How do cities solve critical issues – from security to inclusivity, from urban growth to health, from mobility to climate change? It is the ambition of mayors, influencers, public figures, forward-thinking businessmen and activists that matters. The ambition to drive change and to shape cities for the better. We need city changers on all levels and in all aspects of urban life who really dare to be inconvenient.
40 years ago, scientists started seriously warning about climate change. However, nobody listened, nobody cared and pretty much nothing was done to combat it. So, it seems quite astonishing that it was a passionate 16-year-old Swedish girl who ultimately provided the straw that broke the camel’s back to make this global challenge one of the top priorities of our times. Suddenly it seems obvious not only to millions of teenagers around the globe that we have to make changes. Cities in particular take center stage when it comes to this change: they need to massively reduce emissions, become greener, more inclusive, healthier, and more livable. The only question that remains is how on earth do we get there?
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Do we need stricter regulations, carbon taxes, car-bans, a new economic paradigm? Are we waiting for the convenient salvation through the holy grail – new technological solutions? Or will communities miraculously organize themselves in a different way and suddenly act responsibly towards our planet – just like that? I think the answer is “yes” and “no”.
Let’s face it: We fucked it up. So, it will have to be us – every single human on this planet – who fix it. That means we’ll have to do (many) things differently – and we’ll feel it, especially because we humans are not really too fond of changing our behavior. Because of this, I am convinced that what we need above all is bold and uniting leadership on all levels and in all aspects of (urban) life. We’ll need leadership from mayors as much as we need leadership from businesses, public figures, influencers and from the general public. These will be crucial in both developing a positive vision for our future as well as being role models for how to drive the change.
Dare to enter into inconvenient conversations
It is embarrassing that so many political leaders focus more on their re-election than on critical topics: many fear inconvenient conversations. But without actively starting them, how can cities and societies solve any critical issues like health care, pensions, education or climate change? Leaders must have the courage to enter into such conversations and also reframe the discussions around it. Let’s put it this way: reducing private car use in city centres is not a question for or against cars, but rather about clean air, a higher quality of life and public safety.
Ken Livingston, former Mayor of London, is a great example of a brave leader. He was the driving force behind the well-known congestion charge that affected driving in London. This was implemented mainly as a tool for controlling the growth of traffic in the city’s most congested and most substantially polluted area. Ken was a leader who believed it was the right thing to do for the long-term success of London and its citizens. That’s why he did not get tired of entering such difficult discussions: with citizens, the logistics lobby, taxi drivers, the media, etc. The results were impressive: 30 per cent less cars that entered the zone, fewer traffic jams, 15 per cent lower travelling times with only a minimal effect (-0.5 per cent) on the shops within the zone.
Don’t expect to be loved by everyone
Did you know that in Vienna it’s possible to use public transport for only 1 EUR a day with an annual ticket? Since the municipality reduced prices in 2012 – an initiative led by Maria Vassilakou; Vice Mayor of the Green party – the number of travellers with an annual ticket has almost doubled – from 350,000 to 650,000. That is the bright side of the story – an astonishing success. However, most of the Viennese people won’t remember her for this achievement, but rather for another project: “Mariahilferstrasse”, where she made Europe’s largest shopping street more or less car-free. From then on, she felt like “Vienna’s most hated woman” (quoting her at UFGC18). That must have been difficult to swallow. But Maria had a vision. And she was right in following it, proven by pictures, neighbours and now even by shop owners of Mariahilferstraße.
Start with some easy wins
Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana, knows that his city is probably not one known for the fight for greener and healthier cities. But Erion is on a mission – a mission to make his city a better place to live in. This mission includes a very unusual form of ambassadors – children! He started his revolution with a straightforward but effective method: planting trees for the children’s birthdays. This is a measure that can easily be copied elsewhere by anyone who wants to start making change happen.
Think bigger than your term of office
With his #greenlegacy campaign, Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, leads by example when it comes to implementing bold actions for climate change. He has invited the whole country to be a part of it: Planting 350 million trees in 12 hours required massive efforts. For a country that’s stricken by poverty, wars and a long list of other problems, this initiative, involving all citizen groups, public employees, politicians and the police, had a very positive effect on its communities.
