Blue planet or green globe?

Inspirational examples of how villages, towns and cities around the world are becoming greener and cleaner.

Singapore has a strategy to diversify and secure its limited water supply. Photo by William Cho.

Community groups, planners and politicians across the world face strikingly similar environmental challenges.
These include many problems that we are familiar with, such as managing sustainable urban growth, making the best use of scarce resources and adapting to climate change.

World-class examples

These international examples show how different places are dealing with their problems in their own unique ways:

• Sydney’s Olympics legacy, Australia
  The legacy of the Sydney Olympic Games shows world-class sustainable design and management.
• Neighbourhood regeneration in Malmö, Sweden
  The future of Augustenborg was turned around by exemplary environmental adaptation.
• Mauenheim bio-energy village, Germany
  A village that generates all its own energy from locally grown bio fuels.
• Jamshedpur rainwater harvesting system, India
  Coping with a depleting ground water table and scarcity of water by establishing a water use policy to harvest rainwater.
• Waitakere eco city, New Zealand
  Sustainable urban growth in New Zealand’s first eco city.
• Four National Taps, Singapore
  Four different water sources provide a secure supply of water in this small, densely populated city state.
• Green Alleys in Chicago, USA
  Storm water management has paved the way for innovative street design.
• Prize-winning Portland, USA
  Portland is a top-rated American sustainable city which is friendly, sustainable, accessible and leads the way in green initiatives.

• http://www.cabe.org.uk/sustainable-places/updates/green-globe