Urban Issues and Challenges Flashcards
Urban Issues and Challenges : Urbanisation def
the increasing proportion of people living in cities across the world
Urban Issues and Challenges : Global Urban trends in growth
The largest growth in urban populations is expected to be in India, China and Nigeria
Urban Issues and Challenges : The growth of the middle class and its effects
By 2050, the worlds middle class is expected to move from 1 => 3 billion
=> rise in education levels
=> Massive rise in consumer demand (meat, electronics etc…)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Advantages of urban areas
Urban areas provide better access to
=> Goods and services
=> Education
=> Labour markets
=>Healthcare
Urban Issues and Challenges : Population growth in cities, Rural => Urban Migration, Push Factors
=> War and civil unrest
=> loss of employment
=> Boredom of rural life
=> lack of facilities
=> poor standards of living
=> Failure of crops
=> High costs of living
Urban Issues and Challenges : Population growth in cities, Rural => Urban Migration, Pull Factors
=> Education opportunities
=> Friends and family
=> Higher standards of living (or at least the perception of that)
=> Quality public transport
=> Safety
=> The perception of opportunity (to make it big)
=> ‘Bright light syndrome’ (the wow factor from big shining cities)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Population growth in cities, Natural Increase, Factors that affect
=> Higher in LICs than HICs (often due to lack of education, healthcare or a cultural change)
=> Large young adult populations (18-35)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Natural Increase def
Natural Increase = Birth rate - Death rate
AKA The population growth of the cities own population through reproduction
Urban Issues and Challenges : Megacity def
A megacity is a city with a population over 10 million
Urban Issues and Challenges : Agglomeration
When multiple things join and assemble together
This is how most megacities grow so rapidly, multiple cities fusing together
Urban Issues and Challenges : Types of megacity and their traits
=> Slow Grower. V.Low squatter devolpments, 70% urban, found in HICs
=> Growing. 20% squatter developments, 40-50% urban, found in S.E. Asia, S.America and China
=> Rapid Growing. over 20% squatter developments, 50% Urban
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Landmarks
=> Guanabara Bay. Natural deep water port.
=> Sugar Loaf mountain. Home to the famous statue of Christ the redeemer. One of the 7 wonders of the world.
=> Copacabana Beach. A wide and luxurious beach with shops and hotels behind.
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Zones summary
North zone : Main industrial & port areas
International Airport
Areas of low quality housing and slums
West zone : Barra da Tijura (wealthy area & Main Olympic stadium)
Industrial area of campo Grande (housing around a steelworks)
South zone : Richest area of Rio
=> Many hills and mountains.
=> famous for Copacabana beach
Centro : Oldest part of the city and home to the CDB
-Financial centre with many TNC headquarters
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Health care Challenges
2013 only 55% of the city had local health clinic
=> West zone was worst for elderly and pregnant
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Health care Solutions
Authorities in Favela Santa Marta brought medical staff to give health kits into peoples homes
=> Life expectancy rose, Infant mortality fell
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Education Challenges
-Education only compulsory between 6-14
- only 50% in rio continue past 14 => jobs in drug gangs
-Shortage of schools, teachers and poverty forces children into work
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Education Solutions
-Giving school grants to poor families to keep children in school
-opening a private university in Rochina favela
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Water Supply Challenges
-12% of Rio has no access to running water
-37% water lost to leaks and illegal access
-Droughts make both issues worse
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Water Supply Solutions
-7 new water treatment plants have been opened
-300 km of pipes laid
=> once done (2014) 95% of population had mains water supply
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Energy Challenges
-Rio faces regular blackouts
=> demand for energy for Olympic infrastructure made situation far worse for poorest areas
-Many illegally tap into the supply
=> Causes fires which spread
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Social Challenges : Energy Solutions
-60km of new power lines
-built new nuclear power station
-developing the new hydroelectric complex
=> increase of total power of 30%
=> cost 2 billion
-Solar panels installed on favela rooftops
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Economic Challenges : Informal economy
Def : unregulated parts of the economy
-3.5 million sources of employment in rio.
-No : pension, job security, sick pay, contracts, health & safety, protection against exploitation, tax, JOB SECURITY
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Economic Challenges : Formal economy
-Regulated and managed parts of the economy.
-The opposite of the informal economy
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Economic Challenges : Types of employment in RIO
-High income service (finance and banking)
-Retail and distribution
-construction (unskilled jobs
=> 2014 world cup
=> 2016 Olympics
=> Port Renovations
-Steel manufacture
-Tourism (direct & indirect)
-Oil refining
=>Petrobas - 65000 barrels of oil a day
-Port industries
=> export of primary products
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Environmental Challenges :Air & traffic pollution
-Due to Rio’s position, brown smog built up from exhausts fumes cover the city
-Traffic congestion V.High :
=>Steep mountains limiting road space
=>High crime => walking risky
=> Automotive manufacturing centre (JLR New Factory)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Environmental Solutions : Air & traffic pollution
aimed at reducing congestion => prevents smog build-up
-Expansion of metro (EXEMPLAR Under Guanabara bay to Barra da Tijuca)
-One way roads during rush hour
-Toll roads
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Environmental Challenges : Water pollution
-Guanabara bay highly polluted
<=55 rivers flowing h.polluted (Favela sewers)
<= Oil spills from Petrobras refinery
<= Ships dump waste oils due to no disposal facilities.
