How to build a climate friendly city

More than seven billion of us are expected to be living in urban areas by 2050. So what are the world’s great cities doing about climate change?

Humans are now city creatures – with more than half the world’s population already living in urban environments, and huge growth expected in cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa during the rest of the 21st century.

So mayors are on the front line of dealing with climate change – whether it’s keeping people cool during heatwaves or redesigning cities to cope with floods.

In this edition of The Climate Question, Host Jordan Dunbar hears about inspiring solutions from cable cars in Colombia to water parks in the Netherlands and city gardens in the Philippines.

His guests are Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the mayor of Freetown in Sierra Leone and Co-Chair of the C40 Cities Coalition, and Rogier van den Berg, an architect and urban planner who’s Global Director at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.

Jordan, Yvonne and Rogier also discuss the crucial role that cities need to play in reducing carbon emissions by making buildings more energy-efficient and rethinking transport.

Got a question or comment? You can email the team: [email protected]

Producers: Jordan Dunbar, Diane Richardson, Melanie Stewart-Smith Sound Mix: Dave O'Neill and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts