The most common urban legend standing in the way of higher energy efficiency is the false choice between an increase in prosperity or reduction of carbon footprint. Now, this study attacks the legend, by benchmarking the economic and energy performance of global cities, including New York, Tokyo, and Cape Town against each other. The results were interesting:

Well-governed cities can have much-reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” said David Satterthwaite, a senior fellow at the United Kingdom-based International Institute for Environment and Development, one of the publishers of the study.

Take Porto Alegre, a city in southern Brazil known for its smart growth strategies. The per capita footprint for its residents is 1.48 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, approximately one-eighth of the emissions of Cape Town, South Africa, residents, whose GDP per capita is only slightly higher than that of Porto Alegre.

And although the GDP of Tokyo is slightly higher than Canada, its residents are 5.6 times more efficient.

There is more in the article linked above.