Thanks to my work with Europe’s largest event for sustainable cities, I’ve met a large number of urban leaders and change makers. What has struck me the most, however, is that the secret ingredient that sets apart the most visionary, passionate and effective leaders from the rest appear to be not so secret after all, and are certainly no rocket science. That being said, I want to stress that it might seem easier than it probably is. I am extremely thankful to be able to meet all these passionate people who take responsibility for their communities, particularly those who take their people on a journey into a brighter future. Go City Changers!
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Gerald Babel-Sutter is a passionate changemaker. As the founder and CEO of the URBAN FUTURE global conference (UFGC), he brings together the world’s most passionate mayors, city planners and urban decision-makers. That is how he has gained comprehensive insights into sustainable urbanism, leadership and urban mobility issues. Babel-Sutter completed his studies at Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Montclair State University, NYU, Columbia University and Harvard Business School in the USA.
The UFGC is Europe’s largest event for sustainable cities. In 2020 it will take place in Lisbon from April 1-3. More information here.
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Again and again Vienna has been voted one of the most livable cities in the world. The city’s approach to urban development, which focuses mostly on urban regeneration, affordable housing and a well-developed public transport system, has successfully made the life quality of its inhabitants a priority. Vienna is growing, and in a healthy way. Yet it still has two speeds – sometimes blessedly slow and sometimes travelling in the fast lane.
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It has been almost exactly 30 years to the day that I got off the train at the Südbahnhof. A direct connection from an upland village in South Tyrol at the Italian-Austrian border. The first challenge was the escalators; I had never seen anything like it before. I had arrived in Vienna and I was here to stay, as it turned out.
“Vienna is growing and is getting a lot of things right.”
The Südbahhof doesn’t exist anymore, having made space for the central station. This boasts yet more escalators and is more shopping centre than train station, in line with the global trend of commercialisation. The plot of the former station has become one of Vienna’s most important urban development sites, and so has the area of the former Nordbahnhof. The development of the Nordwestbahnhof is next in line and ideas and visions for the Westbahnhof are in discussion. Vienna is growing and is getting a lot of things right. It is growing comprehensively, not just on the outskirts but also in the centre. Through redensification in the city centre, conservation and restoration, and the use of reserves freed up by the restructuring of the traffic system. The development of the Nordbahnhof following the model and masterplan of StudioVlayStreeruwitz „Free centre – versatile edge“ seems to me especially ambitious and promising: The strong densification of outskirts bordering the growing city, for the benefit of the wild and sprawling free spaces in the centre of an area, mostly unused since World War II. And further out you can find the creation of the satellite city Seestadt Aspern, where once more the city of Vienna is doing everything right. First the underground was extended, then facilities for business and education were built. Only then were large numbers of flats added simultaneously. Of course large development projects such as these take time. Like the trees that were newly planted there life needs to grow, but the soil is well prepared.
“It has a voice in privately financed projects through urban development contracts – a giving and taking.”
Vienna is a great place to live, in every phase of life. That is because in contrast to other well-situated megapolises, Vienna is affordable. The city government has a say, even playing a central role. It hands out parts of its extensive estate for subsidised social housing to the bidder with the best development concept, as opposed to aiming to maximise profits. So even with rising rents and property prices, there is no dramatic shortage of housing. It also has a voice in privately financed projects through urban development contracts – a giving and taking. As is the case everywhere, students and young creative people are moving to areas with cheaper rents, resulting in urban improvement and gentrification so that other residents have to look elsewhere. But no entire district of Vienna has been replaced as a result, instead they are more strongly mixed. It is easy to travel around Vienna without a car, paid parking is the rule in most areas of the city. In return, the city provides an excellent public transportation network with an annual travelcard costing 365 euros. Cycling is on the rise, thanks to an expansion of the cyclepath network and initiatives such as bike lanes allowing two-directional travel on one-way streets.
