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To position this book, I wanted to include a little bit about the history of cities, a short journey through time, the historical make-up of life in our cities, and what has driven society through time. I wanted to position the trust we should place in cities to deal with the existential threat of climate change because of their ability to innovate and create working outcomes. The book will show the basic premise that urban life is more carbon efficient, and so the role of cities in retaining their growing populations will be critical to reaching our global climate goals and to continue the shift from their traditionally wasteful existence to a highly efficient one. How can the ideas they generate be applied across other cities and what will it take to make it happen?

In Chapter 1, The Ambitious City, Peter Boyd first reminds us that the city is where the ambitious in society have congregated for centuries; and that this ambitious leadership is what is needed more than ever to solve society’s environmental challenges. It sets out a case for high ambition to be twinned with high clarity, proposing a bold and clear definition of what “Net-Zero” could mean to lead cities in a just transition to sustainability. It covers a definition that could include considerations of scope, of emissions reduction trajectory, of Paris-Agreement compliance, and even a cumulative approach to emissions that could help restore equity between the Global North and Global South. It concludes with considering the need for urban leaders to appreciate and embrace systems thinking if we are to manage this transition successfully – realizing how all the complex issues and opportunities outlined in subsequent chapters can and do connect.

In Chapter 2, The Civilized City, I take us through a historic journey to how we arrived at the modern city. The chapter looks at how cities have evolved, and how they have coped with the economic, social, and environmental challenges through time and how this shaped local governance. It seeks to explore and explain why this has positioned the modern city to be able to respond to the climate crisis while protecting the key liveability factors that govern our daily lives. It identifies some of the mechanisms needed to manage this transition and restore the balance.

In Chapter 3, The Emerging City, Professor Austin Williams examines the extraordinary rise of China, from a peasant economy a generation ago to one of the world’s leading economies today. China’s development has been unprecedented in world history, with around 850 million people lifted out of poverty in just 40 years, according to the World Bank. By contrast, the chapter compares the successes of China with the continuing plight of Malawi in central Africa – a country that remains in penury, with the limited chance that it will rise from its position near the bottom of the World Economic League Table.

While China can now take advantage of its wealth to reform its productive activities to provide better environmental conditions for its citizens, Malawi has the opposite experience. Its economic conditions are being mandated by others outside its control, with environmental conditions set by unaccountable global institutions, which ensures that Malawi will remain in a state of underdevelopment.

While China is the world’s largest producer of renewable power, leading in solar, wind, batteries, and hydropower, it still cannot shake off the image of an environmental pariah. Malawi, on the other hand, is an ally. It is feted as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and yet its lack of development – prioritizing the protection of its sacrosanct environment at the expense of modernization – is enforced by a neocolonial relationship to its supranational paymasters.

In Chapter 4, The Sustainable City, Patricia Holly Purcell sets out the path of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and looks at the universal challenges and the irrefutable truths that numbers bring to all cities. In 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes the 17 SDGs accompanying the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5^oC. The SDGs are unique in what Patricia refers to as their “universal applicability”, enforcing that all countries, whether they be north or south, rich or poor, have a responsibility to implement and achieve these goals. But the SDGs are also unique in the way they emphasize the important role cities play.

Numbers literally make a city and are what separates it from any other inhabited area. Patricia also examines urban agglomeration and how cities have a special responsibility to be sustainable and the steps taken to improve linkages between local and international governance levels.

In Chapter 5, The Vocal City, Amanda Eichel and Kerem Yilmaz identify that the 2015 Paris Agreement cemented climate change as one of the most important existential threats of our time and thus reinforced the importance of collective action “to address and respond to climate change, including those of civil society, the private sector, financial institutions, cities and other subnational authorities”. Recognizing cities and the voice of cities in diplomacy was the culmination of a nearly 30-year effort from advocates, city networks, and cooperative initiatives.

