By Allison Brummel, Catherine Lamb, Timothy Schmidt, Lauren Dawson
Daily News, December 31, 1969
ON THE environmental spectrum, Philadelphia is actually a lot greener than you might think.
The city boasts one of the largest and best urban park systems in the country and the Comcast Center intends to become the country's tallest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified green building. Significant initiatives to improve environmental conditions in the city, like the GreenPlan and Next Great City, are already well underway. And Mayor Nutter has made it clear that environmental issues are high on his agenda.
But a quick glance at the many trash-strewn vacant lots reminds us that Philadelphia still has a long way to go. Existing government and civic initiatives, though promising, will take years to deliver results. But by implementing a few simple and relatively inexpensive ideas immediately, the new mayor can achieve some quick wins for the environment and the city while generating enthusiasm for the harder longer-term projects.
Over recent weeks, the Fels Institute of Government at Penn has been looking for initiatives that have proven successful in cities around the globe.
These ideas are not all foreign to the city. Local groups and residents have been discussing some for years. But with a new environmentally-minded mayor who's pledged to multiply the connections between City Hall and the people, the chances for their success in Philadelphia are higher than ever. Here are the five best.
Bike-share
Paris (like a handful of other European cities) has recently instituted a large-scale public bicycle rental program.
Every day, 24 hours a day, adults can swipe a credit card at more than 1,000 bike stations to access one of the 20,000 easy-to-ride bikes. When the rider returns the bike to a station, the card is charged a small fee (but the first 30 minutes are free). In just the first 12 weeks of operation, Parisians rode the public bikes an estimated 7.5 million miles.
Green City Hall café
In 2007, Mayor Bjerregaard of Copenhagen, Denmark, announced that the city would open a café in City Hall to make the seat of local government more open and engaging to residents. Philadelphia could add a green twist to this idea by again situating a café on the City Hall plaza, with a view down the Parkway past Love Park toward the Art Museum. To take it a step greener, the café could serve only locally produced food.
Bike/Walk to Work Day
Melbourne, Australia, is one of countless cities around the world that have encouraged regular car-commuters to try walking, biking or public transportation on a designated day. Not only does a Bike/Walk to Work Day raise awareness of environmental and health issues, but it also might spark behavior change in the long term.
Green flag awards
England and Wales award green flags to parks and green spaces that are welcoming, safe and well-maintained by their communities.
The contest engages residents in a healthy competition to maintain and beautify their neighborhoods. Mayor Nutter could bring lead a neighborhood-by-neighborhood competition by personally staking the green flags in the winning parks.
EcoFamily Awards
The City Council of Manchester, England, established a competition to challenge citizens to be more environmentally friendly in every aspect of their lives.
By participating, families learned that even small changes in behavior can have a significant affect on energy use. In Philadelphia, we can imagine schools going head-to-head for the designation of "EcoSchool." *
This op-ed is part of the ongoing work on government management at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government, supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.