POCACITO - Public services and infrastructures

Food waste recycling

clf — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 13:42:22 +0000

The City of Milan started the door to door collection of organic (food) waste in some city areas in 2012. After 1.5 years, the service has been extended to all households in the city. Food waste is collected in special biodegradable bags and transferred to an anaerobic digestion plant which generates biogas and compost. Thanks to the high involvement of citizens, the current recycling rate of food waste in Milan is already above the EU target of 50% by 2020. That is why Milan is currently considered the international leader in organic waste collection and recycling. Also, in 2014, the City of Milan has pledged to develop its overall Food Policy on a five year term.

Zagreb for Me

clf — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 09:59:12 +0000

“Zagreb for Me” is an ambitious and comprehensive project launched in 2015 by the Zagreb Society of Architects in cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Zagreb and the City of Zagreb. The goal of the project is to start a revitalization of public spaces through the realization of 17 urban interventions in the whole city area at the same time. This distributed approach will improve the general “image of the city” and raise the quality of urban life in segments of housing, recreation, leisure and social cohesion. Although Zagreb has some significant historical parks and squares in its centre, as well as a few recreational zones, the rest of the city has plenty of neglected open spaces that have no specific function. This project aims to decentralize designed public spaces and draw attention to some forgotten city spots. At the same time, the project, created from a “bottom-up” initiative, establishes a new model of public participation as well as new forms of collaboration.

Water management & climate adaptation

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:05:38 +0000

In order to approach climate change as an opportunity rather than a threat, the City of Rotterdam launched the Climate Proof program in 2008. As a city, situated in a low-lying delta, with Europe's largest international port, Rotterdam has developed sustainable water management systems to fight climate change consequences -rising sea level, increases in cloud bursts, extremes in river water levels, longer periods of drought and higher temperatures. The Rotterdam Climate Proof program is based on three pillars: knowledge, action and communication, and aims to ensure that Rotterdam is “climate proof” by 2025. Implementation of new technologies and solutions in the framework of the program are enhancing the safety and the quality of life in the City, while offering considerable economic potential to the entire region. Innovative measures like green roofs or flood controlling water plazas are positioning Rotterdam as leading national and international water savvy and climate city.

Electric car-sharing service - Autolib

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:01:01 +0000

The City of Paris, together with the Île-de-France region, was the first major European city, which successfully deployed a public electric car-sharing program. The program, named Autolib, was initiated by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delaone who was searching for another traffic option to complement the city’s much-acclaimed bike sharing service, Velib. Autolib is operated by the Bolloré Group enterprise, which won the contract to develop the service and to supply the area with electric cars and stations. The program started in 2011 with an initial fleet of 250 eco-friendly electric 'Bluecars'. The program today (2015) has more than 3,000 cars operating on the streets of Paris and within the whole region. There are around 860 Autolib stations where users can subscribe, pick up or drop off the cars. As well, there are 4,400 parking spaces and charging points reserved exclusively for ”Bluecars”. Electric car sharing services greatly contribute to the preservation of the environment and facilitate mobility in the bustling city of Paris. Electric 'Bluecars' are silent and have zero emissions locally, and their affordability and popularity continues to prevent more and more people from buying an own car.

Waterway Restoration in Shanghai

clf — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 13:20:54 +0000

Suzhou Creek flows through Shanghai, one of the world’s largest megacities. Starting in the early 1900s, the creek had fallen victim to rapid urbanization and industrialization, carrying most of the city’s waste water. In 1996, the ‘Economic and Social Development Plan for Shanghai’ was adopted which kicked off the 12-year-long Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Project. Since then, water quality has been substantially improved through the implementation of a combination of measures such as flushing, environmental dredging, re-aeration and interception of wastewater, elimination of wastewater disposal, wastewater treatment, the relocation of solid waste processing wharves and embankment reconstruction. The Shanghai Municipal Government has set a good example for cooperation in the fields of water resources and coastal management as well as effective decision making in order to allow for the implementation of such major projects in a relatively short time frame.

District Heating Network & CHP

clf — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 14:12:42 +0000

The Rostock district heating network now supplies more than 60% of households with heat and hot water. The main energy source is a combined heat and power (CHP) natural gas plant. Since 1994, the waste heat from a bituminous coal power plant is also used. Centrally produced and distributed energy from a district heating network is more efficient and less air-polluting than having single oil-fired furnaces in every household. In 2007, the City of Rostock released a regulation “Fernwärmesatzung“, which states that every household has the obligation to connect to the heating network, unless other environmentally friendly heating systems were installed. In 2014, Rostock decided on a climate protection masterplan to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 95%. This includes reaching very ambitious renewable energy targets by 2050. The energy sources for the district heating system will change to renewables as soon as the existing plants need to be replaced. The district heating network is ready for renewable energy.