Brainstorming ideas on a more sustainable lifestyle for the population of Lima...part of an admissions task for IE University

1. Sustainable development in
Lima, Peru:

2. Question G:
Do you think that the lifestyle of the
inhabitants of your town or city reflects
behaviour that is in line with the concept
of sustainable development? In your
opinion, what should be improved?

3. Index
1. What is sustainable development?
2. Case Study: Lima
(a) Introducing the city
(b) Lifestyle of the population
3. Examples of sustainable cities
4. Suggestions for improving sustainable development

4. What is sustainable development?
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs”

5. Understanding Sustainable
Development
Sustainable Development can be defined by two key principles:
• “The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's
population”
• “The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social
organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future
needs"
Having understood the two core principles to which sustainable
development adheres to, this presentation will focus on the city of Lima,
analyzing specific elements of the lifestyle of its population to see whether
they comply with the concept of sustainable development, and identifying
what could be improved in order to attain a better sustainability.

6. Case Study: Lima, Peru
Introducing Lima:
• Lima is the capital of Peru.
• It is located on the coast of the country, on
the Pacific Coast.
• The city has a population of approximately
7 million and is the biggest city of Peru.
• Lima is located within the desert of Peru. It
has very humid climate and little rainfall.
• Peru expects a GDP growth of 6% - the
highest rate of South America.
• Inflation rate is currently 2.8% - lowest in
the region.

7. Case Study: Lima, Peru
This presentation will focus on 3 key factors of the lifestyle of the
population of Lima:
1. Infrastructure
2. Transport
3. Waste Management

8. 1. Infrastructure
These pictures give a clear image of the state of infrastructure in Lima’s high end
districts. The characteristics are of chaotic construction, overcrowded spaces with little
urban development in mind. High rise buildings mixed with low rise housing – and
little government regulation dictating a norm for construction.

9. Immigration to the city over the past 20 years has resulted in the creation of several
shantytowns. However, although there has been a rise in the economy, the poorer
neighborhoods along with the more affluent ones have developed in a disorganized way
with little control or supervision. No regulation of building materials, and little
development of communal spaces including green areas. Residents have to walk for
hours to reach their houses since there are no proper road systems.

10. 2. Transport
It often takes people at least one hour to get around the city. Aside from the new
public bus and overground, there is a lack of formality in public transport - the
service is run by 464 private companies which are poorly regulated. This in turn
makes people prefer to use their own cars – increasing the level of traffic.

11. 3. Waste Management
There is no official recycling policy and little awareness of recycling. This in turn
affects any plans to manage waste efficiently. Garbage, especially in the poorer
areas of the city is often left lying around.

12. Making cities sustainable
Vancouver San Francisco
Curitiba Masdar City

13. Making cities sustainable :
common traits
• The four cities in the previous slide are all cities that have taken steps to
become more sustainable. I believe that since Lima is still developing as a
city, it has a lot of potential and could easily adopt some of the same
strategies used by other cities.
• Although some of the cities (such as Masdar and Curitiba) have been
designed from the outset as being sustainable, they still all share some
similar traits: waste recycling, reserving land for green spaces, carbon
neutral building, good management of car traffic, and use of renewable
energy sources.
• By following the examples of these cities, Lima could set out three simple
short term plans that could be started immediately and adopted in the long
term, to try and make the lifestyle of the population more in line with
sustainable development.

14. How is Lima going to become more sustainable?
The 3 Step Plan
1. Infrastructure
For a city to develop sustainably, there has to be more control over the
development of construction. Stricter regulations should be enforced, with
special consideration going into:
• Carbon Neutral construction (especially in office and high storey buildings).
• Creation of more green urban areas for communal use.
• More attention should be given to sustainable land use. A lot of the city
spaces and outskirts remain unused. Rooftops could be used as green spaces
or equipped with solar panels to provide sustainable energy. The periphery
of the city, which includes much unused desert area, could be designed to
produce energy in a sustainable way through solar panels or through wind
turbines.
• Demolition should perhaps be banned to promote renovation of buildings.

15. How is Lima going to become more sustainable?
The 3 Step Plan
2. Transport
One of the big problems with the amount of traffic and lack of enforcement
of the regulations surrounding cars is that there is a lot of air and noise
pollution in Lima. Air quality affects people’s health, ecosystem and also
deteriorates buildings.
• There should be a stricter regulation or penalty system regarding public
transport so that the informal bus services become less frequent.
• Once a proper transport system is set up, the government should make
public transport the preferred method of transport of the population.
• Air quality should be closely monitored, and people could perhaps be
informed when air pollution reaches unhealthy levels.
• There should be more control over industrial areas and their
environmentally damaging emissions.

16. How is Lima going to become more sustainable?
The 3 Step Plan
3. Waste Management
Waste management and disposal is a massive challenge for Lima and the
whole country. Waste prevention should be enforced, such as re-use,
recycling, and use of waste for energy. In order to achieve these goals, it
would be good in Lima to start educating people about the basic concept of
recycling.
• Education should be one of the main ways to campaign and teach people
about the importance of recycling, to then be able to manage waste
efficiently as a government.
• Facilitating recycling would be another key issue – such as creating special
bags, special pick-up garbage trucks, and placing specialized bins for
different things.
• Targets should be set, for example Europe targets for households to
recycle 50% of their waste – in Peru you could aim at first for 25%.

17. Conclusion
• As a city, Lima faces several challenges in terms of leading a more
sustainable life.
• Because Lima is still developing and faces bigger issues such as poverty,
sustainability has not been a priority – meaning many basic areas within
sustainable development have been neglected (such as basic recycling).
• This means that achieving sustainability in Lima will be a challenge but that
there are many opportunities. This presentation has identified three key
issues in the everyday lifestyle of the city’s population that could be
improved almost immediately and could lead in the long term to a more
sustainable city.
• By looking at infrastructure, transport, and waste management and ways to
improve all three sectors, the quality of life of Lima’s citizens could benefit
immensely through quite simple plans.