Award Winning Sustainable Cities For Your 2020 Eco-Trip Plan

December is coming soon. Have you listed down your new resolutions or plans that you want to do in 2020? Specially curated for our eco-travellers who simply love city tour, 1 People explored the globe and chose five cities that are not only famous for their beautiful landscape but also for their innovations in sustainability. Take some notes and put them in your next year travelling calendar. Don’t forget to take your eco-friendly visor as your travelling essential. 

Melbourne

Melbourne overlook the importance of sustainability. Melbourne won an award for its impressive sustainable buildings program. This programme makes business players accountable for their own energy and water retrofits through the way they structure their building. As everyone is responsible for their own waste and carbon footprint, strolling around the cities’ botanic gardens and wandering around the colourful and vibrant laneways can a free and sustainable way to enjoy the city. For coffee lovers, you can complete these activities by stopping at one of the city’s coffee shops. They are well-known for their high-quality coffee beans and skillful baristas. If you happen to be in the city in February, the National Sustainable Living Festival is something that you cannot miss. 

Copenhagen

Summer is the best way to sustainably explore Copenhagen. Known as the European green capital in 2014, Denmark aims to make its capital city to be completely carbon neutral by 2025. If the country succeeds in cutting emissions to 400,000 tons, Copenhagen will be the first carbon-neutral capital city in the world. For this reason, Copenhagen is the best place for you to go bicycle riding along the car-free harbour bridges or to simply explore the Copenhagen city landscape enjoying the clean air. If you like a boat tour, you can also try boarding onto a sustainably-powered boat and roam across the city canal. Another eco-friendly activity you can enjoy in Copenhagen is urban foraging. There are many places in Copenhagen for you to visit and cherry-pick fruits or edible plants. But don’t forget to educate yourself on what is edible and not. The Internet can be the place to get this information. When the sun goes down, the Copenhagen theatre, Cinemateket, offers two nights of viewing on a big screen set up at King’s Garden. You can enjoy a free movie with your travelling partner or meet new people around. All you need to do is to bring your own blanket. 

Rio De Janeiro

The capital city of Brazil won a sustainability award in the category of Sustainable Communities, thanks to The Morar Carioca Program, an urban revitalization plan to formalise and re-urbanise all of Rio’s favelas by 2020. With a combination of better landscaping, infrastructure, educational tools and government programmes in public health and wellness, the city’s authorities will better 20% of the city population who are currently living in these slums area. This way, you can enjoy exploring the cities and its mountain hikes without any worries. Additionally, the capital city of Brazil is world-known for its beautiful beaches. Winding up at the city beachfront area to enjoy the sunshine, tropical breeze and the cold-stream water is a fantastic way to sustainably enjoy Rio De Janeiro. Visit Tijuca Forest if you like dynamic activities. But even touring along the city overlooking the Pacific ocean while you’re paddling is already a free, sustainable and unforgettable travel experience in Brazil. 

New York

New York City won a sustainable award for Adaptation & Resilience for its now-famous post-Sandy action plan. The program consists of 250 ambitious infrastructure resilience initiatives across many categories, including transportation, telecommunications, parks, insurance, and buildings. Used to be known as the Smog City, New York is now one of the cities with the best air quality. It is easy to find something to in New York, but nothing beats wandering around the city with your best outfit. City landmark offers you the famous central park where you can chill out for free. Good vegan restaurants are easy to find. Farmers' markets and farm-to-table restaurants are ubiquitous ensuring that residents and visitors eat fresh local food. The best part of this is sustainable fashion brands are not new in New York. Finding them is easy as heading to downtown Manhattan.

Singapore

Relatively small in size makes Singapore very meticulous in the way the country plans and manages its infrastructure. The result of this is the country won an award for its Intelligent Transport System, which is made up of an amalgam of smart transportation initiatives, such as real-time traffic data from GPS-equipped taxis and an electronic road toll collection system. This system makes Singapore has lower congestion rates than most cities and less pollution. In terms of eco-tourism, Singapore is rich with indoor and outdoor attraction for you to enjoy. Singapore Botanic Gardens is one of the best. This massive garden is free to visit and is the right place to see unique flora and fauna.

Much Love,

The 1 People Team