Making Shillong a sustainable City
By Anjali Nath
Sweden is the most sustainable country in the world and it is said that Sweden ranks first in the EU for the use of renewable energy (47%) and organic food consumption. The country’s ambition is to become the first zero petroleum energy country by 2020. In addition, Sweden is working towards zero waste, while it has already achieved 99% of recycling. Most of the waste is turned into other usable items, for instance, bottles and plastic are made into raw materials; leftovers becomes soil or bio-gas on which the buses and garbage trucks are run; waste that is burnt is turned into heat for energy. Malmö is a commendable example of how Swedish cities have excelled in sustainability by way of energy management, transportation, and the environment that have been modernized and the living style to which the people have adapted.
The aim of this article is to discuss the sustainable urban development of Malmö and to explain the importance of such a movement and how other cities, like Shillong, can adopt similar plans before matters get worse than they are at the moment.
Malmö is the third largest city of Sweden situated in the southwest; it used to be an industrial city with numerous brown field sites. The city is in partnership with the UN environment programme as a city with high ambitions in sustainability. The entire city is expecting to run on renewable energy by 2030 and by 2020 all city activities should be climate neutral with 100% renewable energy. Moreover, by 2020 all state owned restaurants will use only local organic ingredients. Green spaces and trees are well integrated in the city and Malmö has also invested in different sustainable energy developments. Sustainable transportation, such as bio-buses, cycling paths, green taxis and social policies, which encourage people to live sustainable lives are all taken into account.
Energy efficiency is one of the most important means to reduce CO2 emissions in cities. Thus, solar energy, wind energy and biogas have become a solution in order to meet the need for now and the future. The city focuses on solar installation, which is well integrated with the city. In particular, Sege Park in Malmö, features one of the largest photovoltaic plants in the country, consisting of 1250m2of solar cells with a peak power of 166 kW. The city of Malmö has also invested in photovoltaic panels throughout the city in order to provide electricity for city infrastructures and buildings. In addition, the world’s largest biogas power plant is also under construction , which supplies energy for the public transport in the city. Malmö also takes advantage of the constant windy weather to develop wind power. Today the electricity for more than 60,000 households comes from the Lillgrund wind power plant situated 10km away from the coast. The government is also looking into building urban wind power, which is on a smaller scale of regular wind power plants, in the city. These are issues that Shillong can easily adopt and with little cost.
The city of Malmö has endeavored to make cycling, walking, and public transport the priority of how people travel. It is found that cycling covers 30% of the transportation needs in the city and as much as 40% travel to work or school by bike. All buses in Malmö are run on bio-fuel which is generated through local recycled organic waste. It could be seen that in Malmö people of all ages have adapted to a less car dependent commuting lifestyle. Over and above the contribution to less pollution and decrease in CO2 emission, the efforts have resulted in healthier body status due to regular exercise conducted through cycling and cleaner environment.
Tourism is also promoted in a sustainable way. The city encourages visitors to drink only tap water, try “ecolicious food” and “go with the public flow.” In addition, the travel arrangements of the invited artists are carefully checked to be environmentally friendly. Another interesting fact is that Malmö provides a Green Map for locals and visitors. The map shows many of the sustainable city developments such as the wind turbines, organic restaurants, eco-labeled shops and fair trade shops. The city offers a vast variety of ecological shopping choices, such as locally produced organic cotton clothing, trading old jeans for a discounted new one and certified environmental furniture stores. Even Sweden’s most popular fashion brand, H&M, according to the Textile Exchange organization is the world’s number one user of organic cotton. Further, most hotels in Malmö are eco-labeled, meaning these hotels have made efforts to minimize waste generation and reduce energy and water consumption.
One of the most obvious aspects of transformation in the city is the western harbor district, Västra Hamnen, which was built upon a contaminated industrial wasteland. The Turning Torso is a landmark of the area, which is a sustainable residential building featuring an extraordinary look. It symbolizes Malmö’s transformation from an industrial deprived area to a knowledge based sustainable city. Bo01 is the first development stage of Västra Hamnen and it claims to be Europe’s first climate neutral district (BBC 2013). In order to be energy efficient, 100% of its energy comes from local renewable sources. The electricity is mostly generated by solar and wind energy; some is also produced from sewage and refuse. As measured, 1400m2 of solar panels in households generate energy for domestic heating and hot water. The target for the residents here is to use less than 105kWh per square meter annually per family; in 2006, the average was 87Kwh, exceeding the original goal. In Bo01 little is wasted. Household waste does not go to land-fills, but residents dispose of their waste in vacuum shoots, which goes through underground pipes to an energy plant system transforming food waste into biogas which runs all the local buses. In addition, the heat produced from the biogas is in turn generated into energy. Copenhagen in Denmark is another city that has earned the title of European Green Capital of year 2014. Committed to sustainable development, Copenhagen’s goal is to be the first carbon neutral capital by 2025. Identical to Malmö, Copenhagen has achieved high standards of sustainable city planning in its energy, waste and transportation management. Nonetheless, the district heating and cooling system is one particular project to note. The district heating network in Copenhagen is a highly energy efficient system where additional wasted heat from factories and electricity generating stations are distributed to the city through connecting insulated pipes. The network supplies 98% of Greater Copenhagen and 60% of Denmark. Around 40% of the waste incinerated from the city is turned into electricity and heat. Moreover, it costs 56% less than natural gas heating of an average household. The system has also reduced 80% of electricity consumption with70% less CO2 emission annually. Amsterdam is another successful example of sustainable city. Starting from 2014, Amsterdam’s water utility, Waternet, has set up a project to collect urine from public urinals in order to extract the phosphates and turn them into struvite, a natural fertilizer. It is estimated that the city is capable of producing 1000 tons of fertilizer which can fertilize 10,000 football fields’ worth of plants annually. This project should especially be an eye-opener for poorer nations, as it could save massive amounts of money and even solve the problem of people urinating in streets, which incidentally, is a common sight in India, and Shillong too where every lane and alley exude an ammoniacal odor!
My first impression of Shillong was that of a beautiful place that has somehow gone wrong; the colossal waste of organic and inorganic matter that is consigned to flames at the entrance of the city at Mawlai is simply mind boggling. The concept of sustainable living should be promoted more among the general public starting from a young age. All individuals could participate by starting with not being wasteful and selecting a greener choice. Perhaps one day, “environmental friendly” would no longer be a special term, as it has become a globally accepted norm and value. After all, this is a one planet that everyone shares and cherishes.
(Anjali Nath is the eldest daughter of Dr. Anjan K. Nath; born and brought up in Taiwan. She is at present studying Architecture and Urban Planning at Newcastle University, United Kingdom).