Green Cities

Have you ever considered how time in the countryside fades away so fast during the holidays, seated under that mango tree in the evening after hard work of weeding arrowroots growing in the banks of the small spring that runs through your farm and watering the small tree nursery at the corner of the farm? It gets interesting how you fall asleep in that shade, a smooth wind blows towards you calming your inner soul and the birds sing as they welcome you to slumberland.

Suddenly the holidays are over and it's time to get back to the urban center/city for work and it dawns on you the changes awaiting: From the tall beautiful buildings that have taken over all the green environment; sometimes the sun gets too hot and no shade to enjoy; the noise from all the hooting and uncontrolled traffic situations; human congestion as people move in different directions and worse of it all is when the wind blows and the only thing around you is hot uncomfortable air which sometimes carries plastic bags and containers flying all over the town. It becomes tougher for job seekers who are moving around town trying to knock on office doors in their search for available opportunities; or those who work casual jobs and have some time to spend within the city waiting for their shifts to start since they left home quite early to beat traffic and ended up arriving earlier in town; or the weekends when you have a few errands to run in town under the scorching hot sun, you run into a former acquaintance and end up having some little chit chat only to realize there is no conducive place to relax; or just anyone who wants to spend their day away from home and work and needs to unwind for a few minutes; it gets stressful to find a spot that is cool and satisfying to your mental state.

We are addressing green cities today and the beauty that we can still achieve a sustainable urban city in which we could improve our physical state, mental state, economic state, and the environment's regeneration at its best.

A town/city where the small river flows through with water lettuce and lilies growing in it, a small canopy of trees that create a natural habitat for the birds, a smooth track for morning exercises, and a small playground for our little kids. That's what a green park would do to our environment.

The trees will absorb the carbon from the industrial estates and the emissions from the vehicles while the green space provides us with shade during extreme hot conditions and some little sanity out of the usual noise.

Cities according to IUCN are predicted to grow to occupy an extra 290,000 km2 of natural habitat, mostly in the tropical forests of Asia and Africa, which are home to some of the planet's most bio-diverse ecosystems. Urban and physical planners, you are our key stakeholders. It doesn’t have to be an out-of-this-world science but working on the available space without interfering with the existing plan would incorporate eco-tourism in our cities and towns and make them green cities for sustainable development, customize them according to the needs of the community, and have them established to better the lives of human beings and protect the environment. From simple acts like tree growing in our urban spaces would lead us to this path of sustainability.

#SDG11SustainableCities&Communities

Deuteronomy 20:19 NIV

[19] When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?