There are, however, limits to what cities and the community that supports them can do alone. Even where cities have political will and available political, financial, and human resources, they face fundamental limits to their ambitions. And, in areas where cities can address climate change, they cannot achieve the economies of scale and transformative outcomes obtainable by national governments or through provincial/regional action. The voice of cities must better connect with the capabilities, skills, and learnings from other levels of government, as well as outside perspectives, to deliver action that both is locally appropriate and ensures the most impactful outcomes. This must include investing in the city/metro area and the city/region as part of an all-encompassing system, which simultaneously respects the need for equitable development while protecting and preserving natural resources and systems.⁸

In Chapter 6, The Governed City, Bruce Katz and Luise Noring expand on the idea that in a world of global climate summits, urban governance and finance is a critical but often-overlooked element of transformational change. This chapter uses Copenhagen (and Denmark more broadly) to distill the lessons not just around the design (“the what”) of policy initiatives but also around the plan (“the how”) for delivering the climate commitments that an increasing number of cities and countries are making. Copenhagen and Denmark are models for how ambitious plans get implemented through capable municipal governments, empowered consortia of local governments, creative special-purpose institutions, and leading public pension funds. The creation of highly professionalized municipal governments and public institutions enables cities to use expert knowledge and sophisticated mechanisms to translate policy into action, leverage publicly owned assets, capture value appreciation for investment in public infrastructure, and deploy capital at scale. The adaptation of these models to cities and countries across the world is a necessary part of climate action. Our conclusion is simple: cities can tackle climate change if and only if they have institutions with the capacity, capital, and community standing necessary to get the job done.

In Chapter 7, The Decoupled City, Leah Lazer and Nick Godfrey base their ideas on the Coalition for Urban Transitions’ report “Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity”, which quantifies the opportunities that urban climate action presents to fuel economic growth, create a more equitable society, and mitigate climate change. By taking an active role in supporting sustainable cities, national governments around the world can both drive economic prosperity and address the climate emergency.

Five case studies show that a rapid urban transition is possible with leadership from national governments, and quantitative analysis finds that investing in low-carbon measures in cities could be worth almost US$24 trillion by 2050 and that low-carbon measures in urban areas can support 87 million jobs by 2030 in sectors such as clean energy and public transport. Cutting 90% of emissions from cities would require an investment of US$1.8 trillion but would generate annual returns worth US$2.8 trillion in 2030 and US$7 trillion by 2050.

National governments can drive this transition by (1) developing a strategy to deliver shared prosperity while reaching net-zero emissions, with cities at its heart, (2) aligning national policies behind compact, connected, clean cities, (3) funding and financing sustainable urban infrastructure, (4) coordinating and supporting local climate action in cities, (5) building a multilateral system that fosters inclusive, zero-carbon cities, and (6) proactively planning for a just transition to zero-carbon cities.

In Chapter 8, The Responsible City, Justin Keeble and Molly Blatchly-Lewis write how a responsible city is an inclusive city, harnessing the catalytic potential of business for environmental and societal value. The city is guided by a clear and compelling mission and purpose. Its leaders know that responsible use of technology and innovation can shape sustainable outcomes. The authors draw on digitalization, the circular economy, and new modes of collaboration to accelerate efforts in combatting climate change through collective action. This chapter explores the critical role of businesses in reaching city goals.

In Chapter 9, The Energized City, Pete Daw makes it clear – the way cities use energy needs a total rethink if we are to make them sustainable. Energy is integral to our lives and our economies, but our cities rely heavily on fossil fuels to provide electrical power, to heat homes and offices, and to fuel our road transport. This drives many consequences for cities from polluting the air we breathe, causing premature deaths and diseases and contributing to the climate crisis. As more and more people choose to live in our cities the demand for energy is increasing. Increasingly we need to think of city infrastructure as one interconnected system, understanding that interdependence is critical to enabling a shift to clean power driving more and more of our systems. This requires thinking about transport, buildings, energy grids, water management, and waste management as integrated parts of the city. City governments can play an important role in driving that system change. They must have a clear and actionable plan, they can drive new zero-carbon development through their planning powers, and they can drive retrofitting programmes and renewable energy programmes, engaging their communities while creating jobs. And cities continue to innovate, blazing a trail for others to follow. But there is potential to do much more. National and state governments can and must unlock the full potential of cities through a new deal with city governments if we are to make the progress we need to see in tackling climate change.

In Chapter 10, The Agile City (Part I), Julia Thayne writes how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, and the racial justice protests that followed this, marked a tidal-wave change in how city governments view their roles in managing urban transportation networks. Both events exposed what was already becoming clear through heightened awareness of climate change: cities must leverage agile decision-making to create and operate agile transportation systems that respond to what people need when they need it. The “Agile City” is about how to build those new systems. It starts by exploring the impacts of how the design of cities’ transportation networks – looking at how not only people but also things move across cities – has affected urban economies, environmental footprint, social inclusion, and even their physical shape. It then looks at new transport modes and technologies and how they might be used to supplement or supplant existing urban transportation networks. It acknowledges the current disconnect between the vision and the reality of urban transportation and discusses the multiple reasons why this might be the case. It ends with a note of pragmatic optimism on a way forward, a path based on one fundamental assertion: How people move, and how easily people move, in cities is directly linked to cities’ wellbeing.

