London Shows World’s Megacities Can Become Sustainable

The world’s megacities hold 6.7 percent of the world’s population, but consume 9.3 percent of global power and produce 12.6 percent of global waste. As these huge cities spread into suburbs, they tend to lose the energy and transport efficiencies usually associated with urban dwelling.

London, the U.K. capital, however, has emerged as an exception to this rule. According to a new study published by the University of Toronto, London is the only megacity in the world where electricity consumption per capita is going down while GDP is going up. De-carbonization policies of the U.K. have led to rising electricity prices in London. The city has also imposed effective taxes on waste disposal and has a comprehensive public transport system in place.

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Image Credit: Flickr via Ben24

Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.