Tackling climate change: Copenhagen's sustainable city design

Copenhagen faces particular danger as sea levels rise and superstorms hit coastal areas with greater frequency. Photograph: Kontraframe

"Global warming poses a real threat to cities but planners in the Danish capital are taking visionary steps to ensure its resilience – and success – as far ahead as 2100

• • Elisabeth Braw
  • Guardian Professional, Tuesday 8 October 2013

Visualise the world in 2050: convex streets that collect water from superstorms and pocket parks that absorb heat and can be turned into reservoirs. Welcome to Copenhagen, where planners are preparing the city for the effects of climate change several generations from now.

"We've looked at how climate change will affect Copenhagen in the long-term future", says Lykke Leonardsen. "For Copenhagen, the most serious effect of climate change will be increased precipitation, so we've developed a plan that addresses how to catch all the rainwater in the city." Leonardsen, a city planner, belongs to the 10-person team working solely on long-term climate change adaptation, planning ahead to the year 2100.

Like any city located by the sea, Copenhagen will face particular danger as sea levels rise and superstorms hit coastal areas with greater frequency. "In adapting to climate change, cities can choose either grey or green infrastructure," says professor Stuart Gaffin, a research scientist at the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University, who also advises the New York City government on climate change adaptation. "Grey infrastructure means building walls and barriers. In New York's case, we'd lose Long Island if we went for the grey option. The green option, which has growing support, includes green roofs, green streets that will capture storm water, and pavements that allow water to percolate through."

That's the option Copenhagen has chosen. Leonardsen's team envisions lowering the level of a local lake, thereby freeing space around its shores. This space will then be turned into a park, with playgrounds and running paths. When a superstorm hits, the lake and its surrounding park will be used for water storage.

And those convex streets? They are main thoroughfares designed by Copenhagen's city planners to capture water from storms and flooding and direct it to the harbour. Copenhagen in 2050 will also feature smaller streets with plenty of trees, which will slow anticipated flooding "so not everything comes bursting into the cloudburst boulevards at the same time", Leonardsen explains. Pocket parks will absorb heat and can be turned into water storage during weather emergencies. In addition to storms, flooding and rising sea levels, heatwaves are the most dramatic scenario facing cities as climate change worsens.

If all goes according to plan, Copenhagen's sustainable climate change adaptation plan – which recently won the Index Design Award – will be completed by 2033. To be sure, Danish city planners operate in an enviable setup, where politicians and local residents alike support sustainable climate change adaptation and are willing to commit the funds required.

Brian Vad Mathiesen, an associate professor of development and planning at Aalborg University, says: "The difference between Copenhagen and other major cities is that they're very concrete in the short term and also look at what they need to do for the very, very long-term future.

"But in Denmark, sustainable city planning is not a niche; it's just what we do. And you have to remember that sustainability is not just about the environment. It's also about creating local jobs."

Copenhageners, in other words, have realised that doing the right thing for the environment brings jobs – and higher living standards – to the city. "Both from a financial and a sustainability perspective, it makes sense to do as much as possible as early as possible," says Mathiesen. "If you don't build things like pocket parks, you'll have problems with flooding. We can't live with flooding that brings the city to a halt for several days each time."

Other cities are embarking on similar plans. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York this year presented a record $19.5bn climate change adaptation plan, with 250 specific projects reaching into the 2050s. Toronto, Rotterdam and Boston, too, have advanced plans with solutions from floating pavilions to terraced levees. Some 20% of the world's cities now have climate change adaptation plans in place. "While governments are mired in negotiations, cities are leaping forward," observes Gaffin. "City populations recognise the threats from climate change."

But while pocket parks and cloudburst boulevards sound charming, green infrastructure remains experimental. It's uncertain how effective percolating pavements will be, for example, and the trees in green streets face daily threats from cars. Besides, nobody really knows what the world will look like in 2050, let alone 2100.

But as far as Copenhageners are concerned, sustainable city design is the only answer to climate change. Morten Jastrup, a senior analyst at Sustainia, a Copenhagen-based think tank, says: "These measures will contribute to a higher quality of life in Copenhagen. We have to consider what will constitute a successful city in the future, because we need highly qualified people to come and work here.""

Fonte e imagem: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/tackling-climate-change-copenhagen-sustainable-city-design

How do bike-sharing schemes shape cities?

"NEXT month a so-called "brand new means of transport" will be launched in Copenhagen: the bicycle. GoBike, Europe's latest bike-sharing scheme, will have bicycles with built-in tablet computers that direct cyclists to the best local restaurants, show offers in nearby shops and give the latest train times. Bike-sharing is shifting up a gear: it seems that nearly every self-respecting mayor is either developing a scheme or announcing an expansion to one. What is the impact on cities' development?

Bike-sharing began in the 1960s when 50 "free bikes" were scattered around Amsterdam. They were promptly stolen. But after this slow start bike-sharing has blossomed. Over the past decade the number of schemes has increased tenfold. Bike-sharing ventures now exist in more than 500 cities, from Dubai to Hawaii. Each works on the simple principle that a user can borrow a bike at a docking station and then return it to another. The first 30 minutes are usually free. The most successful schemes have large fleets of bikes, lots of small docking stations and a few "superdocks" in busy places, such as train stations. Electronic monitoring of the bikes can show ebbs and flows of bike traffic through cities, allowing better distribution of bikes and planning of new docks.

