For lovers of two-wheeled transport, a special program has been created in Stockholm
The formula of a "green city" is basically simple: as many parks and gardens as possible, as few harmful emissions as possible, recycling waste into an energy source... The Stockholm authorities have consistently solved all these problems. And they left behind Amsterdam, Bristol, Copenhagen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Münster, and Oslo. Upon closer examination, it turned out that making a city truly green is not that difficult, if there is a will, as the correspondent was convinced.
ALL IN THE PARK
Stockholm, of course, was initially lucky – there is no "dirty" industry here at all: mostly high-tech companies like IBM, Ericsson, or Electrolux are registered in the city. But, of course, it was not for that the European Commission gave Sweden's capital a top grade. Everything was evaluated: the state of transport (just ferries from Stockholm go to dozens of cities around the world), municipal parks, the proximity of green oases to the average resident, air quality, noise levels, per capita water consumption. In all these indicators, the Swedes turned out to be the best of the best. We analyzed the secret of this success down to the bone, and here is the recipe.
In the city, known since 1252 and located on 14 islands, a third of the area is occupied by various bodies of water, another third by green spaces, and the same amount by buildings. This ratio turned out to be ideal: as a result, practically every one of Stockholm's 800,000 residents only needs to walk 300 meters from home to find themselves in a shady park or public garden, where there are even places for grilling to hold family celebrations in nature.
The second very important point is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the city over the past 20 years by a full quarter per capita. Per person, there are 3.4 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year (the average in the EU is about twice as high), and the municipality is confident that by 2015 they will reduce this figure to 3 tons. They achieved this as follows: since 2007, motorists have been paying for driving through the city center – a maximum of 50 kronor (about 6 euros). Initially, this measure was made experimental, then discussed in a referendum, and only after that was it established legislatively.
Since the payment collection system is very convenient, the people do not complain. When entering and exiting the center of Stockholm, car license plates are recorded by cameras. The time spent within the center is totaled for the month (however, there is no charge for driving at night or on weekends). The bill is sent to car owners by email. If you drive to work in the center every day, it will amount to about one hundred euros per month.
According to some estimates, the city budget is thus replenished by about 30 million euros per month. But the number of cars in the center has decreased by about a third over the past three years – traffic jams are forgotten. The city hall calculated that exhaust gases have decreased by 14%, and air quality has improved by 10%.
But it's not just that someone is reluctant to spend 100 euros. The city popularized the slogan "Let's give up private cars for clean air." Officials set the example first. Stockholm Mayor Sten Nordin commutes to work by public transport, and Justice Minister Beatrice Ask by bicycle.
Cyclists in Stockholm generally get special treatment. A cyclist here is king; laws protect them, requiring motorists to yield to two-wheeled transport everywhere. ("They've become a real menace to life; they ride so dangerously that they give us nothing but headaches," a friend complained.) The city is full of convenient rental points where you can rent a bicycle, say, for an hour and a half, to go visit someone and "park" in another area. Just buy a seasonal pass for the equivalent of 24-28 euros and stop depending on public transport.
For lovers of two-wheeled transport, a special program has been created: at 80 rental stations, 1,000 new bikes are "parked." Over the past ten years, more than half of the city's residents have switched to two-wheeled transport. Currently, Sweden's capital has 760 kilometers of bike paths, but the city authorities plan to expand both the network of bike lanes and rental points.
CITY OF THE FUTURE
"If you want to feel what it's like to live in the city of the future, move to us," beckon billboards hung in the Hammarby Sjöstad district. This district is a kind of showcase of Stockholm's achievements. Although quite recently, in the 1990s, old dilapidated houses loomed here and gloomy warehouses crowded. A few years were enough to turn the slums into something much more attractive. Dozens of architects working on the reconstruction project of Hammarby Sjöstad decided to blend different styles, fully confident that this way residents would feel less oppressed by glass and concrete. Futuristic skyscrapers coexist with smaller buildings, and, turning a corner, you can easily find yourself in narrow alleys reminiscent of the old town.
