Can Las Vegas become sustainable?

Well, that’s a good question since sustainability doesn’t exactly link with the creation of a large city in the middle of the desert. Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Between 1990 and 2000 the population increased by 66%. Today, 600.000 people live in the inner city and 2 million in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area. It goes without saying that one of the greatest challenges in Las Vegas is water supply. How do you provide enough water for the city’s many inhabitants? And furthermore to the thousands of visitors who annually come to the city to experience spectacular light and water set design while running from a casino in hope of the big win.

Las Vegas is very aware of the importance of water savings to the future of the city. The city has a clear policy regarding water usage, which includes financial penalties to those who do not meet the municipal policy. Thus, Las Vegas succeeded in saving 10% of its water consumption in a period when the population grew by 20%. Considering the fact that Americans have the world’s largest water consumption per capita, this is well done. At the same time the city has built the world’s greatest solar panel system working to gain some of the energy spent by the city’s 24,000 km neon tubes that light up ‘the Strip’ every night.

These actions are part of a plan Las Vegas city adopted in 2008 to reduce the city's ecological footprint by 30% by 2023.

Regarding the issue of mobility… Well, there are way too many cars at any time of day in Las Vegas. It is a city planned for cars. Will follow up on this in my next blog from Las Vegas. Stay tuned.