The City of Melbourne and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group have announced that Melbourne will lead a new global network on Sustainable Urban Development.

 

The development will be chaired by Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and with the support of C40, will allow Melbourne to share key ideas and learn from other global cities, including Johannesburg, London, San Francisco and Sao Paulo that are embarking on similar efforts.

 

“Through this new network of cities, we will also engage key stakeholders and partner with the private sector to deliver on-the-ground, practical solutions to the challenges associated with sustainable urban development,” the Lord Mayor said.

 

C40 Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “Every city is made up of communities, whose infrastructure, buildings and population can interact to create a sustainable way of living.  The Sustainable Urban Development Network C40 is being launched and will strengthen how local government practitioners work together to make sustainable communities possible in cities around the world; and I commend Lord Mayor Robert Doyle for stepping up to lead this effort. What cities do individually, and collectively through the C40, is increasingly setting the agenda for the entire world,”

 

The Melbourne workshop has been the first of its kind to actively engage the private sector toward the delivery of large-scale infrastructure and sustainable development projects.

 

Earlier this month, C40 launched networks on sustainable infrastructure finance and green growth, respectively led by the Cities of Chicago and Copenhagen.

 

Also announced at the C40 Workshop were plans by Lend Lease, in partnership with the City of Melbourne, to create a carbon-neutral sustainable community as part of its participation in C40’s Climate Positive Development Program, delivered in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI).  

 

The Climate Positive Development Program aims to create a model for large-scale urban communities that reduce greenhouse gasses and serve as urban laboratories for cities seeking to grow in ways that are environmentally sustainable and economically viable.

 

“Victoria Harbour will become a blueprint for cities, developers and governments to work together to create strong, sustainable communities,” the Lord Mayor said.

 

“Our work in sustainability over the past two decades has focussed on reducing our impact and adapting our city to a changing climate. Victoria Harbour continues that work and sets a standard for the future.”

 

In a first for Australia, the City of Melbourne received a 2012 Visionary Award from Energy Efficiency Global in recognition of its energy efficiency leadership.