How Ljubljana manages to be eco-friendly without losing its historic charm

Ljubljana truly is and a city with a green soul. With ample green space, accessible public transportation, and dedicated residents, it’s no wonder Ljubljana is the European Green Capital of 2016.

Read what Simon Heptinstall has wrote about our green capital for the Daily Mail.

 

Each year a different city in Europe announces it is the Continent’s new ‘Green Capital’ for the next 12 months. The hope is that tourists will flock there in droves, but in most cases the award seems to have nothing to do with making better holidays for visitors – and a lot to do with enlarging the egos of local politicians.

So I sighed deeply when I was invited to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, which holds the title this year. I feared I would be spending my weekend touring a new sustainable sewage works. Slovenia forms the northern part of the former Yugoslavia. It includes a short section of the Adriatic coast and the southern foothills of the Alps.

Given Ljubljana’s history as a provincial city behind the Iron Curtain for 50 years, I was expecting Soviet-style tower blocks, lingering damage from the Yugoslavian civil war, and grumpy folk driving rusty cars. Instead, I got a huge surprise.

This pretty capital turns out to be one of Europe’s lucky cities. It has escaped any major war damage over the past 100 years. Even the token ‘ten-day war’ –when Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 – left no scars.

Visitors will find a charmingly intact historic city centre, with old streets lined by baroque and art nouveau buildings either side of a graceful river, and a landmark hill topped by an old castle. It’s a beautiful, clean city that’s a pleasure to walk around.

So what has Ljubljana done to deserve its new Green Capital title? Well, I have to say the authorities have done a good job. Traffic is banned from the city centre and parking is largely confined to underground car parks. Rubbish bins? They’re tubes that lead to underground recycling collection points.

City officials are so proud of the quality of the local water that they’ve installed 17 water fountains. Many shops and restaurants serve organic produce.

And there are free electric taxis and free public bicycles, too, which all makes Ljubljana the perfect weekend destination for ‘greens’ – and everyone else, too.

Article: here.

September 7, 2016 12:10 am Objavil

Kategorije: