Urban Issues & Challenges-Sustainable Urban Life Flashcards
Sustainable Urban Living
Sustainable living involves a lifestyle, wellbeing, transport, water, and energy set-up which can be continued forever.
Creating green space
Green space is supposed to be good for mental health and encourages exercise (which reduces the chances of having poor mental health by 6%). Doing exercise improves people’s physical wellbeing and reduces the risk of obesity-linked diseases.
Valencia in Spain has a park running all around the city and Central Park is a big green space in New York City.
Green spaces are also positive for the environment. Air pollution is lower in green spaces and flood risk falls because the green space cuts surface runoff after rain.
Energy conservation
Energy conservation schemes aim to use renewable sources of energy and avoid burning fossil fuels to create heat and energy.
Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland is the most energy efficient city in the world. It uses geothermal and hydroelectric power and its buses are hydrogen powered.
Vancouver in Canada aims to be the most efficient city by the 2020s. It uses solar, wind and hydroelectric power to create energy and it encourages bike lanes and car-sharing to reduce transport emissions.
Governments in Europe, particularly in Norway, subsidise Electric Vehicles like Teslas because they are better for the environment.
Making houses energy efficient (better insulated and installing solar panels) and encouraging people to use public transport makes cities more sustainable.
Waste recycling
Lagos in Nigeria does not have a good recycling system and lots of waste ends up in the Olusosun landfill site.
Singapore’s recycling programme creates enough energy from recycling waste to power 1,000 homes.
A good recycling system involves easy sorting of what can be recycled and what can’t, easy collection, low contamination of recycling waste and the infrastructure to actually recycle after collection.
Frequent waste and recycling collections are helpful in large cities.
Water conservation
The average one-person household in the UK needs 149 litres of water per day to keep their lifestyle going. In the USA, people use 575 litres and in Mexico, people use 366 litres.
Water conservation schemes aim to cut the water used in an area.
The Bilbao Arena in Spain captures rainwater and uses it to water and irrigate the football pitch below.
Great Barrier House in New Zealand collects rainwater and uses it for running water and for flushing toilets.
Inventors have created new taps that do not run freely and water meters allow us to monitor our water usage.
The California Academy of Sciences uses seawater when they need water for purposes other than drinking.
Encouraging and improving public transport
London’s tube system has 11 lines. Crossrail is currently under construction and this twelfth line will be called the Elizabethan line.
In 2017/18, 1.4 billion trips were taken on the London Underground.
Santander or ‘Boris’ bikes can be rented to get from A to B.
Consumers can ‘tap in’ and ‘tap out’ of the tube or buses using an Oyster card, a bank card or their mobile phones.
Lagos is constructing 2 new train lines to try to improve their public transport system.
Buses often have priority lanes, making them faster than driving yourself.
Managing traffic flow
In 2003, London introduced a congestion charge, charging drivers £11.50 per day to use their car in central London.
Taxi services like Uber, Kapten and Bolt offer on-demand, cheap taxis, which means people will leave their cars at home and use taxis instead.
Pedestrianised zones reduce congestion, however, the plan to make London’s Oxford Street pedestrianised failed because of protests.
Businesses allowing employees to work remotely, work from home, or work flexible hours can reduce congestion at peak travel times.
Schools in Anfield in Liverpool close early before midweek football matches to allow staff & students to get home without traffic.
Traffic congestion can be reduced by …
carefully managing traffic flow in cities.
Below are some strategies for managing traffic flow:
Bus priority lanes
Ring roads
Car sharing
Reducing Traffic Congestion - Public Transport
Encouraging the use of public transport reduces the number of cars on the roads, which means traffic congestion will be reduced
Below are some strategies that London uses to encourage public transport:
Self-service bikes
London Underground
Oyster or contactless cards
