PES Manifesto

Green cities: Malmö tackles globalization the green way

Published Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 11:42
by Editor (1592 views and 2 comments)

When speaking to Ilmar Reepalu, Mayor of Malmö, Sweden, and member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions, you realize that mentality is really the key to change when it comes to combating climate change. Since the mid-nineties Reepalu has been working to change Malmö from an industrial town to a modern, green capital of the region. And with great success – Malmö has received numerous prizes for its green projects, most recently the prestigious ‘LivCom’ award in London.
“The beginning of the nineties was a time of crisis for traditional industry in Malmö and 26,000 people lost their jobs. We needed to change the priorities of the town from industrial production to knowledge economy and as a part of this process we wanted to go green,” explains Reepalu.

Completely sustainable housing
For more than 15 years the city council has been working to inspire a more eco-friendly mentality among the citizens of Malmö. The approach is whole-hearted and grasps everything from encouraging school children to plant trees to introducing better public transportation. The flag-ship project is the west harbour of Malmö – an old industrial district which the city council has transformed into an eco-friendly urban area.
“We wanted to show that if you take the best and most innovative knowledge you can actually build a completely sustainable housing area,” says the Swedish mayor.

Powered by solar energy
Solar energy is at the core of the design of the Malmö west harbour. If we made better use of solar energy it would take only one hour of sunlight to fulfill the entire planet’s need for energy. Reepalu and his colleagues wanted to make better use of this extremely powerful energy source. Therefore, solar panels were integrated into the new houses on the west harbour. Today all buildings have sustainable energy supply, leaving their residents with cleaner air – and a cleaner conscience.

Green roofs
Solar energy is not the only green feature to the west harbour. Many of the area’s roof tops are covered with vegetation, inviting nature into the city and cleaning the air. The ‘green roofs’ also mitigate the consequences of rainstorms by acting as a sponge and absorbing rain water. Damages from storm water are usual in the Malmö region – except for the west harbour where green roofs offer protection.

Own habits matter
For Reepalu one of the most effective ways of changing mentality has been to make the residents aware that their habits and personal consumption impact on the environment:
“We have put a lot of effort into making people more conscious that they can do something themselves. One example is that we built heat meters into the apartments - enabling residents to monitor their consumption on a daily basis.”

Mention the local level
Our last question to the mayor of Malmö is what he thinks the PES manifesto should say about the environment. He answers without hesitation:
“The PES manifesto should state that the question of a better environment needs to be dealt with at all levels of society: the European, the national and the local. It’s often the local politicians who facilitate changes and make people feel that they can really make a difference by changing their lifestyles.”

Green cities
On 15 May 2008 the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions will host a conference on ‘Save our Planet’ in Torino, Italy. Leading up to the event Yourspace invites local and regional politicians to give their view on what the PES manifesto should say about the environment. This article is the first in the ‘Green ´cities’ series, offering a local perspective on global challenges.

Photo is from Jorchr

Tags: climate change, energy, environment, globalization, green cities, renewable energy, solar