Oslo (Norway)...

According to ehcitychallenge.org the main aim is to become the leading city in sustainability across the world by 2020. The concept is to have a city that runs on 100% renewable energy by having only environmentally friendly buildings and public spaces as well as to be operating high quality mass transportation and recycling systems.

 They’ve also installed a system where each car on the road will have to pay toll to use the freeways. This is similar to the new “e-toll” system that will be used in Gauteng and Cape Town. The city of Oslo had a trial run in 2006 where it indicated that traffic had reduced by 20-25%, and this rate has been maintained even with the population drastically increasing. The system is only working between 06:30-18:00 every weekday. If the e-toll system in south-Africa can be initiated correctly, drastic changes in traffic will be seen and this will also result 

in lower usages off fossil fuels.

 The oslo climate and energy fund was created to help aid the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. By doing so, the government has started awarding any climate and energy efficiency projects. And in 2011, 9Billion US Dollars was awarded for these projects.

 The latest strategy was to create shore based electric power for cruise ships. This is done to reduce the pollution created by all the cruise ships entering its harbor every day. Results shows a reduction of 3000 tons of emissions per year.

 Solar Farms are seen all over the World and is soon to be a part of South Africa's Mass Renewable System.

Curitiba -Brazil 

Also referred to as the “smart city” as well as the Ecological capitol of Brazil. They are currently rated as the 3rd best green city in the world. With the highest recycling rate of waste and energy. 

The car traffic has decreased by 20% over the last 5 years alone. This is because of the new bus systems and other mass transportation systems. Their main idea is to “work with nature and not against”. 

Everything in the city is being recycled. There are different marked bins all over the city as well as in each household. By doing this, at least 1270 trees are saved each day. 

The City also employs the homeless as well as drug addicts in its recycling plan.  The way they encourage people to recycle is to award them with food or bus cards.

 The city buys this food from local farmers with the money they generate from recycling. People can also exchange their fresh food that they have grown.

Advantages:

Economical:

•  More jobs created by these systems, meaning the poor can now provide for themselves. Poor people can buy traveling tickets by selling their own produce. 

•     Busses are used to transport workers to factories etc. allowing for an additional saving of fuel and reducingtraffic congestion on the roads. Less diseases and an increase on public health by turning         landfill sites into recycling centers.  Builders get tax reduction if their projects include green spaces as well as any renewable energy sources. 

Environmental:

Less fresh produce and materials is imported from other countries, saving the country money. Less rubbish on the streets as people will get paid to recycle instead. And also less landfill sites are required. 75% of all people use the bus systems. Each bus can carry about 270 people and makes use of environmentally friendly fuels such as LPG(Liquid Petroleum Gas) and Hydrogen, producing hardly any CO2