Previous studies of a similar ilk, like the Stern Review, have incorporated social benefits to partially offset the cost of scaling up energy efficient and clean technologies. In contrast, the latest McKinsey report considers only technology-related costs and attaches a figure to the cost of green initiatives in China.

So what is the final damage? While costs are negative for upgrades in some industries, like buildings, due to the savings generated from energy efficiency improvements, a total 1.5-2 trillion yuan (USD 220-295 billion) would have to be spent every year until 2030 in order to reach McKinsey’s alternative scenario.

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23,000 cars will now be displaced onto the University of Pennsylvania’s campus and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Philadelphia’s South Street Bridge carried its last passenger on Monday morning, at least for the next two years. The decrepit structure, built in 1923, was declared “structurally insufficient” over twenty years ago, but has continued in operation under a close eye of weekly safety tests and vehicle weight restrictions.

The collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis last year heightened concerns about the integrity of our nation’s infrastructure. Chunks of concrete have fallen from the South Street Bridge into the river and onto the highway below, and the bridge was not expected to survive the winter months. The South Street bridge connects several residential neighborhoods in Center City and South Philadelphia with the University of Pennsylvania (the largest private employer in the city) and two major hospitals.

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I can’t help but be a little confused by these awards though. On the one hand, they showcase some truly inspiring projects from around the world. On the other, it seems a little suspicious that at least two of the winners are projects with high-level involvement from companies represented on the awards panel. There is also a heavy emphasis on large-scale American projects, with at least seven of the nine winners coming from the U.S. Is this simply an indication of where the main centre’s of sustainability excellence really are, or did the panel gloss over worthy candidates from elsewhere?

Here’s the full list of winners:

The Cascade Land Conservancy for the ‘Cascade Agenda,’ a 100 year visioning exercise aimed at preserving more than 1.3 million acres of forest and farmland by using market-based tools to encourage sustainable growth across the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

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What if your commute to work included an experience in the following:

• Plant and pedestrian-friendly plazas
• Pedestrian streets
• A bike ride
• Rooftop gardens
• Bridges between buildings
• Car-free streets
• And neighborhood waterways

How different would we feel if our cities were designed “for the long term health of human and natural systems?”

At Ecocity Builders, this question is asked every day with an urban re-design approach that treats each city as a giant living organism, with each building an organ, and each human being a cell in it.

Blending social and environmental ecology to reshape our cities by “returning healthy biodiversity to the heart of our cities, agriculture to gardens and the streets, and convenience and pleasure to walking, bicycling and transit,” Ecocity Builders uses various educational materials, world wide conferences, and local hand-on projects to provide a medium for integrating urbanism with dynamic living systems.

Coming up in 2008, the next Ecocity World Summit will be held in San Francisco. “We want to encourage people who have great ideas and projects to write it up and present it at the academic and talent scouting sessions,” says executive director Kristin Miller. Click on the website’s call for papers to learn more, or check out www.ecocitybuilders.org and read the newly released EcoCities: Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature, second edition, by Ecocity Builders founder Richard Register.