4.4.2008

Green City publication english and polish

Green City, english publication(PDF)
Zialone Miasto, Pobierz publikacjê(PDF)

The green city of the new generation is a kind of urban green manifesto.

On the following pages we demonstrate that cities should be „made to order” for their citizens. They should be vibrant with life, create the right conditions for work, rest and leisure, provide a democratic and open public space, ensure equal opportunities for both sexes, eliminate social disparity and remove architectural barriers. But that is not enough. Modern cities have a far greater influence than the physical area which they cover. Therefore the political agenda of a green city of the new generation cannot be limited to the streets and neighbourhoods: it must also reach out far beyond the city’s boundaries. It must consider the effect that our lifestyles are having on the development opportunities of people living in the global South, include the welfare of future generations in political visions and programmes and consider the rights and needs of the diverse animal and plant world surrounding us.

Green politics has never limited itself to the „here and now”. That is why we point out, for example, that wheelchair ramps can improve the quality of life for tens and even hundreds of thousands of people in our city, but also that the rate at which we are using up natural resources could mean that there may not be enough of these resources for our children and grandchildren to use. When writing about sustainable urban development, we consider culture and the economy, fresh air and clean water, and the fact that every piece of litter discarded and every needlessly lit light bulb affects the rest of the planet. We show the possibility of bringing about change in modern cities – the development of public, pedestrian and cycle transport, the expansion of energy efficient technologies and the increasing share of renewable sources of energy in the city’s energy supply. We describe how social and creative capital and gender equality policy support city development. We discuss the global networks of cities cooperating with one another and the alter-globalist social movement.

We are aware that the cities in which we live are local, and the village – global. That is why the vision emerging in our publication concerns thinking and acting on both these levels: the local and the global. That is our political perspective.

We invite you to a discussion on the green city.

Beata Maciejewska, Dariusz Szwed


The green city of the new generation was published by the Baltic Network of the European Green Party with the contribution of the European Parliament.

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