=> Threat to wildlife
=> Fishing down 90%
-May affect Copacabana beach tourism
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Environmental Solutions : Water pollution
-12 new sewage works built since 2004
=> Cost $68 million in oversea aid
-Ships fined for discharging into bay
-new sewage pipes
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Environmental Challenges : Waste pollution
-Worst in Favelas
=>Most built on steep hills => no road access => no waste lorries
-Waste dumped
=>Pollutes water system => Cholera & Rats
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Environmental Solutions : Waste pollution
-Power plant that runs of biofuel
=> Near Uni of Rio.
=> Uses methane gas produced by rotting rubbish
=> Consumes 3 tons of rubbish a day
=> powers 1000 homes
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Favela Bairro Project : General knowledge
A site and Service Scheme
-Aimed to improve the quality of life for favela inhabitants
-converts favela to legal neighbourhoods
-Supported by Inter-Americas Development Bank
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Favela Bairro Project : Programs Achievements
-Creation of paved (& formally named) roads
-Improved access to water supplies
-improved drainage for sanitation
-hillsides secured (prevent landslides)
=> People moved where needed
-Built health, leisure and education facilities
-Installation of cable car to Ipanema
=> Inhabitants of Complexo do Alemao given a free return ticket per day
-Pacifying Police Unit setup to reduce crime
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Favela Bairro Project : Issues with gangs
-Gangs still control parts of the favelas
=> Block the project => force citizens to live a life outside law (No property deed, informal economy, electricity & TV must be pirated
Urban Issues and Challenges : Rio De Janeiro : Favela Bairro Project : Issues with Policing
Police have heavy handed approach to gangs (heavily armed, large collateral etc…)
-Treat citizens of favelas like criminals
HOWEVER
-Has stopped crime
Urban Issues and Challenges : Urban area in the UK def
An urban area is
a built up area that has a resident population above 10,000
Urban Issues and Challenges : UK reasons for the growth of cities
-Water access => ports <=Textile exports
-Natural Resources (coal, Birmingham black country) => Industrial revolution
=> Manufacturing (Manchester) => Textiles
=>End of primary employment => migration
-Capital City’s (London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff)
-Push and Pull factors (i.e. Education for oxford)
-Financial Centres (London)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : General knowledge
-Second largest city in the UK
-Near the exact centre of the UK
-‘Toyshop of Europe’
-Major city due to immigration
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : Economic past
-Grew rich of industrial revolution
-1980s saw economic decline => deprivation and dereliction. Manufacture declined
-transition into a service based economy, experiencing healthy levels of economic growth
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : Transport links
-Road => M5,6,40 & 42
-Rail links (HS2 will be near)
-Birmingham airport
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : Reasons for migration & who are migrating
One of the most culturally diverse cities in the UK
-Post war boom caused growth in employment
=> migrants form : Caribbean, S.E. Asia, India, & Ireland
-Irish potato famine
-Commonwealth
-EU expansion
-Refugees
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : Where migrants live
-Tend to be concentrated near
=> Friends and family
=> Specialist shops (home food etc…) and religious venues
=> Poorer quality housing (midrise)
=> Inner city (housing is cheapest)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : Positives of migration
-Enriching the cities cultural life
=> Balti-triangle
-Historically economic, CHEAP labour
=> Migrants now bring skills and small businesses
-Provides a hard-working and motivated workforce
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham : Negatives of migration
-Challenge of integration of small secluded communities into wider city
-Challenge of providing education for children who don’t speak English as a first language
-Builds pressure on housing and employment
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Opportunities : 1) Cultural, Recreation and entertainment
-City centre Museum & art gallery
-Huge range of sporting arenas
=>commonwealth, Edgbaston, cricket station
-Music O2 Academy, Symphony orchestra
-Shopping at Bullring Shopping Centre
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Opportunities : 2) Employment
-31,000 companies based in Birmingham
-Urban regeneration program
=> provides many development jobs
Birmingham Research Park
-Biohub : For a fee, small biomedical companies can rent a slot with cutting edge equipment and IT
-Amazing transport links
-economic zones, 3 uni’s, 2 convention centres
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Opportunities : 3) Integrated Transport System
-Birmingham connected plan
=> AIM to coordinate all forms of transport into a single easy to use system
-Improve train lines
-New rail links
-New train system
-Development in cycle routes and walkways
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Opportunities : 4) Urban Greening
-Improving the cities environment as part of urban regeneration
=> Tree planting
=> Urban greenways
=> Green roofs & walls
=> Cycle tracks
=> Creating ‘Blue Corridors’ (rivers & Canals)
