The concept is most persistently propagated by the Greens. Their Green City campaign is a cycle of Greens 2004 activities for directing Polish cities in the ways of sustainable growth and the equalising of social policy. They also focus on the questions of revitalisation of urban areas, sustainable transport and ecology of urbanised areas.
The advantages of a green city are also seen by others: local government officials, economists, businesspeople and politicians. Jan Kulczyk, one of the richest Poles, has already sensed the new trend. The company e+, affiliated to him, is planning construction of 300 charging points for battery driven cars by 2013. The idea may be a hit since increasingly more motor companies include such vehicles in their product range. Electric or hybrid cars may count the on financial support of many countries.
A green city means not only sustainable, ecological transport (which is much talked about at this year's Forum in Krynica) but also concerns the power sector. It is not without reason that increasingly more newly built buildings draw on energy-saving construction solutions. In Switzerland, more than one half of new buildings is equipped with solar batteries and heat pumps. The largest roof covered with solar panels (2 thousand sq. m.) on the municipal office of the city of Genk in Belgium generates ca. 200 thousand kwh annually, thus reducing emission of carbon dioxide by 60 tonnes. The benefit is threefold: ecological, economical and political. All the more evident is that the EU guidelines imposing the obligation of carbon dioxide emission reduction on the Member States are a nightmare for many national politicians.
The first symptoms of the new approach are already visible. Since last autumn, one has been able to obtain additional financing from the National Environmental Protection Fund (up to 45 percent) for a loan for the purchase and mounting of solar panels in Poland. However, the interest is not blinding. Perhaps, following the footsteps of Genk, state or local government institutions might set a good example?
