Cities, Communities and Homes: Is the Urban Future Livable? AMPS; Architecture_MPS; University of Derby 01—02 Junes, 2017 Lessons for urban designers: Enhancing a city’s livability, sustainability, and sense of community from the bottom-up. Case studies from Havana, Cuba. MAIBRITT PEDERSEN ZARI AND FABRICIO CHICCA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND ABSTRACT Most of humanity now resides in cities. The proportion of people living in cities is swiftly rising and by 2050 more than two thirds of all humans will be urbanites. The city therefore must be a vehicle for rapid change as society collectively grapples with changes in climate, declines in ecosystem service provision, and changes in human wellbeing indicators worldwide. This is particularly true in cities in lower to middle income countries, where urbanisation is most rapid. A vital question for the coming decades therefore is: how can cities contribute to rather than deplete the health of people, and the wider ecosystems and climate that cities are parts of? Most approaches tend to employ top-down or government-led methods and strategies, despite evidence being clear that the role of individual human behaviour change, and engaged active citizenship is often paramount to lasting urban sustainability solutions. This research examines two examples of effective citizen initiated change in Havana, Cuba, that over medium terms, have led to demonstrable ecological and social benefits. One details an effort to galvanise citizen led protection of urban trees, while the other relates to the greening of a suburb to enhance community engagement in urban food production. The social conditions leading to these projects and the impacts of them are discussed. The case study findings lead to a set of strategies for urban and architectural professionals to consider, and demonstrate that the influence of one individual can be significant in creating change in broader communities. INTRODUCTION: CITES AS PART OF THE SOLUTION TO ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS It is well known that cities cause large impacts on ecosystems and the global climate. For example, estimates of how high the contribution from cities is to global GHG emissions vary from 30% to as high as 80% (Spiegelhalter and Arch, 2010). The built environment uses approximately a third of all materials on the planet and is responsible for a third of the world’s waste (Spiegelhalter and Arch, 2010). Huge amounts of energy and water are used to support cities, and hinterlands are drawn upon to provide food and other vital ecosystem services to keep cities functioning (Rees, 1999). These impacts are compounded by the rapid urbanisation of populations along with population increase (Moran et al., 2008, Rands et al., 2010). More than half of all humans live in urban environments, a figure predicted to rise to 60% by 2030 (Eigenbrod et al., 2011). Although the urban built environment occupies only approximately 3% of global land area (Ruth and Coelho, 2007), it is the main site of human economic, social and cultural life in terms of both magnitude and significance. The city therefore must be a vehicle for rapid positive change as society collectively grapples with changes in climate, declines in ecosystem service provision, and changes in human wellbeing indicators worldwide (Pedersen Zari, 2012). Although the built environment cannot alone be tasked with solving all ecological issues, the way people inhabit the built environment does make a large contribution to these issues. It could also therefore be a medium where these problems are potentially addressed (IPCC, 2007).