Passnownow

Are Sustainable Cities Possible?: My TSL 2016 Essay

Are Sustainable Cities Possible?

My answer to the above posed question is Yes! And I shall proceed to convince you in exactly 575 words.

If only cities would take a cue from the Earth – which has been affectionately called a huge recycling machine -, then it could recycle its solid wastes, waste water and much more into energy and materials that could be re-used. Would you be surprised if I wrote that such interventions are currently on board?

The Spittelau Incineration Plant in Vienna, Austria is a fine example of what can be made possible. Here, modern technologies convert around 250 million kilograms of household wastes per year into heat for 60,000 Viennese homes, and electricity for over 14,200 Viennese households, besides the production of  scrap iron and clinker ash. Careful planning ensures that pollutants from the wastes are removed during the conversion process to prevent their introduction into the atmosphere. Yet another success story worth a mention is the Miyazaki Biomass Recycle which converts poultry litter into about 11,350KW of electricity for the Kyushu power grid. But comes the query, what about the eyesores that are landfills?

To progressively cut down the need for landfills where wastes are categorised and sorted, waste trucks could be colour-coded into broad categories – household and office, industrial, plastics and other synthetic materials -. Perhaps, different categories of wastes could be collected on specific days, and transported directly to appropriate waste treatment and conversion stations.

Secondly, mass transportation still remains the best means of moving large numbers of people across locations; especially trams, electric trains, and low-pressure pods that do not employ fossil fuels, thus reducing the carbon footprint that would otherwise be generated – think of the potentially disruptive Hyperloop concept -. Further, some cities are devising ways where glow-by-night paints on road pavements will provide lighting at night, cutting out the need for electrical lighting; where the heat produced by throngs of commuters during rush hour, and their footfalls on city sidewalks and other such public spaces would be converted into electricity, and other forms of energy – ensuring that every ounce of energy that can be conserved, converted and re-used is exploited.
Of course, these propositions are nascent, and their economic feasibility have been lampooned, but their sustainability credits are not in contention. Further, such ones fail to learn from history that what were seemingly termed impossible are today’s blasé realities. It hence becomes noteworthy to include here, Lord Kelvin’s rather bombastic quote that “heavier than air flying machines are impossible.” But today, not only do airplanes cruise at very high altitudes on a flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles with a cabin capacity of several hundreds; spacecrafts have vaulted beyond earth’s atmosphere, defied gravity, and ventured into space to explore its secrets and possibilities.

Lastly, imagine that barren concrete spaces on the roofs of skyscrapers are converted into gardens. For a city area the size of Manhattan, that would mean acres of cultivable space which would also promote a diverse ecosystem within the city because it will encourage pollinators like bees, bugs and birds to thrive – and also contribute to the food pool. Further, together with green areas in the city, they will contribute to cutting down pollution by appreciable levels. London’s Kensington roof gardens, the burst of greenery atop the Central Bank of Lebanon in Beirut, and the proposed “hanging gardens of Beirut” as well as the beehives on the roof of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis are some of the readily available examples.

I hope you were swayed by the force of my passion, and the clarity of my convictions. They were attended by visions of what is possible.

See Also: 10 Steps To Writing Essays That Will Win You Competitions

                 TSL 2016 International Schools Essay Competition and Debate

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top