Contemporary Urban Enviroments - Sustainable Urban Developments Section 8

Question 1

What are the environmental impacts of urban areas?

Answer 1

Local scale Impact - increasing air and water pollution, flood risk and by generating large amounts of waste.
Urbanisation causes loss of open space, resulting in loss of habitat and biodiversity

Global scale impact - cities increase demand for resources eg) food, water, energy
Cities responsible for about 60% greenhouse gas emissions

Question 2

What is an ecological footprint?

Answer 2

An individual’s ecological footprint is the amount of land that is needed to produce everything they consume eg) food, water, fuel.

The ecological footprint of an area combines the footprints of its residents

Question 3

What factors influence a cities ecological footprint?

Answer 3

Wealth – e.g. consumption and waste production is higher in cities in HICs.
Size of city e.g. compact cities are easier to travel around on foot or by bicycle, so they produce
less pollution.
Quality of public transport – efficient public transport systems decrease care use and therefore
reduce pollution

Question 4

What are the 4 dimensions of sustainability?

Answer 4

Physical, social, natural, economic characteristics

Question 5

What does the natural dimension of sustainability include?

Answer 5

About how the environment resources and waste are managed.
Cities with high levels of natural sustainability rely on renewable energy sources.
Carbon neutral developments
They produce relatively little waste
Cities where people walk, cycle and use public transport a lot produce less pollution and are more sustainable.

Question 6

What does the physical dimension of sustainability include?

Answer 6

This is about how well a city is able to support the people living there.
It must provide enough resources to support the population and let them be productive e.g. have jobs.
Features include lots of high quality housing and secure supplies of nutritious food, safe water and energy for all residents.

Question 7

What does the social dimension of sustainability include?

Answer 7

This is about how people live together, their quality of life and availability of basic services e.g. healthcare.
Need access to basic services e.g. hospitals, schools, within easy reach.
Preserving historic legacy.
They are peaceful, tolerant, respect human rights and are politically stable.

Question 8

What does the economic dimension of sustainability include?

Answer 8

This is about maintaining economic growth without causing long term negative effects e.g. environmental damage, social inequality.

They are wealthy, have low levels of inequality and little debt. They have profitable, ethical businesses that offer plenty of well paid jobs

Question 9

Define liveability

Answer 9

A measure of how good living conditions in an area are.
Sustainability can affect the liveability of a city.

Detailed definition: the combination of factors that determine a community’s quality of life; they include the built and natural environments, its accessibility, economic prosperity, social stability, educational opportunities and sustainability and culture, entertainment and recreation.

Question 10

What does liveability depend on?

Answer 10

Job opportunities
Crime rates
Open space
Access to education

Question 11

Why is sustainability difficult to achieve in cities?

Answer 11

Requires investment which many cities cannot afford
Many cities are growing, so more services are needed (may not be planned efficiently)
Some people are unwilling to change their practices, habits
Some cities don’t have appropriate infrastructure

In the developing world, urbanisation is happening at a faster rate than in the developed world, and growth is often unplanned, making it harder to increase urban sustainability

Question 12

What are some sustainable development goals?

Answer 12

In 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Number 11: Sustainable cities and communities - make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe
resilient and sustainable.

Question 13

What are the strategies for increasing urban sustainability?

Answer 13

1. Reducing number of cars eg) more cycle lanes, park and ride schemes.
2. Increasing amount of green space - reduces pollution and increases biodiversity
3. Improving urban waste disposal - reducing landfill, converting to incineration and expanding recycling
4. Increasing renewable energy use
5. Reducing water use - authorities insist new buildings are fitted with water meters
6. Making buildings more energy efficient

Question 14

Why was CITU designed?

Answer 14

Engineers have designed the SUDS in the Stormwater project to prevent and reduce surface runoff from the areas likely to reach the drainage systems in the city. As the water is slowed from reaching the river, it gives the opportunity to be filtered and reduce water pollution.

Question 15

What is CITU?

Answer 15

CITU Leeds, a sustainable housing development, is in the Climate Innovation District in the city of Leeds and on the River Aire. It is home to the Stormwater Sustainable Urban Drainage scheme

Question 16

What are the features of the CITU housing?

Answer 16

Green roofs on every house to retain rainwater and enhance evapotranspiration.
Small rain garden to store rainwater
Have huge triple glazed windows and large open plan spaces to use natural light.
Made from wood - strong, light and renewable
Use recycled glass wool to create insulation in houses. 3- better at retaining heat than a modern house.
Solar panels - provide a source
of clean, renewable energy. All together they’ll produce 400,000 kWh per year, which is enough to
power over 200 electric cars for a year. Energy not used is sent to national grid