Why the energy transition needs a new approach to urban planning

When embarking on a career in architecture, it becomes evident that pivotal decisions for a building are typically made long before any construction begins. Considerations such as its orientation, interaction with the surrounding environment, selection of materials, and the utilization of natural resources shape its efficiency for years to come.

Later, in the role of sustainability director at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the same principle was applied on an expansive scale. The objective was to design an entire urban community around sustainability, encompassing clean energy sources, energy-efficient buildings, innovative technologies, and careful urban planning. Through years spent in international energy diplomacy, the importance of this principle became increasingly apparent: the decisions made about cities today will shape our energy future for generations.

This connection is particularly pertinent as world leaders convene in Antalya for Cop31, which commenced last Monday. The messages emanating from the Leaders' Summit are unequivocal: climate ambition must manifest as tangible action, energy security and economic prosperity must progress in tandem with decarbonisation, and resilience must become a cornerstone of how we plan for a changing climate.

Türkiye’s Cop31 presidency has pinpointed electrification, sustainable buildings, and climate-resilient cities as key priorities. These are not isolated discussions; they are intrinsically linked. For far too long, energy policy and urban development have been treated as separate disciplines. Energy policymakers concentrate on power generation capacity, grids, and emissions.

Urban planners focus on buildings, transportation, infrastructure, and public spaces. Yet, cities are where these systems intersect, and where the ramifications of getting them right or wrong are most pronounced. A city may invest in renewable electricity, yet if its buildings remain inefficient, its transport systems rely on fossil fuels, and its infrastructure cannot endure extreme weather, the advantages will remain limited.

Similarly, a city designed to diminish energy consumption through passive cooling, efficient construction, integrated public transportation, and intelligent infrastructure can render the transition to clean energy more cost-effective and feasible. The cleanest unit of energy is often the one that is never consumed. This was among the most crucial lessons gleaned from the initial development of Masdar City.

Sustainability was not merely about erecting solar panels. It entailed reimagining the relationship between buildings, people, energy, and the environment. In a region where cooling is indispensable for most of the year, urban planning decisions, such as street orientation, shading, building design, and efficient cooling technologies, are not merely architectural minutiae.

They are also energy decisions. The cleanest unit of energy is often the one that is never required. Moreover, these are decisions regarding resilience as well. Climate change is subjecting urban infrastructure to extreme heat, flooding, water scarcity, and mounting pressure on electricity systems. At the Leaders' Summit, the urgency of enhancing adaptation and safeguarding vulnerable communities was underscored.

For cities, resilience cannot be regarded as an adjunctive feature appended post-construction. It must be integrated from the outset. This entails designing electricity networks capable of incorporating distributed renewable energy and storage, fortifying essential services against disruptions, managing water and energy concurrently, and ensuring buildings remain functional amid extreme weather.

It also implies acknowledging that resilience is fundamentally about people. A dependable electricity supply sustains hospitals, businesses, and residences. Affordable energy enhances quality of life. Well-designed public spaces and efficient transportation connect communities to economic prospects. Consequently, the transition must be evaluated not solely in gigawatts installed or emissions avoided, but also through the concrete improvements it engenders in daily life.

A notable development at Cop31 is the heightened focus on electrification. The presidency’s proposed objective to elevate electricity's share of global energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035 reflects the acknowledgment that clean electricity can revolutionize transportation, buildings, and industry. Nevertheless, electrification alone is insufficient.

We must ensure that electricity becomes progressively clean, that grids are upgraded to handle escalating demand, and that the infrastructure supporting this transformation is resilient, affordable, and accessible. This is where cities assume a pivotal role in national energy strategies. The UAE provides insights from its own experience.

From Masdar City's visionary inception to vast-scale solar ventures, investment in cutting-edge infrastructure, and the integration of digital technologies, the country has exemplified the significance of merging long-term ambition with pragmatic execution. The UAE Consensus, reached at Cop28 in 2023, laid the groundwork for a global trajectory, encompassing the pledge to augment renewable energy capacity by threefold and augment the pace of energy efficiency improvements twofold by 2030.

The challenge now is translating these commitments into palpable changes experienced across economies and communities. Perhaps nowhere is this challenge more palpable than in our cities. Furthermore, there is a critical matter of equity. Many of the world's fastest-growing cities are situated in developing economies, where governments must augment access to housing, energy, transportation, and essential services while adapting to increasingly severe climate risks.

These nations should not be compelled to opt between development and sustainability. International climate finance, technology cooperation, and capacity-building must facilitate cities in investing in infrastructure that is both low-carbon and resilient.