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 features of cities that make them unique?
- Large population size
- High population density
- Built-up area
- Range of functions
How does high population density affect classification of cities?
Cities typically have a high population density as compared to other areas in their countries, and these cities have a large population size, living in the given area of land.
What is population density?
It is a measurement of the number of people living in a unit area of land.
What is the formula of population density?
Number of people living in an area/land area
How does built-up area affect the classification of cities?
Cities are built-up areas which means that the land surface is mostly covered by buildings. Cities also have extensive infrastructure which is a system of buildings and equipment to provide basic services such as water, electricity, sanitation, telecommunication, and transport for its residents.
How does a range of functions affect the classification of cities?
Cities serve a range of functions or activities, such as administrative functions, commercial and educational activities. For example, in Jakarta, Indonesia, located in it is an administrative function, which is the office of the president and the Highest court of law. there are also economic functions, such as manufacturing industries that produce and sell a variety of products, including iron, paper and cars.
what is rural-urban migration?
People moving from rural areas to urban areas, such as towns or cities.
How do cities rely on rural areas?
food supply as cities have limited space for agricultural activities so rural farmers can rear animals and grow crops for their own needs or sell them at markets in the cities by exchanging food products for money and income.
How does education and employment pull people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT 1ST SECTION)
Cities are centres of learning and are home to a variety of educational institutes that cater to different interests and provide education which enables people to gain useful knowledge and skills which they can apply to gain employment so that they can engage in paid work and receive wages which can be used to purchase food and other necessities to improve their well-being.
How does starting businesses pull people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT 2ND SECTION)
Businesses thrive in cities, because of the developed infrastructure, availability of service and opportunities such as education. Businesses can hire directly from a large pool of skilled employees and offer works study arrangements with educational institutions to train their employees to by working in a company while receiving training.
How does technological innovation pool people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (RESEARCH TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 1ST SECTION)
Cities use scientific knowledge to create new products or services. There are many skilled people living in cities, such as researcher, designers and entrepreneurs. There are also funding from governments and investors for these people to experiment with new ideas.
How does shading pull people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (SHADE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 2ND SECTION)
apart from trees, sheltered bus stops and covered walkways, are installed to provide shade and shield from rain.
How does advanced transport pull people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 3RD SECTION)
5use of public transport, cycling and walking, help to reduce heat production from the transport sector.
How does vegetation on buildings pool people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS 4TH SECTION)
Greenery on roofs and building facades prevent sunlight from heating up buildings.
how does building facades pull people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS 5TH SECTION)
Light coloured surfaces on buildings, helped to reflect sunlight and reduce heat absorption.
How does water bodies and features poor people to migrate from rural areas to cities? (Technological innovations 6th section)
ponds and pools in the design of urban spaces help to prevent overheating.
How does increased environmental pollution pose a problem to people in cities? (GENERAL)
environmental pollution is when contaminants are produced and release into the physical environment, which eventually harm human health. Cities are a major polluted of air and water due to the large amount of fossil fields being consumed in cities every day due to high concentration of people, businesses and transport networks.
How does increased environmental pollution pose a problem to people in cities? (WATER POLLUTION)
water is essential for human life. water supply in cities are affected by improper management of household and industrial ways to due to inadequate or broken sewage systems. This reduces water quality which threatens human health and aquatic life.
How does increased environmental pollution pose a problem to people in cities? (AIR POLLUTION)
Air pollution is caused by the use of coal to generate electricity, high volume of vehicular traffic as well as emissions from factories. According to the World Health Organisation’s survey in 2016, less than 20% of the world urban population live in areas with clean air. Prolonged exposure to polluted air can lead to respiratory infection, lung cancer, heart disease, and even death. The poor health caused by the air pollution increases demand for healthcare services.
how does increased competition for natural resources pose a problem for people in cities? (LAND RESOURCES)
Due to the large and growing populations of cities, cities expand towards rural areas, replacing forest and farmland or levelling hills. They also replace low-lying buildings with taller ones. However, it causes unhappiness when existing residents are relocated to make way for new buildings.
how does increased competition for natural resources pose a problem for people in cities? (WATER RESOURCES)
cities need to ensure the continual supply of clean water to meet the needs of people and businesses. Due to competition for land, the construction or expansion of reservoir is limited. Water catchment areas and groundwater are also affected as more natural vegetation is converted to concrete surfaces. for example, in Cape Town, South Africa, water taps for homes and businesses was turned off, and the water level in reservoirs drop to dangerously low levels due to high population growth and prolonged drought.
How can cities be sustainably built and managed? (ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY 1)
you can reduce the water pollution through water treatment ponds. Example, Kranji Reservoir is one of the 17 reservoir in Singapore and this is located in an agriculture area.. When it rains rainwater is mixed with nutrients in farms and flows into the reservoir, which reduces water quality. Farms set up, drains around their farm, plots and water treatment bonds to Channel and collect rainwater and access nutrients, excess nutrients. plants such as cat tails, and pandan are grown in the water treatment ponds to purify water.
How can cities be sustainably built and managed? (ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY 2) (AIR)
you can reduce air pollution through laws. for example, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei in China adopted the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan which regulates peoples actions and industrial activities as well as set limits on air pollution for industries and vehicles, as both cause heavy smog. A license plate lottery policy was also implemented which limits the number of new vehicles that can be registered, as well as as limits the use of Prive selected days a week, according to the last number of their license plates which lessens traffic congestion