In Chapter 11, The Agile City (Part II), Jonathan Laski asks the reader to contemplate if a city can truly be sustainable without allowing its citizens and visitors alike to move around safely, inexpensively, accessibly, and without fear of sickness from air pollution. Prioritizing walking, cycling, and mass transit offers governments a cumulative saving opportunity of almost 10% of global GDP. The chapter summarizes the environmental, social, and economic co-benefits of designing cities to prioritize active mobility, covering everything from reduced healthcare costs to increased support for local businesses. The chapter concludes by referencing two current events – the COVID-19 global pandemic and mass protests for racial equality – both of which have nudged cities further towards recentring people and their free movement at the heart of cities.

In Chapter 12, The Habitable City (Part I), Olivia Nielsen walks us through some of the challenges of housing the world’s population when financial and environmental resources are scarce. The world’s current housing deficit is estimated at 1 billion units, and the UN predicts that by 2030 this deficit will affect close to 40% of the global population. By then, 60% of the world will live in urban areas, and the burden of housing these growing populations will fall primarily on cities. Cities must find ways to house 200,000 newcomers pouring in from the countryside every day. Addressing the global housing deficit will require us to build millions of new units while continuously upgrading and investing in our current housing stock. The Habitable City explores how cash-strapped cities can utilize new ideas and solutions to address this challenge, while minimizing our impact on the environment and integrating disaster and climate resilience as critical components of housing policies.

In Chapter 13, The Habitable City (Part II), Nicky Gavron and Alex Denvir move the housing discussion to a new level. The construction sector is responsible for more than 23% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but cities will, and must, continue to grow. To do so while meeting global climate change targets and providing affordable higher quality homes, there needs to be a technological revolution in the way cities are built and designed. Leaders need to be bold and ambitious in the way they use that most precious resource: land. Density must be preferred to sprawl, to build faster and smarter, optimizing land. Cities must spearhead a new industrial sector in precision manufactured housing (PMH). PMH offers new jobs; reduced build times and costs; greater quality control; cleaner and safer construction processes; better air quality; and low construction waste and energy use.

Leaders must be bolder still. Rather than building homes with steel and concrete, by combining PMH with low- or zero-carbon materials such as engineered timber, we can dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of new buildings. Green belts can contribute to growing these homes of the future with trees and forests, while protecting and enhancing the crucial interrelationship between urban areas and their rural hinterland. These are homes that will lock away carbon, in greener, denser cities and be part of a circular, sustainable, and environmental economy.

In Chapter 14, The Resourceful City, Conor Riffle takes on one of the oldest challenges facing cities: how urban areas manage and dispose of their resources. Since the earliest Roman civilizations, cities have disposed of waste in landfills. As the world hurtles to 9 billion people and beyond, as our cities absorb more than half of the Earth’s residents, and as climate change threatens our species’ survival, the landfill model is unsustainable. Instead, leading cities are moving towards solutions that keep resources circulating for as long as possible – replacing the old, one-way paths to landfill with circular economies. This chapter highlights urban policies and technologies that are helping cities finally kick their landfill habits – and creating healthier, wealthier cities in the process.

In Chapter 15, The Zero Waste City, Terry Tamminen and Peter Lobin ask us to imagine a city without waste. “Trash” bins become sources of energy, fuels, and raw materials for products and buildings. Forests remain standing, because we no longer cut them down, only to throw away the resulting paper, cardboard, and wood in landfills or incinerators, nor do we discard half of the food grown on cleared land, necessitating the clearing of even more land to grow more crops. We no longer send armies around the globe to secure barrels of oil, only to throw away that valuable resource in the form of plastic, much of which we used only for a few minutes. We cut our energy usage and bills in half, making the switch to renewables easier and faster. The Zero Waste City shows how ending the concept of waste saves money, protects ecosystems, and creates new jobs using resources that are literally under our feet, with examples that can be rapidly scaled up to address climate change and ecosystem destruction. The chapter highlights the exciting new policies, technologies, and finance that now allow us to convert up to 95% of today’s “waste” into tomorrow’s valuable resources.

In Chapter 16, The Resilient City, Sarah Wray and Richard Forster show us that while COVID-19 has knocked the world sideways, the past year has also witnessed a series of parallel and compounding crises, including social unrest, intense weather events, and the economic fallout from the pandemic. This perfect storm looks set to be a pivotal moment in changing attitudes to resilience, with a clear focus on learning lessons to strengthen communities against future shocks and stresses – whether economic, social, or environmental.

The Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) role in cities is a relatively new one, but the advent of COVID-19 has seen CROs receive greater support in terms of funding, staff resources, and proximity to the mayor due to a recognition of the urgent need for a holistic strategy which can help cities face up to the various threats they face. Smart city initiatives are playing a key role, too, with cities using digital tools and data innovation to support resilience efforts.

While COVID has shown that cities must adopt a holistic approach to digitalization and resilience, it is equally important that they have the means to implement this. Resilience is becoming a growing consideration for investors, and cities are also increasingly incorporating resilience considerations into their own spending decisions. This chapter highlights examples from the cities of Rotterdam, New Orleans, Edinburgh, and more.

In Chapter 17, The Fragile City, John de Boer points out there is growing recognition that the cumulative impact of converging environmental, social, political, and economic risks is straining the ability of many cities to deliver essential services to residents in times of shocks and stresses. The COVID-19 pandemic brought cities around the world to a halt, causing massive disruption and suffering for hundreds of millions of people. The pandemic exposed the fault lines in our cities that make them fragile. This includes growing inequalities in income, gender, race, and opportunity, as well as structural factors linked to exposure to violence, poverty, extreme pollution, and natural disasters. This chapter assesses the sources of fragility rooted in our cities and explores approaches that could help cities develop more resilient urban systems, enabling them to function, and even thrive, in times of crisis.

In Chapter 18, The Data City, Seth Schultz and Eric Ast propose a bold and pragmatic vision for the role that cities can play in ensuring a just, equitable, and safe future for humanity. There’s good reason to be optimistic about the long-term ascent of data-centric techniques within the political sphere and the potential for collaboration between public and private sectors around the globe. However, due to the immediate nature of the climate crisis, a clear-eyed view of our current trajectory dictates that intrepid action towards accelerating action is necessary. By leveraging their power over procurement processes and budgets to dictate the conditions for how data are collected and accessed, and tapping into rich local technological and research ecosystems, cities can embrace a new and more effective role within the data ecosystem. This approach, the Procurement + Platform Pivot, pulls cities around the world out of a cycle of dependence and data poverty and into the driver’s seat in a role that they play best: convener.

In Chapter 19, The Measured City, Patricia McCarney positions cities in a highly connected world and advances the need for globally standardized data to empower sound city leadership on the global stage. Until recently, this interconnected world was traditionally reserved for national governments, connecting through trade, security, and global monetary policy, all supported by sound, standardized measurements – Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP), and other national income and monetary measures. Cities have been rising in stature as critical sites in this highly connected world. Cities are critical sites where investment, invention, prosperity, climate mitigation, security, health, and social wellbeing can either succeed or fail. However, globally standardized, comparable measurement, so valued at national level to drive data-informed global relations, has lagged at city level. The chapter advances the need for globally standardized measurement in cities and examines what global standards exist for city data to drive and enable the “Measured City”. The chapter provides a look into the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the recent emergence of the ISO 37120 Series that has created a global standard for city data that enables comparative apples-to-apples data for the first time. The chapter answers the core question “Why is ‘The Measured City’ so important for cities today, and how are cities embracing global standards to propel their success?”

In Chapter 20, The Smart City, Noorie Rajvanshi tells a story, through data, of how technologies can drive climate action in cities. In this chapter we dive into learnings from over 40 cities worldwide, highlighting results of technology modeling with the Siemens City Performance Tool. Cities, irrespective of where they are located or their climate or socioeconomic standing, share a common understanding that these three actions will produce deep carbon reductions and lead the way to zero-carbon cities – decarbonization of the electric grid, reducing energy usage in buildings and transport, and electrification of everything. Many of the technologies that will enable the implementation of these actions already exist and have been proven to work on a large scale, but there is always room for innovation!

In Chapter 21, The Just City (Part I), Hayley Moller explores the interlocking challenges of public health, climate change, and economic inequality through the air quality of our cities. The chapter reviews the key drivers and impacts of air pollution in cities around the world and investigates how poor air quality often visits the greatest harm upon poor communities and communities of colour. It argues that addressing air quality can have massive climate and equity co-benefits, and it explores how to maximize these benefits using examples of cities in the Global North and Global South that have successfully tackled this invisible adversary. It concludes with an in-depth look at an innovative solution in the city of Seoul and extrapolates lessons relevant to all cities.

