Eco-urbanism: Global challenges, urban solutions

Rapid urbanization, concentration of wealth, social divides, rising energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions... In recent years, the organization of cities has emerged as a key to addressing the major economic, social, and ecological challenges of our time. Long considered sources of problems, cities are back on the political scene. They are now seen as the places where all the solutions are being invented: from new economic models (circular, collaborative, resilient, etc.) to emerging energy systems (solar, methanization, geothermal, etc.), including innovative modes of mobility (cable transport, electric cars, bicycles, etc.), new cultural forms (urban art, festivals, events, etc.), and renewed democratic practices (citizen participation, wiki city, etc.). Eco-urbanism is this cross-cutting approach that aims to give all these initiatives the coherence they lacked. "We sought to show that this transformation opened the door to many possibilities and that we were all actors in it," write Jean Haëntjens and Stéphanie Lemoine. In this book, they present concrete examples of cities that prefigure the eco-cities of tomorrow from all corners of the planet. The stakes are high: according to the two authors, the organization of cities could become, in the 21st century, a "resource" as important as oil in the 20th century and agricultural land in pre-industrial societies.