Cape Town is one of 10 cities that are most likely to become a global sustainability centre by 2020. The beautiful South African city was included in a list of the '20 cities of 2020' by the Ethisphere Institute, a New York business ethics and social responsibility think-tank.
The 2020 Global Sustainability Centres comprises of ten large cities (600,000+ citizens) and ten mid-sized cities (60,000-600,000 citizens) lauded for long-term city planning and building strong, principled foundations.
Cape Town joined Toronto, Hyderabad, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, New York, London, Frankfurt, Curtiba and Melbourne on the list of large cities.
The 10 mid-sized cities are Copenhagen, Doha, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Oslo, Portland, Reykjavik, Victoria, Wellington and Rotterdam.
"In a world of increasing population pressures and depleting natural resources, some cities are proactively adjusting their practices today as well as implementing sustainable long-term practices," said Alex Brigham, executive director of The Ethisphere Institute. "We are recognising these 'cities of tomorrow' today."
"As future global centres, their planning will positively impact the quality of life of successive generations and provide a model for other cities to emulate," said Stefan Linssen, managing editor of Ethisphere Magazine.
Cities were considered for their environmental and sustainability practices; health and recreation; education, arts and culture; economic and business environment; regulatory framework; law enforcement and transparency; media and speech; transportation and housing; and innovation and investment.
Cape Town was acknowledged for developing a sustainable development programme in 2004 to help deal with growing energy needs of the city. The programme aims to have 10 percent of homes using solar power and 10 percent of the city’s energy consumption coming from renewable sources by 2020.
"Cape Town is enjoying economic growth that will likely continue through 2020 and beyond," says the report.
The report highlighted poverty as a major challenge for the city.
"While much of the city is developing nicely, a good chunk of it remains in squalor conditions. This is a major obstacle," said the Institute.
For more information, visit Ethisphere.com
How Cape Town ranked
