The 20th century was internationally marked by a rapid and often unruly urban development, resulting in the emergence of "squeezed" cities with many environmental problems. Living in densely populated cities tends to increase the pressures that urban settlements place on the environment. As a result we have the emergence of various environmental problems in cities, such as air pollution, water pollution, noise, lack of greenery, which have direct or indirect effects on the health and quality of life of citizens.

In response to these environmental problems in the urban environment, during the past decade, many cities internationally have implemented various green policies and thus gradually transformed into "green cities". The concept of the "green city" is one of the relatively recent innovations applied around the world to address the problems caused by a scattered and irregular model of city development. A green city is considered as an urban structural model, which ensures the quality of the environment and the quality of life through the implementation of various green policies. The primary objective of implementing environmental policies for green cities is therefore to improve the quality of life of citizens and protect the environment, by adopting inclusive and participatory decision-making processes.

However, the existence of a wide range of green policies as well as a wide range of environmental and heterogeneous challenges facing a city has led to the development of various definitions and approaches to what 'green cities' are. Some green cities incorporate socio-economic policies, environmental infrastructure, while others focus mainly on the environmental aspects of the city. Other approaches include policies for the "resilience" of cities to natural disasters, for the integration of ICT technologies or even strategies such as risk plans for disasters or for serious infectious diseases. Other green cities are implementing policies to reduce environmental costs and ensure progress by adopting a green economy. In addition, some green cities adopt sustainability policies and policies related to transport, water, climate change, energy efficiency and renewable energy as well as pollution and waste management. Whatever the policies adopted in a green city, the involvement of citizens individually or collectively through e.g. organizations and businesses.

In Cyprus, our cities, after the tragedy of 1974, followed an intense urbanization and construction that often took the avalanche of anarchic construction with multiple effects on the urban landscape and the environment. The traffic problem, air pollution, noise, insufficient infrastructure (e.g. rainwater infrastructure), the absence of urban green spaces (in some cases below 4%), the inadequacy of public transport, the absence of RES , the absence of "quiet" areas, over-tourism of certain areas and other problems have taken our cities away from the principle of viability and sustainability and led to cities with a large carbon footprint.

In this gloomy landscape, the initiative of the Cyprus Green Cities and Green Communities Awards was presented by the Cyprus Center for Environmental Research and Education, with the cooperation of the Office of the Commissioner for the Environment, and the support of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities and the Union of Cyprus Communities. This initiative led our Municipalities and Communities to undertake green initiatives and create green environmental projects which are gradually transforming the green cities of our Cyprus. In the last five years, in addition to the strengthening of safety and cleanliness which are taken for granted, we have seen green projects such as extensive tree plantings and the creation of green sculptures (e.g. Cyprus mouflons and flamingos) in city parks and islands roads, expansion and upgrading of intelligent systems e.g. smart parking, smart traffic lights, smart park lighting, smart apps for information.

At the same time, the involvement of citizens in campaigns to reduce visual pollution and the brutality of fan slogans and pioneering waste sorting and management systems were promoted. The important green environmental initiatives of the Municipalities and Communities of Cyprus also include the creation of ecological paths, the environmental shaping and upgrading of historic squares, the creation of green spaces and free spaces that respect the anthropo-geography of the cities and the history of the place, the creation of green points, the energy upgrade of municipal buildings, information and environmental awareness campaigns, the establishment of museums of traditional products and the creation of green neighborhoods.

Of course, much can still be done to achieve climate neutrality and create effective green cities in our country as well. The example with successful European cities such as e.g. Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vilnius, Valencia, Tallinn and Lisbon, which were also green capitals of Europe, show us the path that the green cities of Cyprus must cover. But it is undeniable that our green cities are in an ongoing transformation. What is certain is that the green transition and digital transformation to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 will create many opportunities for Cypriot cities that should be ready to seize the opportunities and adopt the innovations that will appear.

In this environment Cypriot businesses and NGOs have an essential role to play as partners of the local authorities. Successful partnerships between local authorities with businesses and NGOs abroad have shown that creating partnerships and synergies between the public/semi-public and private sectors can be key to achieving sustainability. To promote such green initiatives and projects two things are needed. The first is to give cities the capacity and incentives to plan, finance and build the necessary infrastructure to provide the basis for appropriate innovation for the city's competitive advantages. The second is to enable the private sector to participate effectively in this process, leveraging government, private and other resources.

Globally, cities produce about 70% of CO2 emissions, which is a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of them are produced at the building and construction, urban transport and energy sectors. Green cities should be the vision of every local authority. We need green cities which are livable, climate neutral and sustainable. We also need green cities that are "friendly" to the environment, with fixed-track public transport, with increased cycling, with a significant proportion of urban biodiversity and green spaces, with efficient and friendly policies for transport and RES. Green cities with a significant proportion of "quiet areas", with preservation and expansion of the natural environment, green beaches, forests and parks, with sustainable management of their urban natural resources and without pollution, are also necessary. We still expect to see green cities that are friendly to the less privileged, the elderly, the disabled, children and youth, that bring about social harmony and collective prosperity and happiness. We also hope for green cities that emphasize environmental governance and environmental citizenship, stronger local communities, environmental awareness and education, and more democratic cities with active citizen participation projects and incentives for involvement in local political practice and in the political, environmental and cultural life of the city.