Ecoblogi – A Blog by Daniel Elkama

What will the ecological cities of the future look like? An ecological city is as diverse as possible, green and takes lessons and models from nature. An ecological city is based entirely on renewable energy and the use of electricity in transport. A city is an ecosystem, and when it functions as much as possible like a natural ecosystem, people and nature are doing well. In this case, the city itself ”lives”. An ecological city is resilient and repels threats, and this is especially based on diversity.

Green infrastructure is an important concept today. Likewise, blue infrastructure. Standard infrastructure means the basic structure on which the whole society is built. The basic structure is the various networks that enable the use of society’s energy and resources, e.g. water pipes, lighting, power plants, power lines, communication cables, roads, sewage network, etc. Green infrastructure, on the other hand, brings ecosystem services to the city and enables them to be enjoyed. Some ecosystem services are critically necessary. Blue infrastructure, on the other hand, offers water-related ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services are services provided by nature and its ecosystems that benefit people and society. For example, green areas prevent floods and clean the air and cool the temperature in the summer heat. There is usually too little urban greenery and it should be increased considerably. It has been calculated that there should be at least 50 m2 of green space for every inhabitant of the city. Note, this is the minimum for critical ecosystem services to be realized. Instead, e.g. 200 m2 could be considered good. Some big cities are very green. For example, one third of Helsinki has parks and urban forest, about 126 m2 per inhabitant. Other examples include Vancouver and Barcelona.

Cities have a lot of heat-absorbing surfaces (asphalt, concrete, bricks) and traffic and buildings generate and leak heat. Let’s talk about the so-called from an urban heat island. It is often very hot in the cities. Especially when the trees provide shade and evaporate water, they cool the temperature by up to several degrees in the summer heat. Heat waves are often deadly in cities, so trees are lifesavers. Heat waves are becoming more common as the climate warms. Vegetation, soil and parks absorb enormous amounts of water, which reduces destructive floods and especially reduces flood peaks. Floods are increasing due to climate change in most of the world, and this is also why green infrastructure is very important. Thousands of people die from floods every year, most of them in cities. Trees also clean the air from serious air pollution. The leaves of the trees generate ionization in the air, which drops the pollution particles to the ground. Air pollution kills 7 million people globally every year. Thanks to green areas, perhaps millions of people will be saved. While researching the city’s air quality with geographical information systems, I noticed how huge the difference is between a busy road and even a small park next to it. The air quality on the sidewalk next to the road is usually poor, a few meters away in the park it is satisfactory or even good. Trees in particular clean the air efficiently. Not only for a person’s physical health, but also for mental health, recreation, social life and hobbies, Urban green areas are extremely important. In the densely built metropolises of Japan’s millions of inhabitants and e.g. In Britain, doctors even write green prescriptions for patients suffering from anxiety and depression, i.e. instructions to move in nature.

NBS i.e. nature based solutions, means solving various socioecological problems, such as the above-mentioned air purification with the help of trees, etc., or stormwater management or waste management, with the help of nature and ecosystems. For example, in my hometown Vantaa in a suburb called Kartanonkoski, stormwater flowing on the ground has been treated with the help of built urban streams that flow between houses, which also support biodiversity and aquatic vegetation. Wood construction is one significant NBS: wood is a naturally occurring ecological building material that stores large amounts of carbon. Wood also does not bind as much heat and therefore does not strengthen the urban heat island in the same way as concrete. Concrete production also causes multiple carbon emissions. Much more than houses can be built from wood. The exciting thing is that now it has even been invented how to make biological semiconductors for electronics. In nature-based solutions, the protection of biodiversity is always super important, because the yield and operation of ecosystem services are directly proportional to the abundance of biodiversity. In other words, the greater the biodiversity, the better and higher-quality ecosystem services.

Human activity at its best enriches nature’s diversity. Examples of this are traditional biotopes and parks. Human activity provides many species with new ecological niches and suitable habitats. Man and nature can very well live side by side. One good trend in the management of parks and green areas is dynamic plantings and dynamic management of green areas. Dynamic plantings are multi-species and layered mixed plantings imitating natural plant communities planted in parks and green areas. Instead of just trees and grass, they have trees, bushes, field plants, perennials, grasses, flowering plants, bulbs, etc. Thanks to dynamic plantings, biodiversity and e.g. the number of insects, pollinators and birds increases and plant colonies are more resistant to external threats. Dynamic plantings do not allow harmful weeds to grow and are easier to maintain.

