How big is the problem?

Something on the order of four billion people live in cities in this new century. And within all of the larger and more prosperous ones at any rate, more than half of all CO2 generated comes from transport sources. That's just for starters however. There is worse news ahead.

At last count (http://www.citypopulation.de/World.html) there are some 428 agglomerations and cities in the world today with populations exceeding or close to one million. Well, that gives us a first idea of the magnitude of the challenge. And of the opportunities, since all we need to do is find and convince a first city pioneer group to step forward and show the way to the rest.

And as to how many there are of more than, say, 100,000 inhabitants -- a perfectly good target size for a great 20/20 program, I can only guess. Certainly the number is in the tens of thousands and quite likely an order of magnitude more than that.

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Parts of the solution: Bridge building and alliances

We make this point on this page in which we have set out to identify groups and programs known to us at this point which are, in one way or another, "working on the problem". It is already as you can see a very large list, and we can anticipate that over the next two years it will grow appreciably as the work in hand advances. You will note too that this programs take a variety of different angles on the challenge at hand: climate change, environmental activism, public health, city planning and land use, coalition building, governance, citizen and user groups, behavioral psychology, IT innovations, finance and taxation, legal aspects, politics, media (new and "old"), and yes!, transportation and access in a wide variety of forms. It is, you have to admit, a very impressive group, and certainly if we can find ways of engaging and supporting them in the drive to more sustainable cities, real progress can be envisaged.

A perfectly legitimate question has already come up in several of our earlier contacts in getting this program on line. And that is the challenge of asking us why indeed, if all these fine groups are already in place and trying so hard to do something about these problems, is there really a need for yet one more program such as we provide here? The answer in the best Talmudic tradition, another question: Just how big was that problem?

Bottom line:
The challenge before us is enormous. And all the more if you consider that it is our contention that the piority time horizon for active problem solving is not a matter of deaces, but the next two or three years immediately ahead.

Moreover, because the problem solving exercise in each city is going to involve a much larger than usual range of capacities, we can be sure that the solution will lie in building bridges and alliances. And not simply trying to defend our turf here or there. There is plenty of work to do for all hands who are able and willing to try. So let's get on with it and start to build those bridges and working alliances.

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The World Wide Inventory (in process)

Does your group or program belong on this distinguished list? Have we missed someone who should be there? Kind thanks for clicking here and letting us know of this oversight so that we can immediately correct. After all, we are going to need ALL the parts of the solution.

Note: We have taken at least first contact (by email) with all of these groups. And we intend to continue this effort to build bridges, build teams, and build solutions in specific places.

1. ACCESS - Eurocities for a New Mobility Culture (Belgium)
2. All India Institute of Local Self-Governmen (India)
3. Association des Maires de Grandes Villes de France (France)
4. Australian Greenhouse Office (Australia)
5. BEST (Canada)
6. Best Practices Database (United Nations)
7. Best Practice for Sustainable Urban Infrastructures - (Europe)
8. Bremen Initiative Best Practice Resources (Germany)
9. Case studies on sustainable development - (World Health Organization)
10. Centre for Sustainable Transportation (Canada)
11. Changemakers.net (USA)
12. CICERO (Norway)
13. Climate Action Network
14. Climate Alliance (Germany)
15. The Climate Ark
16. Climate Care
17. Climate Change Coalition
18. Climate Change Knowledge Network
19. The Climate Group (UK)
20. The Commons (France)
21. Concord Consortium
22. Deutscher Städtetag (German Associations of Towns and Cities) (Germany)
23. Earth Day Network (USA)
24. Earth Island Institute
25. Ecological Footprint
26. EcoWorld
27. ELTIS case study database - (Europe)
28. Embarq
29. Environmental Defense Fund
30. European Database on Good Practice in Urban Management and Sustainability (Europe)
31. Environmental Sustainability Index
32. Gateway to International Best Practices and Innovations (USA)
33. EPOMM - European Platform for Mobility Management (Europe)
34. European Climate Forum
35. Factor of Four (Germany)
36. Federation of Canadian Municipalities (Canada)
37. Forum for the Future (UK)
38. FOE Climate Change Program
39. FOE Transport (UK)
40. Future Forests
41. German Marshall Fund (USA/Germany)
42. Global Commons Institute (UK)
43. Global Community Initiatives
44. Global Environment Facility
45. Global Road Safety Partnership (Switzerland)
46. Go for Green (Canada)
47. GTZ - German Technical Cooperation Agency (Germany)
48. ICLEI Cites for Climate Protection
49. ICLEI Project Summaries - Transport
50. IFRTD - International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (UK, International)
51. IISD - International Institute for Sustainable Development (Canada, International)
52. IIED - International Institute for Environment and Development (UK, International)
53. Institute for Sustainable Development (Poland)
54. IntegerConsult (Netherlands)
55. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (United Nations)
56. International Union of Local Authorities (IULA)
57. International Walk to School
58. ISTP (Australia)
59. ITDP (International)
60. LEAD (UK, International)
61. Less Traffic
62. Local Agenda 21
63. Local Government Association (UK)
64. Millennium Technology Prize
65. Minciu Sodas (Lithuania)
66. Mind the Gap
67. MIT Media Laboratory
68. Mobility AG (Switzerland)
69. National League of Cities ( (USA)
70. New Economics Foundation (UK)
71. New Mobility Café
72. New Urbanism
73. Online TDM Encyclopedia (Canada)
74. Open Society Institute
75. Partners for Livable Communities
76. One Ton Challenge (Canada)
77. Project for Public Spaces
78. Rails to Trails
79. Redefining Progres
80. Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary)
81. Regional Plan Association (USA)
82. Réseau Action Climat
83. Right Livelihood Award Foundation
84. Santa Fe Institute (USA)
85. Shell Foundation
86. Sierra Club
87. Sister Cities
88. SMILE - Sustainable Urban Transport Policies and Initiatives (France)
89. State of the World Forum
90. Stockholm Environment Institute (Sweden)
91. Stockholm Partnerships for Sustainable Cities (Sweden)
92. SustainAbility (UK)
93. Sustainable Development Communications Network
94. Sustainable Developmen Gateway (Canada)
95. Sustran Network
96. Sustrans
97. Surface Transportation Policy Project
98. T&E - European Federation (Belgium)
99. Task Force for Child Survival and Development (International)
100. Tools of Change
101. Transport 2000 (UK)
102. Transport Today and Tomorrow (Israel)
103. Travel Matters
104. Travel Smart (Australia)
105. TRIPP (India)(India)
106. USCM Best Practices Database (U.S.A.)
107. Victoria Transport Policy Institute (Canada)
108. UITP Sustainable Development Working Group (Belgium)
109. United Cities and Local Governments (Spain)
110. Urban Age Insitute
111. UTSG - Universities' Transport Study Group (UK)
112. Walk21 (Denmark)
113. Vision-Zero (Sweden)
114. Vision-Zero (Switzerland)
115. WBCSD Sustainable Mobility
116. WHO Healthy City Network (WHO)
117. Working for a Sane Future
118. Worldchanging.com
119. World Federation of United Cities
120. World Future Council
121. World Transport Policy and Practice (international)
122. World Sustainability Resources
123. World Resources Institute
124. World Technology Network (UK, USA)
125. Worldwatch Institute
126. Wuppertal Institute (Germany)
127. Young TransNet
128. ZeroCarbonCity (UK)
129. Zurich Public Transport (Switzerland)