Leicester – Madrid: algunas semejanzas y diferencias ambientales

Resumen en español:

Leicester tiene aproximadamente la décima parte de la población de Madrid. Pero las dos ciudades tienen puntos fuertes y débiles en materia ambiental. Por ejemplo, Madrid separa con más precisión los residuos en varios contenedores, mientras que Leicester parece ganar en el apartado de limpieza urbana.

Otra diferencia entre ambas ciudades es la relativa abundancia de zonas verdes que tiene Madrid comparada con la relativa escasez de parques de la ciudad inglesa, pocos y repartidos por las afueras. También resulta más agreste el paisaje que rodea Madrid, con montañas y bosques en comparación con los canales y lagos que disfruta Leicester.

Una visita a los mercados muestra más abundancia de productos frescos en la capital de España, mientras que Leicester parece depender más de alimentos importados desde países lejanos.

La cultura del transporte es muy diferente en ambas ciudades. El pequeño tamaño de Leicester le priva de tener metro, de manera que la alternativa es el autobús o caminar. Caminar es el medio de transporte preferido de muchas personas. La bicicleta también es muy popular. Madrid disfruta de un completo y complejo sistema de metro, que conecta todos los puntos de la ciudad con rapidez. Empero tiene todavía pocos carriles-bici, aunque sí un sistema de alquiler de bicicletas parecido al de Londres.

Los madrileños son una población muy variopinta, pero Leicester tiene todavía más diversidad. Narborough Road es el hogar de 23 nacionalidades diferentes y es considerada la calle más diversa del Reino Unido. Madrid tiene una cultura más enfocada a la española y a la latinoamericana.

Son dos ciudades muy distintas en tamaño y en otras características, pero las dos tienen algo en común: una consciencia de la necesidad de mejorar su medio ambiente y su sostenibilidad todo lo posible. En ese aspecto, comparten los mismos problemas y luchan para conseguir las mismas soluciones de sostenibilidad.

Texto en inglés:

The environmental differences between Leicester and Madrid

Compared to Leicester Madrid is a large city with an extensive culture. Both cities have the environmental issues and positives. Both cities do seem to be somewhat polluted. However, they do have some ways to tackle this. Madrid is more keen on recycling compared to Leicester where most houses only have a general waste bin. However, Leicester’s rubbish service does appear cleaner regarding the streets. There is also less litter on the streets of Leicester, however as previous stated Leicester is a lot smaller than Madrid.

One other difference is the amount of green space in Madrid compared to Leicester. Although Madrid is a huge city with vast industry, there are plenty of parks and national sites. Leicester however only has a few parks mostly scattered on the outskirts of the city. Despite this the moment you leave Leicester city it is surrounded by Rutland and waterways. Madrid is surrounded by forest and mountains. This, however, could be typical of ay city as most cities do have some landscape surrounding them.

Shopping in Madrid is extremely different to Leicester. Most in Leicester shop from supermarkets which feature mostly imported food. Despite this, however, there is a Leicester food market held most days which does feature a significant amount of fresh produce. In Madrid, however, there appear t be few supermarkets with most not selling fresh produce. This is due to the vast and extensive amount of food markets which sell fresh produce, meats and cheeses. It is clear that this is healthier and environmentally better than the food from British supermarkets

There is also a vast difference between transports in the two cities. As there is no tram or underground service in Leicester, those who don’t drive are forced to take the bus or walk. Most houses, however, are within walking distance to the city centre, meaning most chose to walk to work and for their daily activities. This, however, due to the size of the city. Due to this there also an abundance of cycle paths in Leicester for those who chose to cycle. This helps reduce pollution and allows Leicester to become greener. Madrid, however, has an extensive underground system, meaning that one can get anywhere in a matter of minutes. There are however few cycle paths, despite the ability to hire bikes. This is similar to a new initiative introduced I London where bikes can be rented.

One other distinct difference that should be noted between the two cities is the culture. Most of  Madrid’s population are not from Madrid itself; most are from other areas of Spain and South American Spanish cultures. Leicester, however, is more diverse with many different world cultures Narboguh road is home to 23 different nationalities and has been named the most diverse street in the UK. Madrid, however, is mostly focussed on Spanish culture and Spanish culture from other countries. This means therefore that Leicester is home to more than one culture and this can be shown in many of its influences. This culture difference is important as each different culture has various environmental perceptions.

Overall both cities have some very distinct differences. They both appear to be helping the environment as much as possible. However, they both do still have issues. The culture difference is the most noticeable, however when looking at environmental differences although there are a few they do share many of the same problems.

Caroline Hibbs
@cazalinee