A book review of 'Green Metropolis': Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen

I intuitively associate large, urban mega cities like New York with smog, densely populated areas and smelly trash. Am I in reality having a smaller impact on the planet by living in the city?

In the book Green Metropolis David Owen makes a convincing case of how megacities should be perceived as role models for the suburbs. He argues that we can “permanently reduce energy use, water consumption, carbon output and many other environmental ills” by living in densely populated cities.

The compactness of the city enables the inhabitants to walk, bike and use public transport instead of driving a car, share infrastructure more efficiently, live in smaller areas and use less energy for heating. Owen reports these factors contribute to the average New Yorker emitting 30 % less greenhouse gas than the average American (Royte, 2009).

The leafy suburbs where the population is thinly spread out may seem to have a smaller impact on the environment, but in reality the opposite is true. The environmentally conscious consumer with triple-paned windows, backyard compost and geothermal heat pump still drives a car. Owen states: “Wasted energy is wasted energy no matter how it’s generated.” The conventional environmental ideals of the easy-on-the-earth country living are challenged by a sustainable future looking more like the mega cities of Hong Kong and New York (Royte, 2009).

Owen’s arguments make sense and I am convinced that living in the city has a smaller impact on the Earth than the population spreading out in the countryside.

Another question is: How would the planet respond to the entire society moving into densely populated areas creating mega cities and leaving the countryside to the natural system?