Most cities are not able to cope up with the rapid pace of urbanization. Many cities encounter problems like water shortage, pollution, climate change, which have serious consequences on the health of the people and also acts as a burden to the country. Various cities go with the concept of ‘Green city’ which helps in maintaining sustainability and one lives with awareness towards environment and well being. The term ‘green’ refers to the city of greenery.
A green city is a city that promotes green solutions, development in growth and equity, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Green city helps by having an impact on social, environmental, and economic through urban planning and city management. By building eco-friendly alternatives in the city. For example, saving water, walking, or using bike lanes. The importance of a green city is that it improves the environment, guarantees rich biodiversity, assures water shortage, and helps in reducing noise pollution, and also helps to cool for warm periods.
Efforts to make a city a Green city are
- Less usage of plastic: Plastic requires an enormous amount of energy and resources which does not help with the environment. Using plastic will lead us to extinction only. Therefore, it is better to not use them. It will help in decreasing pollution by not producing toxic pollutants irritants into the air. We can replace plastics with biodegradable items.
- Building greens: Adding green to the structure instead of concrete is much better. It will attract wildlife and also, emit oxygen. Having plants in the household can benefit people physiologically too.
- Securing Wildlife: Preserving wildlife is the process of protecting plant and animal species. As a part of the world ecosystem, wildlife contributes to balance and stability to the nature process. It keeps the ecosystem functioning.
- Encouraging bicycling: Cars and other vehicle releases harmful gases which increases air pollution. This harms not only the environment but also society. One should use a bicycle or even consider walking. They can create a bicycling lane and encourage other, people to use it to decrease pollution.
- Reduce, recycle and reuse: The three R’s are useful in making a city green and healthy. Recycle products and use them. Creatively reuse old products. Reduce the use of energy sources.
- Smart Energy: Using renewable energy sources are a great way of storing energy and preserving the environment. They help in creating electricity without releasing harmful gases, securing solar panels, energy generated through wind and water, or through bio desirable to make the environment eco-friendly.
- Planting trees and securing them: Planting trees are a great way for conserving greenery, it adds up to the environmental and ecological values. They reduce noise pollution by 40 percent and are capable of absorbing toxic gases and carbon dioxide which are the main cause of global warming. They contribute by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate, preserving soil and, benefiting wildlife.
- Maintaining Population: Increase in population is also a factor, population increases due to migration. It is firmly believed that 70 percent of the world’s population will live in the cities by nearly 2050. The population reason for water scarcity, cleanliness, sensitization problem, dumping garbage, and many others which leads to an increase of disease rate. We need to take care of this. The citizen should learn some practical measures such as planting trees, treatment of solid and liquid waste before discharge, increase in urban parks and green spaces.
Some green cities in India
•Thiruvananthapuram
• Gandhinagar (known as the greenest city of India)
• Bhopal
• Guwahati
• Mysore
• Chandigarh
• Dehradun
• Bengaluru
• Nagpur
• Jamshedpur
Some greenest cities in the world
• Vienna, Austria
• Munich, Germany
• Berlin, Germany
• Madrid, Spain
• São Paulo, Brazil
• Manchester, United Kingdom
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Singapore
To make every city green in India, The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) started a campaign ‘Green City in Every State’ in December 2020, awareness towards the environment and it’s well-being. There was another campaign ‘Clean India Mission’ popularly known as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched in 2009, by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Phase one of the mission was till 2019 which did not work properly, but phase 2 is coming in 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Hope this works aaccordingly and in favor. The citizen should contribute in small things which can make a life-changing decision. We on our part can do mild things such as save water, electricity, walking, plant tree, not using plastic. These can make a big difference in society and a city as a whole. It is completely upon us. Starting with one city or even an area and then adding more to it. It’ll grow steadily but the consequences will be good health, green area, and happiness everywhere. So let’s take a step towards an eco-friendly and healthy environment.
-Shivani Sharma