World Cities Day: sustainable cities for a zero-carbon future

As we celebrate World Cities Day today, we would like to dive deeper into its goal of promoting the development of sustainable cities as an essential part of a zero-carbon future.

A United Nations report estimates that at least 68% of the world's total population will live in cities and megacities by the year 2050, around 2.5 billion more than today. Sustainability in urban environments is not only necessary but a key factor for the future.

In response to this need, a new concept of the city has started to emerge in the last few years: sustainable cities. These are green, self-sufficient, resilient, and smart cities that take care of the environment while providing their inhabitants with a high quality of life, safety, and well-being. These green cities are part of a future that is almost here.

Major capitals around the world have already made a strong commitment to this new model, such as New York City with its OneNYC 2050 strategy —which commits to an 80% reduction of greenhouse gasses by 2050 and achieving zero waste by 2030—as well as London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Singapore. These cities and others are making great strides in this direction, actively seeking to reduce their pollution levels, implementing data systems for energy optimization of public buildings, promoting renewable energy production and consumption, using water in a more efficient way, and improving the sustainability of their transportation systems.

Efficient clean energy production is vital in this new green city model. Sustainable mobility, the decarbonization of industry, and the reduction of CO2 emissions all depend on an effective and optimized supply of renewable energy. Supplying the growing demand for energy in cities will require a combination of large-scale plants and distributed generation on commercial and residential rooftops. In addition, the introduction of storage capacity and AI technology will make it possible to optimize energy production behavior, enabling to supply cities with clean energy more efficiently than ever before. Companies like Enfinity Global are developing projects that address these key needs that make sustainable cities a reality.

Enfinity Global aims to also be an active player ?in sustainable mobility by developing the necessary technology to bring green energy directly to urban transport, making a direct impact on the daily lives of millions of people.

Any conversation about sustainability would be incomplete without putting a spotlight on the circular economy. Far more than a concept, the circular economy is a revolutionary vision of a new production and consumption model that is already expanding around the world and laying the foundations for the cities of the future.

The circular economy goes far beyond the simple idea of recycling as it has been understood so far. It is different from the traditional linear economy of consumption—a model in which raw materials are extracted to manufacture products, which are then used and discarded without considering the environmental footprint and its consequences. Instead, circularity, proposes a continuous cycle based on the use of sustainable raw materials and the design of products with a view to easily reintroducing their raw materials in the production of new ones. Approaching urban life from a circular perspective will allow reducing the use natural resources and emissions.

Finally, as cities continue to grow, it will be necessary to make increasingly rational use of water. On ?one hand, to guarantee the supply of drinking water to the population, and on the other, to treat wastewater properly and allow it to be re-used for various purposes that will generate savings in total water consumption.

At Enfinity, we strive to create a positive impact on 21st century cities by designing innovative sustainability solutions that solve the significant challenges we will face as humanity in the coming decades. The future is coming, and Enfinity Global wants to make it happen.