World energy consumption is very poorly distributed as we all know. There is great variability in the distribution and use of energy throughout the world. Cities barely occupy 2% of the entire territory of planet Earth. However, producing 85% of world GDP, they consume 75% of all energy produced and we produce almost all greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
An expert former director of the Observatory of Sustainability of Spain (OSE), Luis Jiménez Herrero, has commented that, if we do not make cities sustainable, the entire planet will not be sustainable. How can 2% of all land territory become so essential?
Cities and energy consumption
The tendency to live in urban areas and to urbanize everything is unstoppable. This transition in which there is a rural exodus to live in urban areas and in big cities comes with important economic and ecological issues. For example, it is more economically viable to focus all efforts on transportation, energy and product distribution in large cities. In this way we avoid large trips, occupy less territory, save on energy transport and storage, etc.
On the other hand, there are various ecological issues. Living in rural places, with a population and a diffuse city model, requires energy costs, water pipes, internet, etc. More expensive and, for the environment, more harmful.
In the book published by Luis Herrero it is explained that 55% of humanity is currently concentrated in urban environments, while by 2050 it is expected that practically 70% of the total is concentrated in cities, and in the case of Europe close to 80%. This trend of urbanization and rural exodus is called urban.
Although cities around the world so they only occupy 2% of the entire territory of the planet, consume excess resources and pollute too much. This leads to a need to transform the current system. In the case of Spain, a model change is taking place from the one that existed before the crisis, which, according to this researcher, was “opulent, wasteful and with a high environmental impact”.
To alleviate these problems, cities have to be transformed into something more sustainable so that the impacts are minimal and resources are better used.
It all seems very boring to me.