Green roofs are a great way to increase biodiversity and pollinators, but also reduce floods and stormwater. The ancient Vikings already had green roofs, today they can be the size of a football field on the roofs of large warehouses etc. Green roofs provide shelters for birds, insects, butterflies, pollinators and flowering plants. Green roofs are a good way to add greenery to a dense urban structure, where you cannot get a park on the surface of the earth. City gardens and urban agriculture produce, for example, vegetables and fruits. They can greatly increase self-sufficiency, especially if there were more of them than at present. Beekeeping is also possible right in the heart of the city. In Helsinki, right in the heart of the city, next to the main train station on Mannerheiminie, i.e. the busiest street, on the roof of a building, bees are keeped and tens of kilos of honey is produced every year. Urban meadows are even more effective ways of supporting biodiversity than green roofs. It has been studied that the biodiversity of a green area at ground level is always much higher than a green roof of the same size. At ground level, there are more insects, etc., but also many mammals.

The utopian eco-city of the future would get all its energy from clean renewable energy produced nearby, especially wind and solar energy. Cities have a special potential to place solar panels on the roofs of buildings, which are efficient even in the northernmost cities for most of the year. Small wind turbines are also convenient to place on the roofs of houses and they can produce up to 20,000 W/turbine. While working in politics in the city of Vantaa, I got through an initiative to place solar panels gradually, especially in the case of new buildings, on the roofs of all public buildings, such as schools and kindergartens. Rooftops in the city are mostly desert and wasteland, where it is very easy and reasonable to place energy production and green roofs as well as urban farms. Resource recycling in cities is also very important. In all material use, it would be important to strive for a sustainable circular economy. The total amount of matter on Earth does not increase, but natural resources are limited. On the other hand, it is easy to increase energy production almost indefinitely with renewable energy. The potential of the sun in particular is huge. When there is no wind or sun, hydrogen can be burned, from which the only emission is pure water vapor. Energy can also be stored e.g. to sand and water.

When it comes to recycling, e.g. the Nordic countries, the Netherlands and Germany are highly developed. It is worth noting that there is almost no matter that cannot be recycled. All that is needed is the required technology and recycling facilities. In terms of waste generation and recycling, it is of course even better if the item can be repaired or reused. Almost all matter that can be obtained from nature can be recycled, because everything can be melted at a high temperature and returned to its original chemical form. For example, it has been feared that the sand will run out, because it is needed e.g. asphalt is produced, but asphalt is 100% recyclable. In Finland, almost all asphalt is recycled. Melting and recycling require a lot of energy, which must be produced sustainably with renewable energy or hydrogen.

In the eco-city, all traffic is electrified and cycling and walking from one place to another is easy. The electricity used by traffic is produced with renewable energy and traffic is largely intelligently controlled. It is interesting that even though the majority of e.g. Finland’s energy currently goes to transport, the electrification of transport would only increase Finland’s electricity consumption by 20%. Electric motors and electric transport are so eco-efficient and highly efficient.

The eco-city of the future would therefore be as green and self-sufficient as possible, both in terms of energy and food. Such a city imitates the normal and natural functioning of nature and uses various nature-based solutions imitating the functioning of ecosystems in solving problems. It would recycle everything in a circular economy, as nature does, and produce all energy with clean, renewable forms of energy production. Let an ecological society always take a model from nature. Nature is the world’s best architect and

engineer. This article mainly reflects on the city from an environmental point of view, of course one could also reflect a lot on e.g. economy and culture. These too should be as diverse as possible, so that the city would be as resilient as possible. Social and cultural diversity feed, for example, creativity and innovation and, through these, creative problem solving. Living urban culture (such as literature, music, art, etc.) is also an important sign and characteristic of a living city, alive, diverse and accessible. A good economy, on the other hand, focuses on the well-being of city dwellers. The characteristic of a good economy is the goal to serve, not the goal to maximize profits. A good economy strives for maximum happiness.

Daniel Elkama