On 8 September, the European Commission, the City of Stockholm and the City of Hamburg are co-organising a 1-day Conference at the Expo Shanghai on Sustainable Urban Development entitled "European Green Capitals: Looking to Cities of the Future."

At the conference, representatives from Europe's first two Green Capitals, Stockholm and Hamburg will share their views on sustainable urban development – using concrete examples to illustrate how it is possible to improve the quality of life for Europe's city-dwellers. The City of Wuxi and the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau will also showcase their best-practice examples. Study visits of the Swedish Pavilion and Hamburg House will follow in the afternoon.

The conference will show the ambitious vision and green urban mindset needed for Cities of the Future. If cities want to prosper, they must learn to safeguard the natural resources that underpin their economies and the quality of life of their growing urban populations. Cities are the places where environment policy is put into practice, and the ones that do it most successfully deserve to be rewarded.

1. THE EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL AWARD (www.europeangreencapital.eu)

What is the European Green Capital Award and what are its objectives?

The European Green Capital Award (EGCA) is given each year to a city, not necessarily a capital, which is leading the way in environmentally friendly urban living and which can thus act as a role-model to inspire other cities. The EGCA recognises and rewards the efforts that can be made at the local level to improve not only the environment and the economy but also the quality of life of urban populations, which are growing across Europe.

The Award's objectives are threefold, namely to:
a) reward cities that have a well-established record of achieving high environmental objectives,
b) encourage cities to commit to ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development, and
c) provide a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices and experiences in all other European cities.

What were the reasons for creating this award?

The EGCA is the result of an initiative taken by 15 European cities and the Association of Estonian cities in May 2006 in Tallinn. The 15 cities were Tallinn itself, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius, Berlin, Warsaw, Madrid, Ljubljana, Prague, Vienna, Kiel, Kotka, Dartford, Tartu and Glasgow. The initiative was turned into a joint Memorandum submitted to the European Commission in which they proposed the establishment of an award rewarding cities that are leading the way in environmentally friendly urban living.

The creation of the award is timely since Europe is now an essentially urban society, with four out of five Europeans living in towns and cities. Most of the environmental challenges facing our society originate from urban areas but it is also these urban areas that bring together the commitment and innovation needed to resolve them.

What are the criteria for the selection of the cities?

Eleven environmental indicator areas have been defined to guide the work of the EGCA expert evaluation panel. These are: local contribution to climate change, local transport, green urban areas, sustainable land use, nature and biodiversity, local air quality, noise pollution, waste production & management, water consumption, waste water treatment and environmental management of the municipality.

When assessing the cities' applications, the experts focus on:
a) The environmental situation today and how it has evolved over the last five to ten years, measured in relation to the eleven environmental indicators,
b) The extent of innovative and efficient measures implemented to improve the city environment, related to each of the environmental indicators,
c) The plans for implementing further measures in future, and
d) The city's communications plan for sharing experiences and best practice on environmental matters. This can be seen as a kind of twelfth indicator.

How does this award contribute to creating a greener environment in Europe?

The EGCA is an excellent policy tool and powerful incentive to help convince local governments and authorities that sustainable urban development is the key to a successful future. Progress is its own reward, but the European Commission believes the satisfaction and pride involved in winning a prestigious European award will spur cities to invest in further implementation of EU environment policies at the local level, share experiences and visions with other European countries and local governments, streamline environmental actions and projects and take the idea of sustainable development closer to the people. Cities across Europe differ enormously and sharing concrete examples of what a European Green Capital can look like is essential to promoting further progress.

Europeans who want to live in urban areas have a right to live in towns and cities that are healthy. Cities should therefore strive to improve the quality of life of their citizens and reduce their impact on the global environment. The advantages of improving the urban environment – such as cleaner air, land and water, better public transport and expansion of green spaces – are clear for all to see and enjoy.

2. THE CITY OF STOCKHOLM AS EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL FOR 2010 (www.stockholm.se/egc)

As 2010 winner, Stockholm scored highest for its contribution to the battle against climate change, the availability of green areas open to the public, low noise pollution, good waste production practices and sustainable land use management.

The expert evaluation panel praised Stockholm for its long-term vision on environmental issues, which has resulted in initiatives such as an innovative integrated waste treatment system that brings high rates of recycling. The panel commended the fact that 95% of the population live within 300m of green areas, and was also impressed by Stockholm’s goal to become fossil-free by 2050, in line with its wider sustainable development plans for a rapidly growing metropolis of 800,000 people. The city can boast a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per inhabitant since 1990, which has brought emissions down to half the Swedish national average. All trains and central buses now run on renewable fuels and air quality has also improved significantly, thanks in part to a recently introduced congestion charge on inner-city vehicles.

City of Stockholm (http://www.hammarbysjostad.se/)

“Creating sustainable cities from scratch – The Hammarby Sjöstad”

The Hammarby Sjöstad residential area is a perfect example of a good, sustainable city environment. Hammarby Sjöstad is an exciting new district in Stockholm where the City has imposed tough environmental requirements on buildings, technical installations and the traffic environment from day one. The area is still developing and is to be completed in 2015. The neighbourhood has its own eco-friendly system for handling energy, waste and water. Everybody who lives in Hammarby is part of an eco-cycle that handles energy, waste, sewage and water for homes and offices. One example is the incineration of combustible waste to produce both electricity and district heating; another is the use of waste heat from treated waste water to heat water in the district heating system. The neighbourhood now serves as an example of environmentally sustainable city development worldwide. (It was, for example, inspiration for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City in China.)

