1 Flashcards
All human populations are competing for the ___________ of the Earth.
productive capacity (biocapacity)
Ecological Footprint
Refers to the area of land and water ecosystems required, on a continuous basis, to produce the resources that the population consumes and to assimilate its (carbon dioxide) wastes, wherever on Earth the relevant land/water is located.
Measures of the ecological footprint
….
Vulnerabilities that exist today (mike)
- Increasing global interdependence has enormous implications for security of urban populations
- Increasing concern for reliable food supplies
- “Peak oil” could impact price and availability of food, urban transportation, and future size of cities
- Human-induced climate change could end peaceful global integration
Vulnerabilities that exist today (Akemi)
- Dependence on technology
- Increasing dependence on a global system (food security)
Peak Oil
The hypothetical point in time when the global production of oil reaches its maximum rate, after which production will gradually decline (2008)
Implications of peak oil in 2008
As we ran out of conventional oil in 2008, we have now been looking or unconventional oil ever since.
- Our systems are so dependent on oil
- impact price
- availability of food
- urban transportation
- size of cities
Notes on Climate Change
- 2.5 degree increase over the next thirty years
- Extreme drought, forest fires
- Cities face unprecedented challenges to their functional integrity, even survival
Ecological Stage
Global ecological change is accelerating
Facing unprecedented challenges to functional integrity even survival
We need a better understanding of cities as ecological entities subject to biophysical laws
We need to think of our cities as organisms
- To have a healthy long-term garden: variety of species, heallthy ecosystem - Otherwise society will not be sustainable
We need to think of our cities as
organisms
How has our connection to the land changed?
- Cities are an emergent phenomena [ 5-600 years (in North America)]
- Shift from hunter-gatherer to agriculture-based settlement centred way of life and urbanisation
- As a result: more unsustainable and disconnected to nature
How are cities disconnected from the land?
- Critically reshapes spatial relationships and psychological sensitivities to nature
- Cities insulate city dwellers from the negative consequences of their own ecological dysfunction
- Diminishes urbanites sense of connectedness to the land
- Urbanization is still viewed as a demographic or economic phenomenon
HOWEVER, urbanization does not reduce dependence on productive ecosystems
How are cities disconnected from the land?
- Critically reshapes spatial relationships and psychological sensitivities to nature
- Cities insulate city dwellers from the negative consequences of their own ecological dysfunction
- Diminishes urbanites sense of connectedness to the land
- Urbanization is still viewed as a demographic or economic phenomenon
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: HOWEVER, urbanization does not reduce dependence on productive ecosystems
Despite urbanization disconnecting us (spatially and psychologically) from nature…
Urbanization does not reduce dependence on productive ecosystems
Despite urbanization disconnecting us (spatially and psychologically) from nature…
It does not reduce our dependence on productive ecosystems and nature.
Urbanization transforms _______ systems into a_____________ system
Urbanization transforms local, cyclical ecological production systems into:
global, horizontally-disintegrated, unidirectional, throughput systems
Biocapacity
Refers to the capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate an on-going supply of renewable resources and to absorb its spillover wastes
Productive Capacity
The ability of an ecosystem to produce the raw materials necessary for economic activities.
The ecological footprint measures _______ compared to _________________
How fast we consume resources and generate waste
How fast nature can absorb our waste and generate new resources.
why is “sustainable city” an oxymoron?
Ecological dependence of urbanites on the hinterland is almost an absolute.
there can be no ____ sustainability without _____ sustainability
urban
rural
Cities are virtually all in an ____ defecit
ecological .
we are not regenerating as fast as we need to
Toward One Planet…
- The world has exceeded its long-term global carrying capacity.
- Wealthy countries must free up ecological space for needed growth in the developing world.
- It is economically and technologically possible to transition to manage without growth.
How has efficiency increased consumption?
We have created ways to produce more, faster.
Commodification of goods (natural goods in particular) is exploding.
Example: amazon wants to be retailers for everything
Population on earth
7.7 billion people on earth right now
90% of people are moving to cities
Solutions
Intergovernmental programs of sustainability planning are needed
- Population reduction
- Articulation of less material intense lifestyle
- Reshaping cities in the image of natural ecosystems
Things to plan for
Expect greater loss of ecosystem function and biodiversity
Energy, material and water throughput is increasing with modernization.
Throughput
The amount of material or items passing through a system or process.
