Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization, and the Environment Flashcards
Demography
Defined = the study of the size, composition, and distribution of populations
Q. What is the social problem?
A. “The population growth imbalance between high-income and middle- and low-income nations is a potential source of global conflict, particularly if world hunger and environmental destruction increase.” (Kendall et al: 339)
Implications?
A population Explosion
The global north blames the global south for over-population, but it is the global north that consumes the most in energy, makes the most waste, and makes the largest ecological footprint (by a very large margin).
In places where population rates are the fastest, the carbon emissions are the slowest. (Satterthwaite 2009, Environment and Urbanization, 21 (2): 545–567)
eg. 1980-2005, the pop rate in sub-Saharan Africa grew 18.5% while carbon emissions grew only 2.4%
the pop in North America grew 4% while carbon emissions grew 14%
“carrying capacity” (Rees 1996) = the “productive biocapacity of the earth”
If we were to share the Earth’s productive capacity fairly, there would be 1.8 GH (global hectares) each.
Africans = 1.37 GH; Indians = 0.89GH; Chinese = 2.11 GH; Europeans = 4.45 GH; British = 5.33 GH; North Americans = 9.42 GH; Australians = 9.8 GH
“carrying capacity” (Rees 1996) = the “productive biocapacity of the earth”
If we were to share the Earth’s productive capacity fairly, there would be 1.8 GH (global hectares) each.
Africans = 1.37 GH; Indians = 0.89GH; Chinese = 2.11 GH; Europeans = 4.45 GH; British = 5.33 GH; North Americans = 9.42 GH; Australians = 9.8 GH
World Migration
In 2015, there were 244 million international migrants — an increase of 71 million, or 41%, compared to 2000.
43% were born in Asia; 25% in Europe; 15% in Latin America and the Caribbean; 14% in Africa
Europe and Asia host 2/3 of all international migrants
In 2014, the total number of refugees in the world was estimated at 19.5 million.
Turkey is the largest refugee-hosting country worldwide (1.6 million), followed by Pakistan (1.5 million), Lebanon (1.2 million), and the Islamic Republic of Iran (1.0 million)
More than half (53%) of all refugees worldwide came from just three countries: the Syrian Arab Republic (3.9 million), Afghanistan (2.6 million), and Somalia (1.1 million).
Urbanization
80% of Cdn pop lives in cities
increased responsibilities + decreased resources for cities due to downloading from provincial to municipal jurisdiction
air pollution, affordable housing, concentrations of poverty, homelessness
Trends = movement from suburbs to urban centres; hyperdensity in Toronto; “edge cities” megalopolis (K, 318)
Functionalism
population problems = social disorganization, instability due to weakened social institutions, eg. family, religion, education;
immigrant groups don’t always integrate fully crime, etc.
suburban/urban disparities (but they are less marked in Canada)
Conflict Theory
it is the rich who move out of cities urban deterioration
business moves to suburbs where land is cheaper and workers more plentiful capital investment and infrastructure follow
but Canadian municipalities play a more active role in urban land use management (K, 325)
Interactionism
experience of city life = excitement AND alienation
theories both romanticize the city and vilify the city
Feminism
urban space for women = opportunity, freedom, convenience, independence, sophistication
safety AND perceived as unsafe
Leslie Kern (2010). Sex and the Revitalized City: Gender, Condominium Development, and Urban Citizenship. UBC Press.
gendered imagery in urban revitalization in Toronto
commodification of women’s bodies, sexuality, pleasure, consumption appeal of the revitalized city as a place of freedom…
…despite the circulation of gendered notions of fear and safety
conclusion = the promotion of revitalization is not a feminist vision of women’s ability to participate in urban life
Environmental Problems
economic growth and environmental degradation
air pollution and smog
greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer
effects on water, soil, forest, desertification
solid, toxic/hazardous, and nuclear waste, technological disasters
Environmental problems are inextricably related to social inequalities at the global level.
IPCC 2014 Report
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
“Without urgent action to slash greenhouse gas emissions, warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to high to very high risk of severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts globally.”
It is “extremely likely” that human influence, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, has been the dominant cause of global warming over the past several decades.
The global average temperature should not be allowed to rise more than 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels. To keep warming below 2°C, the world will have to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 40-70% by 2050—and then keep cutting until they are essentially zero by 2100.
Solutions To Environmental Problems
1) Sustainable development
2) Limit to growth
3) Resistance through social movements
4) Change consumer behaviour
5) Emphasize international cooperation
Environmental Sustainability
Sustainable development = development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Economic growth needn’t be absolutely constrained, just controlled
governments, individuals, business all contribute to solutions “reduce, re-use, recycle”
Limit To Growth Perspective
biosphere = The total, complex network of living organisms and their physical surroundings operate as an interdependent system necessary for life at a world system level.
There are necessary limits to the capacity of the biosphere to provide renewable resources for human use and to the kind and volume of wastes that can absorb without impairing its capacity to reproduce renewable resources and handle new waste. (Clow and Felt, 2000)
Limit To Growth Perspective
“Sustainable Development” is inadequate because it assumes that:
we can indefinitely expand the use of materials from the biosphere;
we can produce more durable products for reuse and recycle;
we can dispose of wastes in the biosphere without its further destruction;
we can implement all necessary innovations to achieve it, eg. technological, political, financial, natural.
“Ultimately, ecological constraints will indeed limit the scale of economic activity and the constitution of productive forces, in spite of our best efforts to innovate. The underlying assumption that material progress can be a permanent feature of human society is manifestly in error.” (Clow & Felt 2000: 318)
‘Limit To Growth’ – Solutions
Not ‘reduce–reuse–recycle’ but:
Reduce the scale of economic activity to a scale that can be supported by the environment.
Refrain from economic activities whose technological basis cannot be safely tolerated and supported by the biosphere.
Restore the earth’s habitats and physical cycles in order to strengthen the biosphere’s damaged productive capacity.
Functionalism
problems are caused by dysfunctions in technology
we need better technology to offset dysfunctions
solutions are found within the state, business, institutions, eg. green options in commercial development; hybrid cars, wind power, solar power; natural resource management
