Sustainability Language

Energy & Transition

Eco-city

A city planned and governed on ecological principles — compact, resource-efficient and nature-integrated — a concept popularised by Richard Register and adopted in World Bank usage.

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Definition

An eco-city is a human settlement designed and managed to minimise ecological footprint and maximise liveability, integrating compact urban form, sustainable transport, renewable energy, green space, and circular water and waste systems. Richard Register coined and popularised the term from 1987, defining eco-cities as settlements modelled on the self-sustaining structure of natural ecosystems; the World Bank uses the term for cities that enhance wellbeing through ecologically protective planning. Definitions vary across academic and programme usage.

References

Overview

What it means

An aspirational urban model rather than a certified standard — its strength and weakness is the breadth of what it can mean.

How it is used

The label is applied to new-build demonstrators (particularly in Asia), district retrofits and city-network programmes; it overlaps with sustainable city, green city and resilient city framings.

Why it matters

Cities generate roughly 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions; eco-city concepts are the testing ground for urban sustainability at scale.

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