Lecture 8: Sustainable Urban Development Flashcards
Define Sustainable Urban Development/ Urban sustainability (SUD)
Dvlopment improving quality of life in city, including econ, social, environ/ecolog components w/o leaving burden on future gen
Expound on economic sustainability
- econ of city must b sustainable in long run
- might b difficult to achieve in practice bcos cities r dvloping but depleting resources fr elsewhere
Expound on social sustainability
- SOCIETY must function well & b sustainable
- access to jobs, policies r improving quality of life, access to resources for all
- increasing satisfact n of basic needs
Expound on political sustainability
- refer to democratisat n & participat n of local civil society in urban governance
- this goal may b undermined by increasing influence of non-local & market forces in urban change
- political dimension regulates performance of other 4 dimensions (ie must hv political will & active community involvement)
Why need SUD?
- By 2030, 80% of world’s urban dwellers projected to live in cities of dvloping world.
- Often, extremes of wealth & poverty r very closely juxtaposed in urban centres
- Poorer communities in urban cities less able afford gds & svcs -> must endure lower standards in hc & edu n
- Poorer urban communties (in cities + rural areas) bear larger share of environ costs as result of urban traffic, pollut n & improper waste disposal
=> SUD thus needed to address roots of poverty & injustice
What are challenges faced by cities in attaining SUD?
- Cities r diverse -> hard to apply concept generally to all
- Cities must prioritise which dimensions they need work on more urgently
- useful to think abt SUD thru Green Agenda & Brown Agenda
Elaborate on Brown Agenda
- Brown issues encompass issues of meet ppl’s immediate needs eg access to water, sanitat n, pollut n, housing
- Brown agenda is priority for low-income countries, & poor urban residents of today
- greater concern for cities in LDCs
Elaborate on Green Agenda
- Encompasses issues of environ conservat n, resource preserv n to meet future gen needs eg deplet n water, forest resources
- relate to long-term environ security
- more relevant for cities of dvloped world (affluent countries)
- greater concern for cities in DCs
How are Green Agenda, Brown Agenda and SD related?
- more affluent cities r considered to hv btr met their current pop n’s needs currently -> so, they wld now be focused on achieve green agenda for SUD
- Cities in LDCs make least demand on environ as they often suffer fr variety of socio-econ problem, & r hence likely to prioritise shorter term brown issues rather than longer-term green issues required for SUD
What are some features of a sustainable city? How can they be achieved?
- minimise resource inputs, waste outputs w/o destroy jobs locally & beyond
- need transform local economy to focus on higher qlty of life
- invest resource to clean up water bodies & land areas to maintain, enhance biodiversity
- derive inputs fr urban economy fr renewable, sustainable sources - enhanced functions of urban environ
- more green & safe multipurpose public spaces
- hv well-designed buildings using less inputs to function, produce less waste
- lower car reliance - gd access to knowledge abt sustainability of city
- commit to progress towards tough environ, social targets w active citizen involvement - involve residents in decision-making abt their area & its wider linkages
- residents r motivated to change their own bhaviour
- poorer urban dwellers hv chance to improve qlty of life
What did sustainable dvlopment in Curitiba, Brazil bring? Elaborate on each feature
a. New public transport system
- competitively priced (affordable, so very low avg transport expenditure)
- exclusive bus lanes (less disrupt n to mobility of ppl, gds & svcs
SUCCESSES:
- reduced congest n on roads & air pollut n
- use 30% less fuel than avg
- lowest motor accidents rates per vehicle in Brazil
b. extensive recycling scheme (since 1989)
- Edu n program to encourage recycling thru municipal collect n
- residents asked to separate garbage b4 collect (cut cost considerably)
SUCCESSES
- favelas residents encouraged to exchange household refuse at accessible roadsides by offer bus tix, food parcels & School notebooks
- marked decrease in litter
c. strong sense of public participat n & its emphasis on low-cost programs
- ppl encouraged build own houses w city govt loans & help fr city architects to offset cost on housing projects
- old public buses converted into mobile schs touring low-income neighbourhoods, improve poor’s accessibility to edu n
=> This shows that environ problem can be tackled w success w/o large financial resources, given strong leadership, guidance to pop n
Elaborate on natural and physical sustainability
Natural: manage natural resources, consumpt n & waste product n
Physical: capacity of urban built environ to support human life & activities. Problems in this area mostly evident in cities of low income countries
-> Both aspects reflect environ dimension of SUD as it looks at how city manage natural resource & support human life. It can oso b materialised as green & brown environ agenda. We must recognise diff cities deal w diff agenda due to diff lvl of dvlopment
