Geo 3A: Urban Problems of Perth and NYC

Question 1

Define urban sprawl

Answer 1

The low density outwards growth of urban areas into the surrounding rural lands and natural systems.

Question 2

Causes of urban sprawl

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Impacts of urban sprawl

Answer 3

• 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.

Question 4

Urban sprawl in Perth

Answer 4

New subdivisions - Butler, Success.

Question 5

Urban sprawl in New York

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Define traffic congestion

Answer 6

Occurs when the flow or movement of vehicles travelling along road networks are slowed.

Question 7

Causes of traffic congestion

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

Impacts of traffic congestion

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Traffic congestion in Perth

Answer 9

CBD and IMZ suffer most, Thomas Road in West Perth, Newcastle Street in North Perth

Question 10

Define urban blight

Answer 10

Aging infrastructure and the deterioration in the quality of urban buildings produces urban blight.

Question 11

Causes of urban blight

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

Impacts of urban blight

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

Urban blight in Perth

Answer 13

East Perth was formerly blighted until urban redevelopment project in 1990s.

Question 14

Urban blight in New York

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Define water supply and quantity

Answer 15

A water shortage occurs when the amount of potable(drinking) water available is less than the amount required to sustain current use.

Question 16

Causes of water supply and quantity

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

Impacts of water supply and quantity

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

Water supply and quantity in Perth

Answer 18

Dams on rivers in the Darling Scarp, Desalinisation plant in Kwinana

Question 19

Define pollution

Answer 19

Can be categorized as land, water, air and noise

Question 20

Causes of pollution - land

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Causes of pollution - water

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Causes of pollution - air

Answer 22

From human and industrial activity. Combustion of fossil fuels, cars, emissions from industrial processes.
Greenhouse gases released = climate change

Question 23

Causes of pollution - noise

Answer 23

Residential noise, commercial and industrial noise, transport noise.
Result of land use conflict - negative impact one land use has on a neighboring land use.

Question 24

Pollution in Perth

Answer 24

Industrial area of Kwinana

Question 25

Define provision of services and amenities

Answer 25

Services - roads, sewers, drainage, power.

Amenities - facilities that make life pleasant and enjoyable for people e.g. parks

Question 26

Causes of provision of services and amenities

Answer 26

Newer Growth zone and blighted/decayed areas have a lack of services.
Urban sprawl is a primary cause when rapid and uncontrolled.

Question 27

Impacts of provision of services and amenities

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

Provision of services and amenities in Perth

Answer 28

Balga, Mirrabooka

Question 29

Define loss of amenity

Answer 29

When communities lose a sense of ‘agreeable, satisfying living’

Question 30

Causes of loss of amenity

Answer 30

Car dependence
Poor visual appeal
Odour
Litter
Graffiti
Urban sprawl = lack of amenity
Transport technology - construction of freeways, highways can divide communities. Noise, congestion.

Question 31

Impacts of loss of amenity

Answer 31

Loss of sense of community
Crime
Blight
Lower property values
Vandalism 
Run down facilities

Question 32

Loss of amenity in New York

Answer 32

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