ABSTRACT
As European cities have pioneered new policies, the many successful sustainability practices they have adopted and some shortcomings they have experienced offer important lessons for the China, and cities in other countries. Fundamental to many European sustainability practices is the way European cities have limited sprawl and encouraged compact development. European cities generally invest much more per capita in public transportation systems such as high-speed rail lines, subways, and buses than cities in the United States. Many European cities have also gone through some form of local Agenda 21 process, which is another important indicator of the relevance of local sustainability. Energy is very much on the planning agenda, and the exemplary cities are taking a host of serious measures to conserve energy and to promote renewable sources. European cities are utilizing a variety of planning strategies to promote compactness and to maintain a tight urban form. They represent, exemplary efforts at creating walkable, pedestrian urban environments.
