Examining the Ecocity – from definition to implementation

Abstract: This report has analyzed the Ecocity and the real world applications of the concept in order to create a clearer view of what the concept mean and how it has developed, both historically and geographically. Also, a model of a fictive Eco-District housing 5 000 people in Stockholm has been created in order to analyze what possible results in terms of CO2 emissions can be achieved if the five most common Ecocity improvements are implemented in the district.   Added to the content of this report is a global survey of 180 Ecocity initiatives. The survey was conducted through analysing documentation of each initiative in order to assess what aspects and areas of the city development were improved. The model was created using collected data from public statistics and surveys of the Stockholm area. The survey provides insight into the development and characteristics of the Ecocity initiatives.   Conclusions drawn are that the Ecocity initiatives are very different, both from the original concept and also from each other. The term is adopted by many initiatives that seems to have nothing to do with Ecocity aspirations. As a result, the authors have made a new definition, which separates the term Ecocity from the Ecocity initiatives. This is motivated by the impracticality of defining the Ecocity too narrowly, while at the same time a definition that is too broad could lead to a dilution of the meaning of the Ecocity. Furthermore, in order to quickly assess and grade the characteristics of an Ecocity initiative, the authors have introduced a system of certification. This system enables initiatives to quickly be graded and compared, and is a complement to existing, more complex evaluation tools.   The results of the model provide insight into the CO2 emissions of Stockholm, and how the five most common measures of improvement undertaken in Ecocity initiatives could decrease these emissions. These five improvements are identified in the survey. The results show that in the Eco-District, over 50 percent of the CO2 emitted came from private transports and more than one third from heating, but only four percent from electricity consumption in apartment buildings.