Cities, climate crisis and global health
A collection of videos and debates from the CCCB on the environmental challenges of the growing urban society.
Since 2007, more than half the world's population is living in cities. Today, the trend is still upwards and it is estimated that by 2050, 70% of the population will be living in urban areas. This fact has great implications for the environment as well as for people's well-being and to reflect on this, the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona has produced the playlist Cities, Climate Crisis and Global Health, which consists of debates, short films and articles, all of which are free and open to all.
Cities have a lot of advantages, but they also cause many environmental and health problems. One of them is sustainable mobility. Today, the motor vehicle is one of the main sources of pollution and noise in the urban environment, putting health and safety at risk. This poses the challenge of reconciling the mobility needs of a growing and increasingly globalised population without harming their well-being or depleting the planet's resources.
In fact, a large part of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change are generated in cities, as a result of the aforementioned mobility, but also of industry, the transport of goods and the energy consumption by the population. Likewise, many of the changes in the environment are due to the exploitation of natural resources to cover people's needs. We have caused such an environmental change that today there are people who speak of the Anthropocene era, a period marked by global transformation since the invention of the steam engine. All this makes us think about what the cities of the future must look like in order to be able to face up to the widespread impact of humanity, to stop climate change, the loss of biodiversity or the degradation of habitats.
As far as health is concerned, life in overcrowded cities, mobility or even climate change can encourage the spread of diseases that end up triggering epidemics or, in the worst case, pandemics. Covid-19 is showing us this, but the problem is also becoming more acute in cities located in countries where conditions of social imbalance, unhealthiness, conflict or poverty prevail, making it difficult to confine and contain the pandemic.
The CCCB's compilation addresses all these issues and proposes solutions to tackle them from the political, economic, social and individual fronts. An inspiring collection to be enjoyed at any time from home. See all the contents in this link.