Sustainability Flashcards
what is sustainability?
meeting the needs of people today without compromising the needs of future generations
environmental impacts of urban areas
local scale
- increase air pollution
- water pollution
- generate waste
global
- demand for resources, pressure on finite resources, leading to insecurities
- responsible for 60% ghg emissions
what is an ecological footprint?
amount of land that is needed to produce everything someone consumes
for an area - combines populations footprints
factors that affect a cities ecological footprint
wealth - higher consumption and waste production
size - less transport so less pollution, less people
quality of public transport - efficient public transport decreases car use, less pollution
4 dimensions of sustainability
natural
physical
social
economic
what is natural sustainability?
how the environment, resources and waste are managed
to be naturally sustainable =
- renewable energy
- little waste production
- high recycling rates
- walking and public transport reduces pollution
what is physical sustainability?
how well a city can support the people living there
to be physically sustainable =
- enough resources to support population, eg jobs
- high quality housing
- secure supplies of food, water and energy
what is social sustainability?
how people live together, their quality of life and availability of basic services
to be socially sustainable =
- access to services eg healthcare
- peaceful and tolerant
- respect human rights
- politically stable
what is economic sustainability?
maintaining economic growth without causing long term negative effects
eg environmental issues or inequalities
to be economically sustainable =
- wealthy
- low economic inequality
- little debt
- well paid jobs
what is liveability?
a measure of how good living conditions are in an area
factors that affect liveability
affected by how sustainable the area is
such as
- jobs
- crime rates
- access to education
- open spaces
why is sustainable development easier in urban than rural areas?
densely populated
- cheaper and easier to get resources to all eg water
more government investment
- benefits more people
challenges of sustainable development
- requires investment, expensive
- cities growing, services expand rapidly to meet need of more people
- unwilling to change habits, eg drive less or use less water
- not appropriate infrastructure, eg roads to narrow for cycle lanes
strategies to increased urban sustainability
reduce vehicles
- improve public transport
- new cycle lanes
increase green spaces
- reduce pollution
- increase biodiversity
- habitats
improve waste disposal
- reduce landfill to improve environment
- more recycling facilities
increase renewable energy
- wind, solar etc
- reduces use of fossil fuels and carbon emissions
reduce water use
- water meters
make buildings more energy efficient
- solar panels
example of sustainability in Leeds
CITU, sustainable housing development
natural
SUDS filter and reduce water pollution
triple glazed windows and open plan - use natrual light to save on energy
recycled glass to insulate - reduce need for heating
physical and natural
needs met with 100% renewable energy
but econoically unsustainable
- very expensive (£250 million to build)