In the same chapter, The Just City (Part II), Jane Burston and Matt Whitney show us how London’s fight for clean air is based on data. How do we solve an issue like air pollution? It is an almost universal issue: billions of people are breathing dirty air and millions are dying prematurely each year as a result. The solutions to air pollution are within grasp. A shift to clean energy and sustainable transport can improve air quality and bring real improvements to people’s health, almost overnight. But adoption of these solutions must accelerate. Improving air quality will not only improve health, but also drive down the carbon emissions that can help to avoid the climate crisis. Air pollution is often invisible – it is highly damaging to health long before it forms smogs thick enough to be visible to the naked eye. But data can make it visible, and in doing so illuminate the sources and solutions needed, as well as the consequences of inaction. This chapter reveals how measuring air quality is on the verge of a revolution. Technological innovation is promising a shift in how cities measure air quality, enabling a new understanding of the issue and helping policymakers to design effective solutions.

In The Just City (Part III), Jenny Bates asks the question “Will air pollution on a death certificate for the first time mean nine-year-old Ella’s tragic death leads to cleaner air and better health for others?” London has a serious air pollution problem, as I became aware of as I worked for Friends of the Earth covering London. For too long, despite the great work of some, there wasn’t enough public awareness or action. But with Sahara dust, Dieselgate, legal actions, campaigning, and more, it has risen up the agenda, alongside climate change. The solutions are clear, including the need for cleaner and also fewer vehicles, not adding to the problem such as with road-building or airport expansion, and updating our standards to align with WHO guidelines – they just need implementing. In a post COVID world this is all the more important and will also benefit the economy. Ella’s death could help lead to a better London.

In Chapter 22, The Invested City, Colin le Duc puts cities at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable form of capitalism. Capital allocation is increasingly a function of risk and return, as well as explicit impact considerations. Cities act as hubs for the financial system itself, but also for how new technologies and innovations are tested and implemented. Cities play a crucial role in mainstreaming sustainable investing and enabling environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors to be fully integrated into capital allocation decisions. Additionally, in areas of critical societal needs such as building, transport, food, and energy, cities are incubators of new, innovative, sustainable models that can be tested and perfected to become mainstream solutions. Generation Investment Management’s Chairman Al Gore often says: “The ‘Sustainability Revolution’ is upon us, it has the magnitude of the Industrial Revolution and the speed of the Digital Revolution.”

In Chapter 23, The Financed City, James Close reminds us of the challenge that 70% of emissions come from cities and over 50% of the world’s population live in cities. Cities are the foundations of our modern society and economy. As a result, they are central to managing the transition to a low-carbon, resilient future.

Cities will need to transition from their historic trajectory of high-carbon development to address climate change. Cities are well equipped to make this transition because they are dense, homogenous, and concentrated in terms of both population and infrastructure. Their long-term plans need to be informed by a compelling vision of the future and the mobilization of capital at scale for investment in businesses, communities, and infrastructure.

Net-zero carbon cities are an important aspiration. Net-zero cities will also need to reduce consumption-based emissions by adopting circular economy principles so they can eliminate their contribution to climate change. A clear vision and systemic approach reduces risk and decreases the cost of capital, supporting climate-smart investment, sustainable development, and a people-centred approach.

In Chapter 24, The Adapted City, Adam Freed puts cities on the front lines of the climate crisis, dealing with the catastrophic impacts of climate change-driven heat waves, coastal storms, droughts, and wildfires. But it’s not just climate change that is putting people at risk; it is also decades of poor urban planning and design. The shape and form of our cities will help decide how well we can withstand today’s extreme weather and what lies ahead. The chapter looks at the practical actions cities around the globe are taking to adapt to rising temperatures, too much water, and too little water, and the changes needed to scale up these actions to address the urgent reality of the risks we face. It outlines six key principles for mayors and city leaders to embrace to protect their residents from climate change, and it highlights several case studies that provide a roadmap for urban leaders on how to accelerate the breadth and scale of their work.

In Chapter 25, The Open City, Professor Peter Bishop shows us that “an open city” is spatially diverse, is generous, and celebrates its public spaces, parks, squares, and streets. They are places where citizens meet, exchange goods and ideas, debate, linger, play, and celebrate. This is where the civic life of a democratic society takes place. You can judge the health of a city by its open spaces. Public space is not a commodity, and the market will not provide it (except under very limited conditions). It is public – that is, communally owned and maintained for the use and enjoyment of all. It needs to be protected, managed, and cared for. Where it is lacking it needs to be provided, not as a luxury but as a necessity for urban living. At the time of writing, a global pandemic is causing many individuals to relearn the value of public services and community spirit and value clean air, parks, open spaces, and gardens. This chapter traces the theory and practice of providing public spaces in the city as an essential ingredient of the richness and messiness of the twenty-first-century city.

