Resilient Havana

In the space of Forty years we shall have to build the equivalent of a 1000 cities of three million inhabitants each to cater for the worlds population growthapproximately as many cities as there are today (Mayor, et al. UNESCO: 2001). Havana Havana is home to some 2.14 million people (CIA, 2009). Its overall population density is 3,019 inhabitants per km because of the large amounts of open spaces that exist within the city (INV, 2002). The city has put into place numerous policies to become more efficient and resilient. 1989 marked the end of the USSR. This was a period of great rejoice for the capitalist West but created a period of unprecedented hardship for the countries that relied on the Soviet Union for trade, produce and perhaps most importantly oil.

Havanas Change Havanas resilience started in 1989 with the fall of the USSR. Cuba relied heavily on the USSR for food, oil and products. The end of the USSR meant that the supply of these necessities ended almost overnight. Fidel Castro put into place the Special Period. This looked to adapting Havana to these changing issues. This was seen by the Cuban government as the perfect time to make Havana as self reliant and resilient to external factors as they possibly could. Almost overnight Cuba lost 80% of its oil imports. Food For Thought Food Security Havana is extremely unique in the way that it has tackled the issues of food production. After the collapse of the Soviet bloc it understood that it could not continue to rely so heavily on food imports. In order to tackle this localised, farming was put into place. Today more than 50% of the cities fresh produce is grown within the city limits (Abitz, 2008). The reason for why this has occurred is the fact that the Cuban government supported this agricultural action. It looked to putting in place land rights for those who wanted to grow food. In 2002, more than 35,000 hectares (86,450 acres) of urban land was dedicated to the intensive production of fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices (foodfirst, 2003). Cuba and Havana have not only looked to becoming as self sufficient as possible when it comes to farming it is also looking at reducing its oil dependency as well. Instead of the Green Revolution model of using oil for farming Cuba went back to basics for instance, instead of using oil based pesticides and herbicides Cuba uses natural means. More than 0.5 million tons of worm castings are used per year in Cuban agriculture (Lotter 2003).

Havanas Energy Change The massive decline on Cubas oil imports had a detrimental impact on the countrys economy and energy production. Its energy production from oil-powered power plants dropped dramatically. The 1990s saw rolling blackouts and energy shortages. It this because of this issue that the countrys energy consumption rates are significantly lower than the rest of the world. Figure 1 shows that in 2002 the countrys power consumption per capita was 1,187 kWhs compared to the worlds consumption average of 2,441 kWhs. Havana like other cities around the world has understood the risks of climate change and an almost sole reliance on foreign energy sources. To overcome this issue the city has looked towards renewable and sustainable energy solutions. Currently 7% of Cubas energy comes from renewable sources and further biomass generation plants are being developed (Esencia, 2011). These biomass plants will burn agricultural waste will help to make Havana more resilient to foreign energy prices. Graph 1: Electric power consumption (kWh per capita) of Cuba compared to the world average. (World Bank, 2012).

Havanas Transport The removal private vehicles. Instead mass public transport systems were put into place. These are designed to transport as many Cubans around the city in the most fuel efficient way possible. It looks to reducing the unnecessary number of transports as much as possible. Learning from Havana To say that all the changes made within Havana in the name of sustainability are perfect and should be followed by others is not true. However, a lot can be learnt from the actions of this city. For instance the reduction in its reliance on oil not only means that it is more resilient to foreign energy market prices but the citys pollution rates have decreased. One of the most important factors that can be learnt from Havana is the importance of community. Through communities the city has managed to grow 50% of its food needs within its limits. This not only reinforces community spirits and a feeling of comradeship it also removes the reliance on oil that once existed in the agricultural sector within Cuba. These measures show what cities can do to become more resilient and prepare for the future.

1.2 million bikes were bought from China and 500,000 made within Cuba itself. This reduced the countrys dependency on cars and oil-based transport means.

Referencing: INV, Instituto Nacional de la Vivienda (2002) Control del Fondo de Viviendas. 2001. INV, Havana. World Bank, 2012. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.ELEC.KH.PC/countries/1W-CU?display=graph http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1208
Lotter, D. 2003. Cubas 5
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conference on organic agriculture features the fruits of a decade-long focus on organic. The New Farm. Farmer-to-Farmer

Know-how from The Rodale Institute. http://www.newfarm.org/international/features/0703/cubaconf.shtml