The declaration from the Ecocity World Summit in San Francisco defines the necessary elements of an Ecocity, along with the key actions that are needed. The following elements are all necessary for an ecocity development:
a. Ecological security – clean air, and safe, reliable water supplies, food, healthy housing and workplaces, municipal services and protection against disasters for all people.
b. Ecological sanitation – efficient, cost-effective eco-engineering for treating and recycling human excreta, gray water, and all wastes.
c. Ecological industrial metabolism – resource conservation and environmental protection through industrial transition, emphasizing materials re-use, life-cycle production, renewable energy, efficient transportation, and meeting human needs.
d. Ecoscape (ecological-landscape) integrity – arrange built structures, open spaces such as parks and plazas, connectors such as streets and bridges, and natural features such as waterways and ridgelines, to maximize biodiversity and maximize accessibility of the city for all citizens while conserving energy and resources and alleviating such problems as automobile accidents, air pollution, hydrological deterioration, heat island effects and global warming.
e. Ecological awareness – help people understand their place in nature, cultural identity, responsibility for the environment, and help them change their consumption behavior and enhance their ability to contribute to maintaining high quality urban ecosystems.
Take a look at the complete list of actions that are needed, including “ecocity mapping,” here.
