NREP, a Danish urban investor, have published a guidebook offering a framework and approach for delivering net zero emissions at the neighborhood scale. Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods is aimed at city authorities, developers, and community stakeholders and can be applied in both new and existing neighborhoods around the world.
The guidebook delivers a proof of concept for ‘15-minute city’ policies and a plan to empower cities around the world for the implementation of net-zero and people-centric neighborhoods. It states that a green and thriving neighborhood is defined by two key pillars which address both the emissions imperative and promote a high quality of life at the neighborhood scale. These pillars are strongly linked and must be approached in an integrated way.
The guidebook provides ten recommended approaches for pilot projects to test the ‘green and thriving neighborhoods’ framework, which include:
- Complete neighborhood;
- People-centered streets and mobility;
- Connected place;
- A place for everyone;
- Clean construction;
- Green buildings and energy;
- Circular resources;
- Green and nature based solutions;
- Sustainable lifestyles; and
- Green economy.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), compact and resource-efficient cities which include: the co-location of residences and jobs; mixed land use; and good access to public transportation, can help cut urban emissions by around 25%.
“The 15-minute city helps to realize an ‘ecological society’ that urban residents and their leaders strive for. By promoting polycentric urban development and a thriving local lifestyle in every neighborhood, it can help cities to reduce emissions and pollution from cars while improving quality of life. This new program will empower cities to implement the concept on the ground, and to deliver ’green and thriving neighborhoods’ pilot projects,” said C40 Executive Director, Mark Watts.
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