Just as mass public transport changed the development of cities' suburbs, bike-hire schemes are now shaping city centres in subtle ways. A "cycling census" in London found that in the morning rush-hours nearly half of all northbound traffic crossing three of the city's main bridges was made up of cyclists. Planners have responded by criss-crossing the city with cycle-paths; more are proposed. Some mayors are experimenting with bike-only days: Mexico City, the unlikely home of a highly popular bike-hire scheme, closes its central eight-lane highway to cars every Sunday, to the rage of motorists. Property developers are taking note, too: just as houses near metro stations tend to command higher prices, research now suggests that access to cycle paths and proximity to docking points is linked to higher rents. Finally, bike-sharing opens up parts of cities that were previously hard to access by public transport, especially late at night when bus and train services get thinner. Research by Susan Shaheen at the University of California, Berkeley, found that in Montreal and Toronto four out of ten people shopped more at locations near bike stations. In Washington, DC, more than eight out of ten said they were more likely to visit a business, shop or restaurant with easy access to bike-sharing dock.

Just as researchers begin to grasp the impact of bike-sharing, the schemes themselves continue to evolve at speed. New developments include much cheaper "dockless" bikes, already in use in Berlin, which can be found by mobile phone. Another promising development is the introduction of electric bikes, for longer or steeper journeys. Such innovations could help broaden the appeal of bike-share schemes beyond their current users, who are mainly young, relatively well-off men. Bike sharing is just one part of a broader movement towards alternative forms of transport in increasingly crowded cities, but it could be an important one. As last year’s United States Conference of Mayors concluded: "communities that have invested in pedestrian and bicycle projects have benefited from improved quality of life, healthier population, greater local real-estate values, more local travel choices, and reduced air pollution." Time for more of the world to go Dutch."

Fonte e imagem: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/10/economist-explains-14

For the Danes, city planning is all about the bike, por Gary Mason

Cyclists in central Copenhagen, Denmark.

"From his second-floor office overlooking a Baltic-fed canal, Andreas Rohl ponders a daily question: How can he make life hell for the car drivers of this Scandinavian capital? Mr. Rohl, you see, is the bicycle program manager for the city government of Copenhagen. And it's his job to get more of the almost two million Danes living in Greater Copenhagen out of their cars and onto bikes. And to do that he must find ways of making a daily commute on two wheels more attractive than one on four. “This is what we work on a lot,” said Mr. Rohl, an every-day cyclist who does not own a car. “It's all about normalization: making the experience of getting in and around the city on a bicycle as normal and hassle-free as possible.

“We have reached the point where riding a bike is a far better mode of transportation than a car. You can get almost anywhere faster on a bike than in a car. We focus a lot on increasing bike speeds from point A to point B, and one way you can do that is slowing car speed over that same distance.”

When you think of rush hours in major world centres, you imagine cars inching along, going nowhere fast. But the morning and afternoon commute in Copenhagen is something else entirely. It is a spectacle involving tens of thousands of cyclists roaring down dedicated lanes in tight packs, past cars moving at half the speed, if at all.

Copenhagen is the cycling capital of Europe, and likely the most bike-friendly city in the world. An amazing 37 per cent of those living in Greater Copenhagen use a bicycle to get to work or school every day. That number jumps to 55 per cent if you look only at people living inside the city limits.

Bikes are everywhere: in vast lots outside train stations, leaning against buildings, locked to racks that are as ubiquitous as Carlsberg signs. The people riding them are dressed for all occasions. You see men in pin-striped suits and women in skirts and high heels. Few ride anything but old, traditional one-speeds.

As many cities around the world take the first tentative steps toward building bike cultures of their own, Mr. Rohl has become in demand as a speaker. People want to know how Copenhagen did it. Mr. Rohl tells them it took time and uncommon political courage.

Today, cyclists rule the roads in Copenhagen. There are far more bikes than cars. Where cities in North America focus on easing car congestion, in Copenhagen it's bike jams people like Mr. Rohl are trying to solve. In some cases, that has meant taking space away from cars and handing it to cyclists. It's meant building bridges for bikes and pedestrians over busy thoroughfares.

“Part of finding ways to get even more people biking is to make the experience for cyclists as pleasant as possible,” said Mr. Rohl. “So if you can create peaceful routes for cyclists and give them pleasant views, it makes the trip more enjoyable and they'll be more apt to continue doing it.”

Imagine this: Traffic lights that were once co-ordinated for car speeds were adjusted to cater to the pace of the average cyclist, allowing them to travel long distances without ever getting a red light. To increase safety, stop lines for cars are five metres behind those for bikes. Cyclists get a green light up to 12 seconds ahead of cars to help increase their visibility.

In the winter months, bike ridership drops off 20 per cent. Still, an armada of plows is ready to clear bike lanes when snow flies. They get priority over routes for cars.

