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Quick Tips: UEM appetizers |
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Quicktips is a solutions page that illustrate actions taken in enhancing urban environments in a brief paragraph. It works as an appetizer, in raising awareness about green, alternative and sustainable environments.
- The Czechs and Austrians have created a 250-mile long Czech Greenway connecting Vienna and Prague with
foot, bicycle, and horse trails as well as canoe waterways. (Waterfront World)
- Higher-density, "neotraditional" planning is catching on in the Canadian province of Ontario, with at least 12
projects underway. One such community, the village of Montgomery near Toronto, features three- and four-story
townhouses on 20- to 30-foot wide lots, with wooden balconies, front porches, and garages in the rear.
(The New York Times)
- With its 60 million bikes outnumbering its 40 million automobiles, Germany is spending more than $1 billion over
five years to construct bike paths. (What’s Next)
- Frankfurt's new 62-story Commerzbank Building includes 13 interior gardens of 15 by 36 meters as well as natural
lighting and ventilation. (Greenclips/ENR)
- Britain's 1996 Green Building of the Year is a 6,000 square-meter administration and student building at Oxford
which uses only natural and recycled materials, recycles graywater and runoff from the roof for toilets, and employs
condensing gas boilers and low energy lighting. (Greenclips/Building for a Future)
- In an innovative alternative cooling technology, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is avoiding the cost and energy
use of air conditioning by pumping icy water into underground tanks during the winter and recirculating it during the
summer. (Earth Island Journal)
- Scientists at the Shell oil company predict that by the year 2050 renewable energy sources will contribute almost
as much to global energy demand as coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear combined. (Solar Mind)
- The highly successful "Magic Eyes" campaign in Thailand has managed to persuade the public to participate in efforts to clean up the Chao Phraya river and accept charges for water treatment and related clean-up activities.(Magic Eyes Booklet)
10 recipients of the 1998 Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment |
Once a poor fishing village, Zhuhai, China, has become a model city
for comprehensive environmental management amidst rapid urban growth,
leading to the replication of its experience in many other Chinese
cities.
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Rapid population growth, economic stagnation and the rise of drug
trafficking have fragmented the low income communities of Medellin,
Colombia. Through the urban sub centres, residents are working in
partnership with Government, local authorities and the private sector
to reclaim their communities.
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In Cairo, Egypt, the Zabbaleen are not only selling products made
from garbage they have collected and recycled, but they have also
been successful in persuading the Government to legally recognize
their community.
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In 1995, the Municipality of Surat, India, engaged in a comprehensive
participatory planning process, producing an integrated programme of
47 projects addressing issues of transportation, water supply,
sanitation and environmental management. Within 18 months, Surat was
judged the second cleanest city in India.
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An island of unique biodiversity threatened by pressing demands for
more agricultural land, Kenya's Arabuko Sokoke Forest has been saved
by the Kipepeo Project. The success of the project lies in linking
conservation with development through the sustainable harvesting and
export of butterfly pupae.
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By producing their own professional standard development plan, a low
income community on the outskirts of Xalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, has
initiated a housing project, a women's credit scheme, a nutrition and
education project and has succeeded in obtaining the official
incorporation of their community as part of the municipality.
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Popular participation in local planning has been crucial to the
ongoing rehabilitation of the Naga River, the upgrading of the City
Hospital and the improvement of solid waste management in Naga City,
The Philippines.
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Through the rehabilitation of its historic city centre, the recovery
of its urban beach and the implementation of a modern waste-water
treatment plant, the City of Malaga, Spain, represents an excellent
example of how cities can put into practice the recommendations of
the 1992 Earth Summit and the commitments made by partners at the
"City Summit" the Habitat II Conference held in Istanbul in 1996.
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The Dar es Salaam City Council realized it could not meet the demand
for infrastructure by itself. Through the Community Infrastructure
Upgrading Programme (CIP), communities such as Tabata are
contributing their ideas, energy and money for roads, water and
sanitation projects.
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Since 1994, Interface, Inc. Kennesaw, Georgia, United States of
America, has applied its philosophy of "Doing well by doing good" to
all aspects of its carpet manufacturing business, significantly
reducing its environmental impact, saving $50 million, quadrupling
its stock price and reducing the environmental impact of the
operations of its domestic and international suppliers. |
Do you have a Quick Tip to share? Quick Tips are short (1 or 2 lines) descriptions of initiatives that have aimed at enhancing urban environments. Please send them to hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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