Question

What can cities do to reduce the size of their footprints?

Answer 1

use rooftop wind turbines, they are noiser, but they reduce carbon footprints

Answer 2

Well it does depend on the city. Though one of the biggest 'footprints' is from power usage, a city can reduce the footprint from this by using renewable energy sources, such as rooftop wind turbines but they can also include solar power, wave energy, geothermal energy, wind farms and the list goes on. However a footprint is based on all of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by that city, there are a number of other things a city can do to reduce their footprint like encouraging the use of bicycles for commuting. Wikipedia lists that greenhouse gases can be emitted through transport, land clearance, and the production and consumption of food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, and services and so any of these things can be changed to reduce a footprint.

Answer 3

Footprint is all about energy use, but not just through direct power (of homes), but in personal transportation and material transportation. The first part of this has been answered - incorporate novel designs into architecture to maximize solar and wind energy sources. The issues of transportation are related; cars are a blight on urban environments. Creating efficient bike routes help but public transportation upgrades are more appealing to most people and curb much of the use of automobiles. Lastly, acquiring food is a huge, often overlooked aspect of a city's footprint. Cities are largely food deserts so if they can be set up to produce a larger percentage of their own food, they're reducing the cost of importing it.