In Chapter 26, The Natural City, Carlo Laurenzi considers a range of disparate issues from asking how an artificial phenomenon, like increasing urbanization, on a planetary scale, can ever be compatible with the natural world. Architectural trends, natural geomorphological forms, and planning issues are seen under the microscope of whether they, in reality, help or hinder cities becoming more natural. Parallels are drawn between human migrations and the associated social diversity this brings to our cities, and how these compare with recent biodiversity winners and losers, as well as how terms about unwelcome visitors enter our language, discussed alongside questions about land-use and food growing. Controversial subjects like children’s education and the individual’s right to keep pets are not avoided, along with issues around health, and mental health in particular, as seen under the prism of achieving a natural city. London is used as a canvas to paint strategies and to examine what works and why; and hopefully some of these ideas will have relevance beyond the UK capital. The barriers to achieving a natural city are not centred, for once, around money or technology, but the political and social will to make it happen.

In Chapter 27, The Climate-Resilient City, Mauricio Rodas places cities as first responders to the world’s most pressing issues, such as climate change, migration, and pandemics like COVID-19. The Paris Agreement and other agendas will not be met if cities don’t take effective action, but the obstacles for cities’ direct access to international finance are hampering the required investment. Structural reforms to the global financial architecture are urgently needed to make it cities-friendly. While there is a growing supply of financing mechanisms available for cities’ climate-resilient projects, most of them are chained to national guarantees and are highly politicized. On the other hand, cities often lack regulatory certainty, project preparation capacity, and creditworthiness. There is a clear dissonance between financial supply and demand, which impedes capital flows from coming. In spite of these shortcomings, particularly in the developing world, cities find ways to finance infrastructure projects. It was thanks to innovation that during my mayoral term in Quito, the municipality managed to successfully build the first metro line in Ecuador. Innovation is key, but more remains to be done. There is a great opportunity to disburse resources directly into cities through COVID-19 stimulus packages. If this unfolds properly, it can become a historic milestone, recognizing cities’ need to improve their access to finance as the only way to develop the infrastructure transformation required to foster a more climate-resilient future.

In Chapter 28, The Green City, The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen gives us the story of green leadership in Copenhagen through more than a decade. The chapter outlines the city’s journey from 2009 when it adopted the goal of becoming the first carbon neutral capital in the world to where it is today. In 2025, Copenhagen will be a city with cleaner air, less noise, energy-efficient buildings, and green transportation. Already, the city has reduced its carbon emissions by close to 50%, while at the same time experiencing an increase in the social economic index. Copenhagen has shown and continues to show that through new solutions, green investments, and new habits, cities and citizens can enjoy green growth and green jobs in a green city. The city’s approach has been refined over the years, but the principle is the same: Copenhagen incorporates data, research, analyses, and stakeholders in its initiatives. It strives to continuously develop its cooperation with businesses, universities, and research institutes as it implements its plans revolving around energy consumption, energy production, mobility, and administration initiatives. The green city aims to inspire others in the green transition, just as it always seeks to gain inspiration from around the globe.

In Chapter 29, The Powerful City, Mark Watts and Sarah Lewis show us “a shared responsibility”. This chapter outlines how entrepreneurial big-city mayors are driving global progress on climate change. It shows that overcoming climate breakdown requires governmental leadership to set a clear policy direction, and create and shape markets necessary to meet science-based climate targets, working with a dynamic, mission-driven private sector that responds to the opportunity to create a new economy based on sustainability and fairness. Using examples from the C40 group of the world’s 100 most influential mayors, the chapter considers how mayors are often working beyond their formal powers and working together across geographic and political boundaries to demonstrate how to deliver the future we want, rather than the one we are hurtling towards, creating opportunity for green investors, entrepreneurs, and communities to thrive along the way.

The conclusion to The Climate City (Chapter 30, Epilogue) is a “manifesto of actions” from the text. We are fast approaching tipping points that will destroy life on our land, in our rivers, and in our oceans. The impact will be on all of the inhabitants of the planet, and the role of cities in doing their part but also paving the way for wider improvements will make a fundamental contribution to the future we end up with. The keys to our future are in the hands of the mayors of our great cities. Enjoy the book.