Swedish Pavilion Study Tour (http://www.swedenexpo.cn/en/)

"Sweden – Spirit of Innovation"

“Nature is close to the heart of every Swede and this makes it a natural starting point for innovation. Nature is a source of inspiration and creativity. What makes a city attractive is the networks which are created between people. An open, inviting and enriched urban room provides a good base for life energy and innovation. The pavilion will reflect the meeting between city and nature and the optimism and strength that can be created where they come together.”

The exhibition presents, in an eye-catching way that is sensitive to changing trends, communication between people, authorities and the local environment as the basis of an open and harmonious community. It also presents the innovative and sustainable nature of Swedish companies, regions and organizations. At the heart of the exhibition we can find the concept of the family and “the good life”.

The Swedish exhibition glows with creativity and encourages interaction and reflection. The idea is to give the visitor an “aha” experience and help trigger thought and discussions on the messages communicated in the exhibition. The exhibition is designed with Chinese visitors in mind.

3. THE CITY OF HAMBURG AS EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL FOR 2011 (http://hamburggreencapital.eu/)

Hamburg was awarded the 2011 title as the city combines integrated and participative planning with policy commitments and has set ambitious climate protection goals such as reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. Concretely speaking, CO2 emissions per person have been reduced by about 15% compared to 1990, with annual energy savings of some 46,000 MWh. The Hamburg Climate Protection Act contains a special cost-efficiency benchmark for energy-saving measures in public buildings such as programmes for lamps, boilers and refrigerator replacement. Hamburg has replaced over 200,000 conventional lamps in more than 400 public buildings, saving energy and €3.4 million per year. Additionally over 600 boiler systems have been replaced with modern condensing boilers in recent years, an investment of €18 million.

The experts evaluating Hamburg's performance commended the excellent integrated waste management system with high levels of source separation of individual materials and energy recovery. Very good performance in water consumption, metering and leakage was also noted by the panel. The experts were impressed with the fact that almost 100% of Hamburg's citizens have public transport within 300 meters and there is also a systematic structure of green spaces which are easily accessible to citizens.

City of Hamburg (www.hafencity.com)

"HafenCity – Hamburg Is Building for the Future”

As one of the prime inner urban development projects in Europe, HafenCity will expand the existing inner city by 40 percent – in a spirit of urbanity and with the highest standards in sustainability: Ten new inner city neighbourhoods on former port and industrial areas; space for 12,000 residents, 40,000 jobs and thousands of daily visitors. 157 hectares of historic structures, maritime in character, carefully redeveloped and preserved, adapted to green urban living, expanded through daring architecture and offering various opportunities for living, working, recreation and the arts.

HafenCity is a pioneer in the field of sustainability. The former port and industrial area has been decontaminated and redeveloped into a dense urban district. The main characteristic is its multifaceted mix of uses: Living and working are complemented with a variety of options for shopping, recreation, arts and public life on the plazas and promenades. HafenCity is a compact district with short routes easily reached by foot, bicycle or public transport. By 2012 a new underground line will connect HafenCity to the town centre in just three minutes. High benchmarks for efficient, low-carbon energy supply will drastically reduce carbon emissions in the district. State of the art technologies are used, such as solar arrays, fuel cells, combined heat and power units, heat pumps, and renewable energy sources from biomass. Due to the experience gathered in the course of the HafenCity the City of Hamburg decided to take a typical building from the HafenCity and to use it as reference building for the Hamburg House at Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

HafenCity’s sustainability strategy is a joint operation of the city, private investors and users. HafenCity’s very own eco label motivates all parties to aspire and to achieve the highest environmental standards. Thus HafenCity will play an important role in achieving Hamburg’s climate protection targets in both the medium and long-term.

Hamburg House Study Tour (http://expo2010.hamburg.de/)

"Hamburg Passive House"

At Expo 2010 Shanghai Hamburg House presents a modern, climate friendly building that – being the first certificated passive house in China - sets the highest ecological standards by minimizing energy consumption. Besides giving information about the passive house technology, Hamburg is also shown as an innovative and worth living metropolis on the water. The exhibition informs not only about the building technology, but also about projects of sustainable urban development and climate protection (harbour city, IBA/IGS, CSC …), about the Hamburg economic clusters as well as about the city partnership between Hamburg and Shanghai. Moreover, different cultural projects, as for example the Elbphilharmonie, are introduced. In Hamburg House show apartment you can get an idea of the interaction of living and working under “one roof”.

The tree of good wishes, which extends through all floors of Hamburg House, symbolizes the hopes, wishes and energies that serve as a foundation upon which people build their future. Hamburger patrons share their hopes for a comfortable and sustainable lifestyle in the city of the future and animate the visitors to tell us about their own wishes for the future using the interactive wish terminals. In each of the exhibition rooms the visitors can find answers how these wishes and visions become a reality in Hamburg and how Hamburg – as the European Green Capital 2011 – enables his citizens a high quality of life.

Detailed programme

Registration website for participants (password: NPEC)