The Metropolitan City of Florence (Italy) is the latest European city to join ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. Universally acknowledged as the cradle of the Renaissance, Florence is famed for its beauty, the wealth of artistic treasures and the excellence of its food products and recipes. Its efforts to develop a more sustainable urban area are gaining momentum among a variety of international stakeholders.

"Sustainability inspires and informs all our policies: that is why we decided to join ICLEI,” said Dario Nardella, Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Florence.

The city is committed to improving urban air quality, creating a healthier and more pleasant environment for residents and visitors alike. Private vehicles are the main culprit behind air pollution in the city, an issue that the Mayor has been eager to tackle.

“I am convinced that one of the most important environmental problems of the urban areas in the near future is air pollution. The main cause of this is undoubtedly private mobility, particularly propelled by fossil fuels. Our mobility supervisor, a central control system for making traffic more fluid on the metropolitan scale, is the tool we have developed to fight against this plague, because an equitable and sustainable wellbeing for present and future generations is the most important goal for our local government," said Mayor Nardella.

In addition to setting goals for traffic management and air quality, Florence will aim to mainstream the principles of sustainability through each area under its control.

ICLEI looks forward to working with the local government to create a more sustainable future for the Renaissance city.