You would think that with so many cyclists on the road, the number of accidents and deaths would be enormous. In fact, each year sees an average of two or three deaths, although there were five in 2008. There have been about 120 serious accidents annually in the past few years, a figure that has declined as the number of cyclists on the roads has increased.

Surprisingly, few cyclists in Copenhagen wear a helmet, a matter that local politicians often debate. But there has been a general reluctance to make them mandatory because it might discourage people from riding. The benefits of cycling, both environmentally and healthwise, outweigh the risks of riding without a helmet, Mr. Rohl said.

It's not all perfect, of course. Cyclists want more parking, and the holes and bumps along certain routes repaired. They want dedicated lanes widened to accommodate their growing numbers. But overall, people are happy with the job Mr. Rohl and others have been doing on their behalf.

By the way, if you think the Danes are doing this to save the planet, you're wrong. Only 1 per cent of those recently surveyed by the city said they were riding a bike to help the environment.

The rest said it was just easier to get around that way."

Copenhagen — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

Fonte e imagem:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/for-the-danes-city-planning-is-all-about-the-bike/article1322407/

Transportes podem ser financiados pela valorização dos terrenos por onde passam

Especialista português em auditoria do Metro de Lisboa apresentou em congresso internacional soluções para o financiamento dos transportes públicos
in Jornal Público, 12.06.2009, Carlos Cipriano, em Viena

"O investimento em transportes públicos aumenta quase sempre o valor dos terrenos por onde passa. Um prolongamento da rede de metro, ou a construção de uma nova estação entre duas já existentes, espalham à sua volta um acréscimo de valor dos terrenos e dos imóveis localizados. O tema é complexo, mas foi este desafio que José Carballo Sequeira, director do gabinete de auditoria do Metro de Lisboa, propôs a algumas centenas de especialistas numa apresentação ao Congresso da União Internacional dos Transportes Públicos (UITP), que ontem encerrou em Viena, Áustria.
É justo, pois, que se criem mecanismos para ir buscar esse valor a quem dele beneficia sem que para tal tenha contribuído, e o ponha ao serviço da comunidade financiando o próprio investimento. Uma taxa sobre os benefícios gerados pela nova rede de transportes é um dos três mecanismos possíveis, que visa introduzir alguma justiça quando um investimento público destinado à população acaba por gerar enormes valorizações às propriedades de uma minoria.
José Sequeira diz que é isto que está a ser feito na expansão do metro de Londres e que a mesma experiência foi pacífica também em Washington, quando se construiu uma nova estação em terrenos desqualificados que passaram a valer uma fortuna.
Mas em vez de se fazer primeiro o investimento e depois se aplicarem as taxas, é possível uma solução mais elaborada que consiste em antecipar os benefícios esperados utilizando-os para financiar a infra-estrutura. "Neste caso, pede-se ao banco para financiar o investimento e dá-se como garantia os futuros ganhos sobre os valores dos terrenos", explica este investigador, que estudou o caso australiano, onde este mecanismo é aplicado, e o de Chicago, onde a forma de financiamento é utilizada em grande escala. Por fim, uma terceira possibilidade consiste em juntar a construção de uma infra-estrutura de transportes com o desenvolvimento urbano, em que o próprio operador e entidades privadas se envolvem na requalificação dos locais por onde passa a nova rede.
As pessoas têm a percepção de que uma estação de metro implantada num bairro muda completamente o tipo de serviços e de actividades que ali passam a funcionar. A ideia, diz José Sequeira, "é aproveitar o valor das vendas e das rendas desses espaços para financiar o investimento, mas, em vez de taxas, o próprio Estado [ou o seu operador] contratualiza com os privados a venda e arrendamento das propriedades, partilhando os benefícios. E, mais uma vez, há exemplos de sucesso: em Hong Kong o operador de transportes trabalha em conjunto com os promotores imobiliários privados e o mesmo tem acontecido em Madrid, na área metropolitana de Copenhaga, na Índia e no Brasil.
Em Portugal, porém, há uma quase ausência de reflexão em torno destas questões, continuando as empresas responsáveis pelas infra-estruturas de transportes - sobretudo a Refer e os Metros de Lisboa e do Porto - a endividar-se para prosseguir com os investimentos.
A estação do metro do Colégio Militar é um caso-tipo de como um investimento público gerou valor para os privados, bem aproveitado pela Sonae, no Colombo, e pelo grupo BES, no Hospital da Luz.
José Sequeira, que faz parte da Comissão de Economia de Transportes da UITP, diz que estas inovadoras fontes de financiamento são, ainda por cima, amigas das finanças públicas. Estudadas, sobretudo, na perspectiva das redes de metro, estes mecanismos podem também ser extrapolados para investimentos de maior dimensão, como é o caso do novo aeroporto e das estações da rede de alta velocidade.
O congresso da UIPT juntou em Viena 2200 delegados oriundos de 80 países e 350 empresas que ocuparam uma área de exposição de 26 mil metros quadrados. O tema deste ano foi a Mobilidade e Transporte nas Cidades."
O PÚBLICO viajou a convite da Bombardier

Fonte:
http://jornal.publico.clix.pt/