Philly has been selected as only one of two U.S. cities—Chicago being the second—named for the UN-HABITAT 100 Cities Initiative. The initiative was created to develop world wide sharing, learning and networking that would help support sustainable urbanization. Although only ten cities have been named worldwide so far, so this honor shows that the sustainable efforts in Philadelphia up to this point have made an impression.
The initiative’s website features a short film that asks the question, “What kind of world do you want for your children?” and links this question to topics of education, health and prosperity. It also shares the fact that over half of humanity now lives in cities, a number will only continue to grow. This only emphasizes why continued urban sustainability efforts are so important in Philadelphia…and worldwide.
Another really cool part of this campaign is the interactive map. You can click on each of the cities selected for the initiative and receive information about each one’s population, surface area, density, GDP, past, present and future. Sustainable initiatives in Philadelphia like Greenworks, the formation of the Department of Parks and Recreation and dealing with the city’s food deserts are listed there.
Worldwide cities selected include Medellin, Colombia; Rabat, Morocco; Vienna, Austria; and Pushchino, Russia.
Get the full scoop.
