Cities

Urban trees match rainforests as carbon stores

4 Jul 18 - Not just decorative, urban trees do much more: they enrich civic life, moderate climate change and save the taxpayer millions.

Personal grooming products might be polluting urban air

15 May 18 - New evidence suggests that compounds in deodorants, lotions, hair gels and perfumes are major sources of air pollution in urban areas.

California orders solar panels on all new homes

14 May 18 - California will require solar panels on new homes and low-rise apartment buildings starting in 2020.

London plans to be one of greenest cities

14 May 18 - Ambitious plans have been released which seek to transform London into one of the world’s greenest cities.

Auckland vows to free city centre of emissions

4 May 18 - Auckland is signing up to go fossil fuel-free, pledging to make the city centre emissions-free by 2030 and to clean up the bus fleet.

What price trees in our megacities?

1 May 18 - The ecological footprint of population growth is vast and there’s far more that can be done to improve life for urban residents around the world.

Making our cities cooler is a no-brainer

30 Apr 18 - Numerous cities are trying to do something what's known as the urban heat island effect. But there is a very long way to go. So what is holding us back, and what needs to happen?

ROBOT CITIES: Three urban prototypes for future living

13 Apr 18 - Governments have started to see automation as the key to brighter urban futures. But what will this look like?

Five lessons cities can learn from Cape Town

6 Apr 18 - Other cities can learn from Cape Town where water supplies remain at high risk because the long-term predictions for rainfall remain uncertain.

Can a city ever be truly carbon neutral?

3 Apr 18 - Upon becoming Greater Manchester’s first elected mayor, Andy Burnham announced his ambition to make the city-region one of the greenest in Europe.

London leads new global green finance rankings

21 Mar 18 - London’s reputation as a leading financial centre has now extended to include the field of sustainability.

Heart attacks can rise during extremes of heat

13 Mar 18 - Extremes of heat are dangerous. Just how dangerous is still being established. But since heat waves are on the way, city-dwellers need to know.

Cities study reveals much bigger carbon footprints

9 Mar 18 - Cities are generating up to 60 per cent more greenhouse gases than thought, thanks to their reliance on goods and services from outside their borders.

Auckland City eyes green bonds issue

8 Mar 18 - Auckland Council could issue green bonds to cover the cost of cutting emissions and adapting to climate change.

Three NZ cities get high world ranking for renewable energy

1 Mar 18 - Three New Zealand urban areas are among 101 global cities getting more than 70 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources.

Climate will push European cities to breaking point

23 Feb 18 - A new study highlights the urgent need to adapt urban areas across Europe to cope with floods, droughts and heatwaves.

Want to know about city pollution? Ask a pigeon

20 Feb 18 - Pigeons might be seen as the scourge of cities, but researchers say they could help us to explore a host of toxins in the air, from lead to pesticides.

Urban forests add to cities’ health ... and wealth

31 Jan 18 - Planting more urban forests is a simple way not only to improve the health of a city’s people, but to make them wealthier, too.

Bank partners with global mayors to green cities

15 Dec 17 - A European development bank has partnered with city mayors from all over the world to mobilise more than $1.5 billion in urban investment to help combat climate change.