Towards a Sustainable City

Abstract

Cities behave like a human being: they are born, grow, and die; they use energy, fuels, and building materials..., and they produce waste: air pollution from CO, CO2, NOx, SO2, and lead, solid waste, wastewater discharge..., and as they grow, they engulf rural settlements. It is urgent to work on building a model of environmental sustainability for cities, since the current model, which demands heavy resource consumption and generates high waste output, is unsustainable. To fulfill our commitment to leaving future generations a healthy and beautiful planet, we must build collective ecological awareness. In this endeavor, perhaps the most complex and least advanced task is transforming individual and social habits and behaviors so that the impacts of our activities do not affect the ecosystems on which we depend and with which we interact.