ALLIVIATE TRANSPORT PRESSURE BY ENCOURAGING CYCLING AND WALKING
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Challenges : Deprivation def
Where the quality of life for certain people fall below what is recognised as acceptable in a particular country
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Challenges : Dereliction def
Land and buildings that have fallen into disuse
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Challenges : 1) Child Poverty
-2nd highest child in poverty per thousand
=> means few children have access to the cities education amenities
-Many families are registered as living in overcrowded conditions
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Challenges : 2) Education
-GCSE grades below the national average
-School attendance below national average
HUGE EDUCATION GAP
=> 8 V.high achieving grammar schools
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Challenges : 3) Health
-below national average for good or v.good health
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Challenges : 4) Employment
large proportion of the population are in working groups 8-9
=> V.low pay
=> Low skill
-more likely to be taken up by those who struggle to speak English & live in derelict city centres
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Environmental Challenges : Greenfield site def
Are sites that have not been previously built on
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Environmental Challenges : Brownfield site def
Are sites that have previously been used (often for industry)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Environmental Challenges : Green belt def
A greenbelt is a greenfield area of land adjacent to built up land which is protected to prevent unrestricted growth of a city into the countryside (urban sprawl)
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Environmental Challenges : 1) Housing Pressure
-Massive pressure has been put on green and brownfield sites due to housing shortage.
-2015 needed 89,000 new homes => Prevented by greenbelt
Example : Sutton Coldfield
-Relatively isolated and green land
-Birmingham city council decided to more than double local population with housing development (forced to build on greenbelt due to lack of brownfield space)
Fierce socio-economic debate sparked of building on the greenbelt. Concerns with :
-Pollution
-Destruction of community
-cost (greenbelt houses expensive) => leaves out poorest
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Environmental Challenges : 2) Waste Disposal
-Aiming for 40% waste recycling by 2026
-New technologies such as Climafuel (biofuel made from waste) to power clay and concrete kilns while reducing waste
Urban Issues and Challenges : Birmingham Environmental Challenges : 3) Energy Recovery
Birmingham’s Energy Recovery Facility (ERF)
-takes 350,000 tons of rubbish per year
=> incinerates to produce electricity
However
-Releases huge amounts of CO2
-Relatively little energy production (25MW against 500 from regular coal power plant)
Factors affecting Birmingham’s Green Belts : 1) Transport Networks
The
-motorway network
-Rail network
-Birmingham airport
have all seen development on Birmingham’s rural-urban fringe
Factors affecting Birmingham’s Green Belts : 2) Residential Developments
Sutton Coldfield
-Merged into Birmingham
-Forced into expanding housing stock to satiate Birmingham’s growing population
Factors affecting Birmingham’s Green Belts : 3) Modern Industrial Estates
-Light manufacturing still accounts for 8% of Birmingham’s economy
=> Industrial estates such as Frankley Industrial Estate
-At the edge of town (Cheaper & better transport links)
Factors affecting Birmingham’s Green Belts : 4) Leisure Developments
-21 golf courses around the rural-urban fringe of Birmingham
=> Do protect green land and wildlife, not open to the public
Factors affecting Birmingham’s Green Belts : 5) Commuter Settlements
-42,000 people within last 10 years moved from
Birmingham city centre => Outskirts
=> Places pressure on roads and public transport network
The Birmingham Big City Plan : Why was Regeneration necessary
-Birmingham suffered heavily from deindustrialisation and the recession
=> Massive unemployment (Unemployment rate trebled)
-1960s city design called for large-scale urban clearance
=> Reconstruction after WW2 left a dramatic mark and fell victim to many of the design mistakes of the period
=>’A city centre encircled by motorways’
-Poor reputation
REGENERATION DID NOT START WITH BIG CITY PLAN
The Birmingham Big City Plan : GN
-Launched in 2010
-20 year plan to transform Birmingham city centre into a ‘world class city centre’
-Able to deliver sustainable growth.
-covering 800 hectares of land
The Birmingham Big City Plan : Aims
-Improve connectivity and walkability of the city centre
-Improve environmental quality
-Raise new residential communities
-Diversify the economic base
-Overall grow the City Core
-Cleaning the River Rea
5 zones to be regenerated
The Birmingham Big City Plan : Zone 3 - Eastside development
-New train station for HS2
-Urban Greening of the region
-Development of Birmingham City University
The Birmingham Big City Plan : Zone 4 - Southern Gateway development
-£1 billion mixed land use regeneration project
-Development of retail
-Leisure facilities
-home construction
The Birmingham Big City Plan : Zone 5 - New Street Station
-Transformation of New Street Station into stunning world class station
-Massive improvement to connectivity
-Better Physical Enviroment
