Chapter 7: How Can We Build Sustainable Cities? Flashcards
What are cities?
A city is a defined urban area within a country.
What are the 4 characteristics of a city?
Large population size, high population density, built-up area, range of functions
How do countries around the world identify their cities?
They use different guidelines.
What is population density?
It is a measurement of the number of people living in a unit area of land.
What is the formula to calculate population density?
No. of people living in an area divided by land area.
What does being a built up area mean?
The land surface is mostly covered by buildings. It mainly focuses on cleanliness and transport system.
What is extensive infrastructure?
It is a system of building and equipment to provide basic services for its residents.
What are some basic services provided for its residents?
Water, electricity, sanitation, telecommunications and transport.
What are some categories of buildings or activities included in a built-up areas?
Nature, recreational or commercial.
What are some categories of range of functions or activities?
Administrative function and educational and commercial activities. It is mainly about buildings and education
What is an example of a city with a range of functions?
Jakarta.
What are the range of functions in Jakarta? (State examples)
- Jakarta plays an important administrative function in Indonesia. Office of their President and highest court of low are there.
- Jakarta also plays a key economic function. It has many manufacturing industries that produce and sell a variety of products.
Compared to cities, what are the characteristics of rural areas?
- Lower population density and size
- Less built-up
What are migrants?
They are people who have come from another location in their country to live in cities.
What is rural-urban migration?
It is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas.
What are push factors?
They are reasons that make migrants want to leave their place of origin.
What are pull factors?
They are reasons that attract migrants towards a destination.
How do cities rely on rural areas? Why?
For food supply as they have limited space for agricultural activities.
How do the rural farmers supply the cities with food?
They have enough land space to rear animals and grow crops to sell them at markets in the cities.
How do the rural farmers benefit from supplying the city with food?
They exchange their food products for money, which becomes their income.
How do rural areas rely on cities?
Rural inhabitants can benefit from amenities available in cities.
What are some examples of ammenties that rural inhabitants can benefit from?
- They can travel to a hospital in the city for expert medical help and advanced treatment, which might not be available where they live.
- They can buy certain goods that are only available in cities.
What opportunites are there for people in the city?
- Education and employment
- Technological innovation.
What does education do?
It enables people to gain useful knowledge and skills.
What can you do with education?
People can apply what they have learnt when they gain employment, where they are engaged in paid work.
What can people do with their salary?
They can purchase food and other necessities to improve their well-being.
Why are cities home to a variety of educational institutions?
Cities have a large population of children and young people of school-going age. There are also adults who wish to pursue lifelong learning.
Why do businesses thrive in cities?
- Developed infrastructure
- Availability of services
- Opportunities
How do businesses benefit from the concentration of educational instituitions in cities?
They can hire directly from a large pool of skilled employees.
Why do businesses offer work-study arrangements to their employees?
To train their employees.
What do employees do in work-study arrangements?
They spend time working in a company while receiving training.
What is technological innovation?
It is the use of scientific knowledge to create new products or services.
Why are cities known for technological innovation?
There are many skilled people living in cities, such as researchers, designers and entrepreneurs.
How does the government and investors assist those skilled people?
They fund them to experiment with new ideas.
What are the 5 ways to make Singapore cooler?
Shading, transport, vegetation, building facades, water bodies and features.
What are the components under shading? Provide a reason for these components.
Apart from trees, sheltered bus stops and covered walkways are installed to provide shade and shield from the rain.
What are the components under transport? Provide a reason for these components.
Use of public transport, cycling and walking help to reduce heat production from the transport sector.
What are the components under vegetation? Provide a reason for these components.
Greenery on roofs and building facades prevents sunlight from heating up buildings.
What are the components under ‘building facades’ ? Provide a reason for these components.
Light-coloured surfaces on buildings help reflect sunlight to reduce heat absorption
What are the components under water bodies and features? Provide a reason for these components.
Ponds and pools in the design of urban spaces help to prevent overheating.
What is one project launched by researchers from Future Cities Laboratory?
’ Cooler Calmer Singapore’
What is the cause of rising average temperatures in Singapore?
Increased concentration of carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
What is the goal of the project?
To develop new designs for buildings and the built environment so that people can live more comfortably.
What challenges do people in cities face?
- Increased environmental pollution
- Water pollution
- Air pollution
- Competition for natural resources
- Land resource
- Water resource
Why are fossil fuels the leading cause of environmental pollution?
Contaminants are produced and released into the physical environment
Why do cities face increased environmental pollution?
Large amounts of fossil fuels are being consumed in cities everyday.