According to Sachs (2015), one of the most significant challenges of sustainable cities is the high ecological footprint. Due to the world population, the ecological footprint exceeds the earth’s bio-capacity by 50% (Sachs, 2015). This means that the planet cannot sustain the number of people on it currently. Many natural resources have been exploited for this reason. Additionally, the high ecological footprint has led to other challenges such as global warming. Sachs (2015) argues that a perfect balance between the ecological footprint and bio-capacity ensures proper absorption of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The imbalance goes further to explain why global warming is a big challenge today. Simon (2016) suggests that to resolve the highlighted problem, cities have to reduce their fossil fuel usage. Indeed, such a reduction would also significantly lower the ecological footprint of that particular city.
A second challenge to attaining sustainable cities is an overburdened ecosystem. Urbanization plays a prominent role in ecosystem sustainability. The UAE has some of the most urban cities in this day and age. Dubai has some of the tallest buildings in the world that were built using high technology. This, added to the extensive mining of oil in the region, has led to an imbalance between the ecosystem and biodiversity (Sachs, 2015). To resolve the challenge, the UAE has put in place plans to develop sustainable cities, such as the Masdar Eco-City in Abu Dhabi. Theoretically, this eco-city will have very low carbon emissions supporting a healthy ecosystem and lowering the ecological footprint at the same time.
A third challenge of attaining Goal 11 of the SDGs is political goodwill and investment. Simon (2016) notes that ensuring all cities in the world are sustainable is an expensive task. Thus, political goodwill and money are needed to both establish new towns and renovate existing ones to be sustainable. Simon (2016) explains that 350 trillion dollars will be used for the urbanization of cities in the next thirty years. Urbanization can be sustainable if a proper plan of action is put in place. The most prominent challenge of the given solution is getting all involved governments on board. Currently, different organizations are advocating for the collection of funds to ensure all governments attain the SDGs.
Fourthly, modern lifestyle has been detrimental in the attainment of the SDGs, including SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. For example, automobiles defined as high class usually emit high levels of carbon dioxide. Indeed, some manufacturers have tried to develop low emission vehicles, but sales have been low. It can be argued that people believe that low emission and alternative fuel vehicles are not classy. Thereby, they do not purchase them. To ensure lifestyles are changed to support the establishment of sustainable cities and communities, lifestyle preferences should be given priority.
Last but not least, the development of sustainable cities is hindered by poor leadership. Sachs (2015) explains that industries can be single-handedly blamed for the destruction of the ozone layer. Despite this, governments have encouraged partnerships with multinationals that have been accused explicitly of boosting global warming. Sachs (2015) argues that the attempt to develop sustainable cities has to be embraced by businesses for it to be successful. The example of Curitiba, a city in Brazil, can be used to explain further. Through proper leadership, encouraging response from the corporate world, and cooperative citizens, Curitiba has been picked as a center of excellence in regards to sustainable cities.
References
Sachs, D. J. (2015). The age of sustainable development. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Simon, D. (Eds.) (2016). Rethinking sustainable cities: Accessible, green, and fair. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.