The Sustainable Cities™ Talk in Venice

The first ever Sustainable Cities™ Talk took place on Friday the 12th September in Venice in connection with the opening of the Danish Pavilion at the International Architecture Biennale.

We had invited four of the world’s most eminent speakers on cities and sustainability to take part:
 

• Barbara Southworth [1]of Cape Town, South Africa
• Jan Gehl [2]of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Herbert Girardet [3]of Hamburg, Germany and
• Ricky Burdett [4]of London, United Kingdom.

The Talk was chaired by Henning Thomsen (DAC Sustainable Cities Head of Division)

(From left to right: Ricky Burdett, Barbara Southworth, Jan Gehl, Herbert Girardet, and Henning Thomsen)

The four speakers along with Peter Newman of Perth, Australia, Mathis Wackernagel of Washington, USA and David Harvey of New York City, USA are part of the Danish exhibition in Venice, called ‘ecotopedia – walk the talk’ [5].

The four speakers at The Sustainable Cities™ Talk in Venice discussed the challenges that cities currently face all over the world and also offered their insights on initiatives that might help us shape a better future for cities globally.

Barbara Southworth pointed to the importance of community building and people involvement when it comes to making our cities more sustainable. The difference between the haves and the have-nots is as important as ever to make true sustainability happen. Planning, even if it has caused many of the critical issues that we have to deal with today, still has a lot to offer urban development. But inspiration has to be taken from a more systems-based approach, where interconnectivity in the urban realm is taken into account.

Herbert Girardet stated that a Biennale in Venice in 50 years time might not be possible at all, if sea levels keep rising at the current rate – we need to take the changes in climate seriously and involve ourselves in new concrete initiatives that can help us reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, and diminish our emissions of CO2.

Jan Gehl focused on the benefits that are readily available and at hand in making changes that can help us reduce our dependency on fossil fuels: the bicycle. As he said, the bicycle has been around for a good 100 years, but in many cities authorities seem to have forgotten the benefits cycling can have to the city. Health, safety and a substantial reduction of energy needs is possible by making cycling as easy as possible in cities around the world.

Finally Ricky Burdett pointed out, that the environmental issues, as serious as they are, in and off themselves do not create a truly sustainable city. Urban planning and architecture is needed, flexibility and adaptive urban systems must go hand in hand with environmental strategies. Beauty, he said, is an all too often overlooked issue, when the talk is of cities and sustainability. He also reminded us of the substantial potentials that are to be found in some of the poorest and worst off cities, where people exhibit extraordinary talents when it comes to sustainable actions in everyday life.