Traduction de «greening cities » (Anglais → Français) :

During its year as European Green Capital 2017, Essen plans to initiate over 300 citizens' projects and events that will further improve the quality of life of the city and put sustainability at the heart of the city's development programmes.

17. Calls on the authorities to promote ways to reduce the demand for transport by enhancing the use of teleworking and ICT tools and to be aware of the figures of the Eurobarometer survey that show that EU citizens are concerned about the negative impact of increased traffic in cities, considering traffic congestion (76 %), air quality (81 %) and accident rates (73 %) to be the most serious problems; calls on the Commission to monitor the new forms of mobility related to transport (e.g. self-drive vehicles), to carry out, in cooperation with the Member States, an analysis of all available measures helping to minimise the number of inju ...[+++]ries and deaths, in particular of pedestrians and cyclists, and to promote the use of bicycles in cities, along with investment in cycling lanes and measures to raise awareness among road users regarding safety for cyclists; points out that cycling plays an important role in contemporary planning of sustainable urban mobility and that it is part of the solution for preventing congestion; stresses that segregated cycle/pedestrian paths should be included as a matter of course when building or restoring roads; reiterates in this respect that the increased use of bicycles in cities enhances traffic flow, improves public health and reduces the carbon footprint; stresses that an increased use of bicycles in cities could contribute to the Europe 2020 objectives; asks the Member States to continue building ring roads in order to minimise the number of vehicles going unnecessarily through cities, and calls on the Commission to find ways to support these projects financially; stresses that more efforts need to be undertaken in order to reduce the number of cars in the city; calls on local authorities to promote policies to encourage green transport by providing facilities, reducing taxes and establishing green certificates;

Education and private initiative play an essential role for a Europe of green cities and the overall Community policies should take into consideration all long-term costs and provide pertinent suggestions, efficient interregional and cross-border cooperation mechanisms, as well as the necessary information resources.

32. Notices with satisfaction that more and more action is being taken by local authorities in restricting the access to cities for the most polluting vehicles to ensure better compliance with the air quality norms on their territory and in setting up areas clear of pollution and congestion known as Green Zones; calls on the Commission to provide guidance on the definition of Green Zones in cities, based on EU standard signposting for Green Zones and harmonised labelling for clean vehicles;

We need more green spaces in our cities. Even some ten square metres of green islands can improve the spirit of a city, together with bigger parks and gardens nearby.

It is very significant that in its opinion the Committee of the Regions specifically refers to the restricted scope of local and regional authorities for action when it comes to green procurement and notes that legal action has already been taken against a number of towns and cities which have tried to implement a green procurement policy.