ClairCity newsletter ClairCity newsletter January 2019 | Page 5

Changing cities, changing times
Find out the new challenges and opportunities that
are facing each of our partner cities and regions.
Since ClairCity started in 2016, our
partner cities and regions have
undergone their own changes. As
well as defining their baseline
situation, ClairCity keeps up with
the shifts in policy and action.
Gas-free Amsterdam
Going “gas-free” (ending the use of
fossil gas for heating in the built
environment) has become an
important framing of national
policies in the Netherlands, due to
a decision in early 2018 to leave
the remaining domestic gas
reserves in the ground and to
strive for a natural gas-free built
environment by 2050. The first
neighbourhood in Amsterdam to
become gas-free has been chosen
and received national support. The
city elections in March 2018
brought in a centre-left coalition,
who are aiming for a gas-free city
by 2040, and a carbon emission
free city (within the city ring) by
2025.
Natural gas fields
Carbon neutral Bristol
In late 2018, Bristol City Council
unanimously voted for the city to
become carbon neutral by 2030,
the most ambitious target of any
UK city. The decision was taken to
reflect the warning of the United
Nations International Panel on
Climate Change 2018 report,
announcing that for global warming
to remain below 1.5C, action had
to be taken within 12 years.
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Slovenia drives change
The Slovenian Ministry of
Infrastructure drafted an action
plan on alternative fuels in
transport in June 2018. Transport
contributes almost one third of
greenhouse gas emissions in
Slovenia and is a significant source
of air pollution in towns. The
government announced a shift
towards sustainable mobility and
electrified transport. The long-term
objective is to reduce emissions
from transport by half of 1990
levels by 2050. Over 1,000
kilometres of cycling surfaces and
suitable solutions for pedestrians
will be built within urban areas,
and between satellite villages
around larger towns in the next
four years.
Sosnowiec shifts
Air pollution has moved higher up
the national Polish agenda and
gained more local traction in
Sosnowiec since 2016, although
public awareness on the issue
remains low across Poland. The
good news is that concentrations
and exceedances declined from
2014 to 2016. New state-funded
programmes have been introduced
to encourage households to switch
to alternative fuels, district heating
and/or to upgrade their boilers,
and a city bike-sharing scheme has
been introduced in Sosnowiec.
However, pollution levels are still
massively exceeding EU limit and
target values, especially in winter
months.
Genoa’s road woes
On the morning of 14 August 2018,
the Morandi bridge - part of the
A10 motorway - in Genoa
collapsed. A complete reorientation
of traffic flows in the city in the
coming years is therefore required.
In September 2018 substantial
amounts of public money were
allocated to local transport and city
planning. However, authorities
expect that air pollution will get
worse in the most affected parts of
the city due to congestion until
alternatives to the bridge have
been constructed.
Central Genoa
Aveiro on wheels
In July 2018 a national plan for the
expansion of the cycling network
was published in Portugal. The plan
involves the construction of 1,000
kilometers of bicycle paths in the
next 10 years, requiring an
investment of 300 million euros.
The financing is a mix of national
and local funding. While the
investment in cycling has been
welcomed by sustainable transport
and air quality campaigners, in
Aveiro it remains to be seen
whether this will support “cycling
as a mode of transport” or whether
the improved facilities will be
focused on leisure and tourism
routes.
These updates are drawn from our
D6.4 “Multi-level and SWOT
analysis of air quality” report,
available in the “Academic” section
of our online reports archive. To
find out more, visit www.claircity.
eu/reports