City-Level Decoupling-Full Report

the balance of development between north and south Seoul. Problems, however, remain: the river needs to be artificially recharged with water and fish because its concrete form has prevented the required natural ecosystems from emerging.

and agencies, private and business interests and community groups. The leadership of city authorities and the support of national government priorities, funding and schemes provide a locus for bringing together different social and institutional interests, as well as for the generation of project funding.

In the Buenos Aires Metropolitan area, for example, a team of 60 field technicians and 1740 'promoters' have been trained to teach organic food production techniques and act as intermediaries between ProHuerta and the urban gardeners. They also facilitate the distribution of inputs required for food production such as seeds, plant cuttings, chickens, rabbits and tools provided free by ProHuerta. The

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In Lingköping, Sweden, emissions from diesel buses were causing air pollution from smog and soot. A solution that aligned with local economic priorities, did not require extensive fuelling infrastructure, and aligned with national and interest in renewable fuels was to develop an integrated system to generate biogas from waste (and, where necessary, biomass), and to convert the city’s bus fleet to run on this clean-burning fuel. Many of these initiatives to retrofit existing urban networks were schemes and projects with short and medium-term time frames, for example Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon River highway conversion took place between 2003 and 2005. Others were longer-term, such as the Curitiba recycling scheme which started in 1984, and the ProHuerta initiative and Lingköping biogas public transport system which commenced in 1991; both have been implemented in phases.

use of agrochemicals is avoided, and the promoters educate urban gardeners on natural methods of pest and disease control that help them to save money. The Seoul highway-river conversion project was championed by Seoul’s mayor. The planning and execution of the project was a collective effort of the Implementation Centre (part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government), the Citizens' Committee, and the Research Support Group from the Seoul Development Institute (sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government). An outbreak of cholera in Brazil in 1991 caused the consumption of vegetables in Curitiba to drop sharply and the city’s green belt produced a surplus of agricultural products. To convert this problem into an opportunity, a program called 'Green Exchange' ( Câmbio Verde ) bought food products from regional producers at a reasonably low price, and used it as a form of remuneration for recycling collectors at distribution points around the city. Initial tests were a great success, and the Green Exchange has now become a permanent program with

6.6.2. Intermediaries Involved

Many of the projects that retrofit existing urban infrastructure involve various public officials

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