Municipalities sustainable opportunity.
ELIZABETH AGUILERA

For months is a constant daily hear and read about the many serious effects of this crisis which no one escapes, although some proclaim immune.

For months is a constant daily hear and read about the many serious effects of this crisis which no one escapes, although some proclaim immune. But in parallel jump to the fore and proposed measures to minimize the impact and solutions to address, either from private companies, industry associations, central governments, regional and local levels, the European Union and other international institutions.

This welter of solutions for us to reflect on the special challenge of the government by local governments through the injection of 8,000 million euros to the Spanish municipalities to facilitate the creation of jobs and revitalize the local economy through new public works projects. That is, cover the rehabilitation of buildings, municipal services, an emphasis on technology, sustainable mobility, the removal of architectural barriers or road safety, among other areas.

Logically, it is a measure that municipalities should take imminent, as is well conditioned in time, but after that immediate action there is a risk of undertaking projects that, while the positive effects have sought short-term, it may not after having it in the long. Consider, for example, in an infrastructure that requires a very high energy consumption; meaningless in terms of sustainable development.

Clearly this should accelerate the adjustment of the municipalities and response to its challenges in this area and its need to plan and redesign its model of long-term growth. A strategy that will ultimately shape the kind of city in which live in the future, that is, if I may, how we humans in the coming years and what are our priorities and concerns.

To ensure the quality of life of citizens, it is essential that a city grows in line with the fundamentals of sustainable development. Its application to architecture, town planning and land use planning, energy efficiency or conservation and utilization of resources are key to the challenge of municipal authorities to move in the right direction.

Problems like climate change or the volatility of fuel prices are complex and sometimes surprising at the local level. The new residential environments changed the habits and life of citizens and, simultaneously, their welfare needs. Thus, consistories to adapt the service provided to citizens and the new paradigms that are making macro, ultimately, the municipal agenda.

Despite being so worn and often misused, sustainable development is the most direct strategy to progress in the cities, whatever their size. Indeed, sustainable development for the European Union is the main engine of global developments. Growth models that it supports new and offer broad prospects for municipalities, since it has great potential for innovation and dynamism.

A city planned and managed with sustainability criteria can exploit its natural and real estate as well as socio-economic resources of the municipality. Ensures that the cities become more competitive, attractive, clean and safe, and ultimately position regarding the criteria of welfare and quality of life, the highest for a city of twenty-first century.

Therefore, all of the municipalities, need to optimize their investments and to redirect the growth models adopted so far, sadly often characterized by the wasting of resources, energy inefficiency, lack of waste management and urban environmental degradation . This is to be the bet: invest in a planned manner. Each city is different, but the challenge and opportunities are common.

In this context, innovation and technology solutions play a major role. Most of the trends and strategic directions adopted by the European Union to adapt the principles of sustainable development to the cities agreed to pay attention to some aspects, all basic urban planning, and technological dotacional municipalities in the future, address below.

One of the key issues for the government is energy efficiency. The consistories should aim at an integrated management of all services provided to citizens from the perspective of efficiency and energy savings, since the promotion of employment in renewable energy or traffic control, lighting up a more efficient and less pollution.

Another line of action to be taken into account by municipalities is water conservation. Cities require a significant distribution network, storage options and treatment of water for its smooth functioning. However, the European Commission has threatened Spain with legal action for breach of EU rules on waste water treatment in more than 400 towns and cities last November. The need to build new treatment plants is therefore urgent, and administrations have to focus their investments in this area to the new purification technologies, reuse and desalination. However, we must bear in mind that installing a water treatment plant is not necessarily sustainable, but it should be the whole project, designed to minimize their environmental footprint or impact.

Waste management and treatment of odors are other challenges faced by the urban future, and municipalities must adopt effective solutions to manage being respectful of the environment.

In fact, municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants are required to collect and treat such waste. They need, therefore, innovative solutions, for example, for the use of biogas from the fermentation of municipal waste, sewage sludge and industrial waste, thanks to technology can be transformed into heat or electricity supply to households in the area.

Another aspect of sustainability of cities goes beyond environmental concerns and the comfort and welfare of human beings: security and health. A minimum equipment in diagnostic imaging can be a 30% reduction in mortality from breast cancer in the female population of the municipality and the availability of defibrillators in educational facilities, sports and cultural stations, airports and other public buildings can decrease the cost their treatment, increasing the number of lives saved after suffering a heart attack or stroke (the first and third leading cause of death in the world). The municipalities have the challenge of achieving safer cities, especially given the increase in crime, taking into account that such technologies should not be invasive and should be almost imperceptible in the daily life of citizens. This is what we call "invisible technology."

Ultimately, municipalities require innovative technology solutions, creative and flexible to help launch a new model of urban planning is governed by principles of sound development, to promote the welfare and quality of life of citizens. It is time to turn the dream of sustainable cities in a reality and not think it, but the crisis is taking a chance.

Country 25/01/2009