Frankfurt, Green City of 2015: Here are the secrets of a sustainable metropolis.

Fifty-two percent of the city's surface area is covered with public green spaces, trees, and parks. Entire neighborhoods are powered by renewable energy, which will cover the entire German metropolis by 2050.

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FRANKFURT, A SUSTAINABLE CITY –

Urban sustainability is not just about small cities, with few inhabitants and low traffic volumes. On the contrary, for 2015, for example, first place in the international Sustainable Cities Index ranking went to a large metropolis, Frankfurt, in the heart of GermanyA temple of finance (the main German banks have their headquarters here) and of the Union (the central offices of the European Bank are here).

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FRANKFURT GREEN CITY –

Therefore, Frankfurt is green and a model for other European cities who have similar problems. But What are his secrets? How did it achieve this historic record? First of all, it's the German business capital. It's a city where 52 percent of the urban area is occupied by public green spaces. Trees, plants, flowers, and parks..

Secondly, the administration has made huge investments, also involving private individuals, in renewablesThere are now entire neighborhoods of the city where energy arrives only through renewables, and the goal of having the entire city powered by no fossil fuels by 2050 now seems realistic.

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Finally, even the architecture of finance has adapted to the city's new living standardsDeutsche Bank has renovated the twin towers housing the group's headquarters, focusing on sustainability. Traditionally known as the "give and take" towers, the two skyscrapers offer energy savings of 55 percent and water savings of 43 percent compared to the previous building. Carbon dioxide emissions have been halved, in line with the lifestyles of a truly green metropolis.

TO KNOW MORE: Pittsburgh, America's Green Capital, Where Water and Electricity Are Wasted

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