In these neighborhoods, residential buildings were specially built in an old-fashioned style to give the eye a rest, just as it often rests on furniture copied from antiques. But the main advantage of this area is different – Hammarby Sjöstad is energetically independent from other districts of Stockholm. Institutions and houses are not heated by electricity from thermal or nuclear power plants, but by solar panels, geothermal layers, systems using wind energy, and the tides of the North and Baltic seas. The recycling of waste, from which gas is obtained, also became a source of heat.
“Our goal is to create a city that will not torment nature and our wallets. The key issue is to figure out how to get cheap and safe energy. This is very important to us,” patiently explains Linda Persson, an employee of the Stockholm municipality, to Itogi. Cheap energy comes not only from air, water, and sun, but also from... garbage.
It is estimated that every year a resident of Stockholm produces about 600 kilograms of waste. A quarter of this garbage is recycled (for example, plastic is turned back into plastic bottles or something else – such a recycling center is located in the Bromma area), and 75% is burned, which heats homes. By the way, the switch from traditional heating of Stockholm homes to biofuel has already reduced harmful emissions by 593 thousand tons over the last 20 years.
In addition, the Stockholm authorities finance the installation of special filters in kitchen sinks that capture particles of organic waste. Through a system of underground pipes, small particles of bio-waste go to a processing station, where they produce biogas – fuel for cars. And, it must be said, cars with the inscription “biotaxi” are found at every intersection in the city. Personal bio-transport has also appeared.
The authorities introduced a social tax on the use of traditional fuels, so they ended up becoming a third more expensive. The results were not long in coming: instead of recent distrust of “something new and incomprehensible,” Swedes began buying cars adapted for biofuel and environmentally friendly. Swedes boast that half of the buses and taxis in Stockholm already run on biofuel.
Perhaps the Swedes were a bit hasty when they declared that by 2050 their country would not depend on traditional fuels, but this is now fashionable (the Germans, for example, promised to reduce current oil and gas consumption by 50% by 2030). The question of how to get cheap energy seriously worries the Swedes, so a “social competition” has unfolded between Stockholm and other cities over who will get more energy from biofuel.
CLEANLINESS PACT
The use of new heat-retaining materials for houses, modern heating systems and thermal insulation have created a new market for local businesses, which are rapidly reorienting. By the way, together with an employee of the management company, we walked along a residential building with a special device that detects heat leaks. We testify that neither through the seams of the houses nor through the window frames do degrees leak here.
Perhaps this is one of the explanations why even during the crisis the Swedish economy produces an annual increase in national income. Initial investments in obtaining new products and materials were relatively high (about 50% more expensive), but now many owners of Swedish companies boast that the risk paid off. It is worth saying that companies sign a Climate Pact (literally, 'climate pact') with the city authorities, in which they undertake not to exceed permissible environmental pollution standards. If someone violates this agreement, they lose their production license and pay huge fines.
New technologies in the field of ecology are a favorite topic among Swedes. And they are willing to pay for these technologies. For example, Stockholm's budget last year was 39.6 billion Swedish kronor (approximately 4 billion euros). At the same time, out of every 100 kronor earned, a Stockholm resident has to fork out 17.5% in taxes to the city and 12% to the Stockholm County (the average salary in the city is 16,000 kronor, but if it is higher, taxes can reach up to 50%). For the maintenance of streets, transport, and environmental care, 5.3% of the budget was allocated last year – that is about 200 million euros. For comparison: last year, Moscow's expenditures on environmental protection amounted to just over 100 million euros.
• By the way, it's no secret that Europeans have long learned to save. They even manage to do this in such a budget-intensive area as construction. For example, for private construction, they can pick up used but quite high-quality materials. Almost everything is used, including used pipes, which can last for many more years. Indeed, why spend money on expensive pipe products if, on the same summer cottage plot, you can successfully use fittings or used pipes.