In the last decade, everyone has been going on about the end of the world with all the catastrophe going on, what with the new Coronavirus. Over the years, issues such as pollution, climate change and haze have continuously threatened the human population. All these unpredicted calamities have taken many lives by the time vaccine and solutions have been created. For example, as of January 2020, forest fire has destroyed over 5,900 and killed at least 34 people. Every year 3,575,000 die from water pollution or related diseases that is equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every hour. Many people around the world have contributed to the unhealthy ecosystem we are experiencing as of now. It is time to bring awareness to the residents of Earth by creating a sustainable place for our world. In fact, there are already cities that heal the world and make it a better place.
The sustainable cities are created to limit the emissions of carbon dioxide, to resolve the effects of urbanisation, to preserve and increase the green cities and to improve the quality of life. These cities depend more on renewable energy to run their daily life. A Smart City is envisioned as it would use less of the world’s limited resources. A solar panel could be used to generate electricity to reduce its dependence on burning of non-renewable energy such as fossil fuels as done in Morocco. Recycling, reusing and reducing should be practised to increase the landfill diversion rate in conjunction with the Zero Waste campaign. For example, recyclable items could be exchanged for food or cash and such.
Our biggest worry is that plastic bottles could be reduced if no containers are needed to store the water. For example, fountains could be built in parks and buildings for the public to reduce plastic usage. Slovenia has already worked on the project and been awarded the European Green Capital 2016. Wind turbines could also be used to generate electricity. Besides usage of maglev trains that work on the electrically charged magnets to lift and carry trains above the rail tracks, usage of bicycles or car-pooling as done in Denmark could sustain the world. It could also reduce the time taken to search for car parks and as well as road traffics. Geothermal energy could also be used to generate electricity. For example, 95% of heating in Iceland is provided by geothermal.
With this, it is without a doubt that many countries are working towards a greener and smarter city to resolve the calamities faced by the environment. It is vital that we try our best to sustain the world’s resources as well as the world itself given the deaths caused by all the environmental setbacks. Many countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the United States of America, Japan and China have already established Smart City inventions to help revolutionize. Many countries have aimed their goals by the end of 2050 and it is advised for other countries to follow through.
P/S: Perhaps Malaysia can follow too. I want to suggest having fountain water for the public to drink from.
Written by:
Shalini