Geo 3A: Urban Problems of Perth and NYC Flashcards
Define urban sprawl
The low density outwards growth of urban areas into the surrounding rural lands and natural systems.
Causes of urban sprawl
Demand of large suburban blocks(‘Great Australian Dream’) and acceptance of long commuting distances to work. Cheap fuel and cars allowed sprawl to continue, but increasing cost of fuel may decrease ability to commute.
Land use competition, transport, centrifugal forces, planning.
Impacts of urban sprawl
- Rural land/native vegetation is cleared and absorbed by development – wetlands adjacent to Baldavis have been reclaimed to make way for housing.
- Over reliance on cars contributes to traffic congestion along major transport links
- The social dislocation of people as they live further away from established infrastructure and services – feeling of isolation and boredom.
Urban sprawl in Perth
New subdivisions - Butler, Success.
Urban sprawl in New York
Connecticut, commuters in Southern Connecticut access NYC via Amrack rail network that hub at Penn Central station. Small cities e.g. Bridgeport and Waterberry provide suburban settings for those who work in NYC, these rural woodland settings appeal to higher socio-economic groups who can afford these locations and accept the commute time.
Define traffic congestion
Occurs when the flow or movement of vehicles travelling along road networks are slowed.
Causes of traffic congestion
- Perth highly car dependent city – over 80% of all trips are made by car.
- Urban sprawl – low density sprawl encourages the development of freeways and highways = more cars on the road
- Public transport is limited – lack of reliability and frequency
Impacts of traffic congestion
- CBD and IMZ not designed for such high car usage – narrow, grid-like streets, increased travel time as a result, non-productive and costly
- More pollution of greenhouse gases from car exhausts
- More space needed to build/extend roads and car parks – destruction of natural habitats
- Traffic jams/gridlock hinders the city’s development
Traffic congestion in Perth
CBD and IMZ suffer most, Thomas Road in West Perth, Newcastle Street in North Perth
Define urban blight
Aging infrastructure and the deterioration in the quality of urban buildings produces urban blight.
Causes of urban blight
- Landlords don’t spend money or time upgrading or on the upkeep of their properties and instead lease rundown houses with inadequate facilities to people in low income groups or firms requiring cheap storage space. In the hope of benefitting from the invasion of CBD functions and their high land value.
- Urban shadow – blight but in the RUF with farmers
Impacts of urban blight
- Visually unappealing
- Extreme blight = creation of slums – large informal/unplanned settlements
- Waste of valuable land
- Crime, drug, alcohol abus
- Lower the value of land
- Lower tax values, loss of amenity
Urban blight in Perth
East Perth was formerly blighted until urban redevelopment project in 1990s.
Urban blight in New York
Bronx Inertia – lower class left behind in ‘white flight’ who don’t pay as much taxes, urban sprawl – highways built encouraging wealthier people to move further out of city where there is more space. Removal of industry from the area – Gunner myrdal cumulative causation model can be illustrated backwards to show how removal of industry causes high levels of unemployment.
Define water supply and quantity
A water shortage occurs when the amount of potable(drinking) water available is less than the amount required to sustain current use.
Causes of water supply and quantity
- High water usage by Perth residents – 504 litres a day on average
- Large volumes of water used to support gardens – 50% of all domestic supply in Perth
- Decrease in annual rainfall as a result of climate change less surface flow int above ground reservoirs
- Urban growth = higher demand for water
- Increased costs of supply – groundwater and desalinization more expensive than surface water
Impacts of water supply and quantity
- Greater concerns about impact of extracting more water from existing sources
- Energy cost associated with desalinization plants – greenhouse gases, fossil fuels
- Costs of gaining water from more distant and expensive sources
- Cost of building infrastructure to meet growing demands for water
Water supply and quantity in Perth
Dams on rivers in the Darling Scarp, Desalinisation plant in Kwinana
Define pollution
Can be categorized as land, water, air and noise
Causes of pollution - land
Chemicals leached into soil, transported by wind, water and ground water flow.
Contaminated by heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, oils and other toxic chemicals as a result of industry.
Causes of pollution - water
Unsafe storage and use of disposal chemicals in business, agriculture or urban environment.
Urban areas = more concrete, less vegetation = less infiltration and increased run off into local water ways. Eutrophication of airways = algal blooms and deoxygenation of waterways = loss of biodiversity.
Causes of pollution - air
From human and industrial activity. Combustion of fossil fuels, cars, emissions from industrial processes.
Greenhouse gases released = climate change
Causes of pollution - noise
Residential noise, commercial and industrial noise, transport noise.
Result of land use conflict - negative impact one land use has on a neighboring land use.
Pollution in Perth
Industrial area of Kwinana
Define provision of services and amenities
Services - roads, sewers, drainage, power.
Amenities - facilities that make life pleasant and enjoyable for people e.g. parks
Causes of provision of services and amenities
Newer Growth zone and blighted/decayed areas have a lack of services.
Urban sprawl is a primary cause when rapid and uncontrolled.
Impacts of provision of services and amenities
New suburbs costly for governments(tax payers) and developers - infrastructure and community services need to be provided.
Social issues - socially isolated = boredom, anti-social behavior e.g. graffiti
Crime, anti social behavior = run down of community, residents move out = shrinking population so council unlikely to allocate funds to improve areas.
Provision of services and amenities in Perth
Balga, Mirrabooka
Define loss of amenity
When communities lose a sense of ‘agreeable, satisfying living’
Causes of loss of amenity
Car dependence Poor visual appeal Odour Litter Graffiti Urban sprawl = lack of amenity Transport technology - construction of freeways, highways can divide communities. Noise, congestion.
Impacts of loss of amenity
Loss of sense of community Crime Blight Lower property values Vandalism Run down facilities
Loss of amenity in New York
Bronx
Robert Moses expressways caused divide in community - congestion, noise.
1880s skyscrapers reducing amount of light available to areas with residential buildings.
Alphabet city - breaking of the grid pattern caused a loss of amenity.
Lower socio-economic groups = lower tax base
