Cities now house more than half of the world ‘s inhabitants. Urbanisation has been one of the world’s most disruptive developments, with that percentage anticipated to climb to 68 percent by 2050.
Cities currently account for 70% of global garbage and consume nearly 80% of global energy. While rising urbanization has sparked inventive solutions in a variety of areas, like accommodation, commuting, and infrastructures, one important factor is sometimes overlooked: food nutrition and security.
Unfortunately, city life frequently leads to unhealthy nutritional habits. Food waste is also prevalent in urban settings. Urban sprawl also takes place at the expense of environmental assets and green spaces, making urban communities more vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. We must rethink how cities work if we want to develop healthy, sustainable communities for future generations.
Here are four ideas for making cities healthy and more environmentally friendly.
Urban agriculture promotion
The majority of people associate agriculture with rural places. But did you also know how urban agriculture is practiced by over 800 million people around the world?
We can reduce supply chains and the quantity of CO2 produced when moving food from countryside to urban regions by protecting farmland in urban areas. Selling and producing more healthy produce in the city reduces the environmental effect of food delivery, increases potential for inclusive regional supply chains, and improves access to healthful meals, such as through farmers’ marketplaces.
Promoting a healthy diet
The kinds of food accessible and their price have a big impact on people’s lifestyles and eating habits. Food offered in cities with a broad selection of fast food and convenient options is generally energy-dense and heavily processed.
This is becoming more common. Between 1998 and 2012, intake of processed foods with limited nutritional content increased by 5.45 % yearly in lower middle-income nations. In developing nations, national authorities and city administrations must deal not only with undernourishment, but also with the health consequences of obesity, which is expanding at an alarming rate.
Increasing green space for a healthy ecosystem and a better way of life
Green places are vanishing as metropolitan areas continue to grow.Trees and green places with additions like solar street lighting are important for improving air quality, lowering urban temperatures, encouraging physical activity, and improving overall health, as well as for aesthetic purposes.
You can learn more about solar street lights by contacting a service provider. Polluted air, increasing local temperatures, and inactive lifestyles can raise the risk of cardiac and lung ailments, overweight, and the spread of new viruses, among other things.
Food waste reduction and management
People in cities consume up to 70% of the world’s food supply, and much of it is wasted. Although the reasons of food waste differ by country, poor meal planning, insufficient packaging, incorrect storage, and cultural traditions are all factors that contribute to the problem.
Furthermore, food loss that is just not recovered or repurposed is clogging landfills. It breaks down there and produces methane, a greenhouse gas that really is far worse for the environment than CO2. This situation is not only a loss of food, as well as of money, energy, and natural resources used to grow and prepare the meals, such as water and land.
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