Vienna is beautiful. Worth living in and worth loving. Once it starts getting warmer, usually by the end of April, you can find me at the Alte Donau, at the freely accessible wooden boardwalks opposite the Gänsehäufel, Austria’s most visited open air swimming pool. And as soon as the standing water of the Alte Donau gets too warm, I can be in Bad Fischau within 45 minutes; a small historical spa town from imperial times with cold flowing spring water.
“Never static, but never hasty.”
My love for the city centre is more recent. It took a while until the mass of tourists no longer ruined my pleasure in the impressive urban beauty of the Old Town. I used to avoid the city centre and preferred to spend my evenings in the Flex, the WUK or the Arena, the Chelsea, B72 or the Rhiz; with new and wild music, deafening and exciting like life in this otherwise cosy city. In the 90s bars formerly hidden and dispersed relocated to the railway arches near the outer ring road “Gürtel”, with the logic that it is loud and dirty there anyway. One constant are the art house cinemas. The Filmcasino, the Votivkino, the Stadtkino, now in the Künstlerhaus, the Gartenbaukino. Vienna always feels to be slowly in motion. You don’t notice the continuous change during everyday life. Only if you look back you discover how much has changed in the 30 years since my arrival. And this is precisely one of the strengths of this city: never static, but never hasty. Just like life here. In constant adjustment and still always in the right place.
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Friedrich Passler was born and raised in the Puster Valley, South Tyrol. He studied architecture at the TU Vienna as well as at McGill University, Montreal, CA. In 1999 he founded AllesWirdGut together with his fellow students Andreas Marth, Christian Waldner and Herwig Spiegl. AllesWirdGut is an internationally operating architecture and urban planning office based in Vienna and Munich.
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This Metropolis Explained can be find in topos 109.
Higher, better, faster – we live in a capitalist economy, one that fosters over-consumption; a modern economy that has to continuously step up production to survive. This vicious circle impacts the life of mankind and the whole biosphere. The changes that population growth and consumer capitalism cause on our planet are the theme of “Landscape of Consumption“, a film by the English photographer Karl Davies. The scenes in his production are mainly so depressing because he neither glosses over nor edits anything – he just reflects our everyday life.
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It is the middle of the night: garish lights flood the streets, groups of people cross over from side to side in movements like waves. The night-time scene of vivid advertising, music and city dwellers out shopping or eating on the go presumably stands for urbanity and quality of life. They turn night into day. While some work and produce products, others acquire products and consume. We ourselves are part of this; we let ourselves be carried along and away with it. But the feeling of excitement can soon subside, making way for a sense of disquiet and exhaustion – until, at last, we come to realise the consequences of such consumer behaviour.
Karl Davies, photographer and filmmaker from Bristol, captures precisely this sense of disquiet in his “Landscape of Consumption” production, a time-lapse short film consisting of more than 200,000 still images that he created on three continents. In this piece he evokes the changes that exponential population growth and consumer capitalism have on our planet. And not only mankind seems overtasked and overburdened by these never-ceasing phenomena, but most definitely the earth too.
Although the present capitalist-consumerist model has been accompanied by economic growth and improved living standards for most of the West – and still is – two aspects in particular are especially fatal: the unequal use of resources and the effects this has on the environment. If, for example, the whole world were to follow America’s example in terms of consumption, 5.4 planets would at present be required to supply the respective resources. Indeed, according to the Global Footprint Network, by July 2019 humanity had used as many resources as the earth needs a whole year to regenerate. We emit more carbon dioxide than forests and oceans are capable of absorbing, and fell more trees than can be replaced by new growth. As Greenpeace points out, 100 billion-plus garments – an unprecedented amount – were produced in 2014. By way of comparison, 10 kilograms of new clothing are bought by consumers in Germany every year, 16 kilograms in the USA and about two kilograms in Africa/ Middle East. The growing consumption of textiles in industrial states has grave environmental consequences in the countries where they are made, such as Bangladesh and China. As Karl Davies says: “For the first time in history, mankind’s primary issue is not scarcity, it is abundance.”
Watch here the time-lapse short film “The Landscape of Consumption” by Karl Davies.
The whole article about the film “The Landscape of consumption” can be found in topos 109.
