Michael Bloomberg: Why Invest in Sustainable Cities?
By Michael Bloomberg and Patricia de Lille
Dec 6, 2016 5:25 PM ET
Campaign:
Bloomberg: Sustainable Finance
Michael Bloomberg is the former mayor of New York and founder, CEO and owner of Bloomberg L.P., a global financial data and media company. Patricia de Lille is the mayor of Cape Town, South Africa, and a member of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. The opinions expressed in this commentary belong to the authors.
More than two-thirds of total investment in infrastructure in the next 15 years will be made in cities. It's no wonder, as people are flocking to cities around the world. By 2050, around 66% of the global population likely will live in urban areas. In Africa alone, there will be nearly 800 million more people living in cities than today.
To provide for all these new urban dwellers, we need more buildings, more bridges, more public transport and more energy -- and all of that requires money.