Sustainable Cities
Chapter 22
Bus Rapid Transit System in Curitiba, Brazil
Objective 1
What Are the Major Population Trends in
Urban Areas?
Half of the World’s People Live in Urban Areas
• Urbanization – the creation and growth of urban
areas
• Urban growth – the rate of increase of urban
populations
– Occurs in 2 ways
• Natural increase (more births than deaths)
• Immigration from rural areas
– Pushed from rural areas to urban areas
– Pulled to urban areas from rural areas
Four major trends
– Proportion of global population living in urban areas is
increasing
– Number and size of urban areas is mushrooming
• Megacities or megalopolises - 10 million or more people
– Urban growth slower in developed countries
– Poverty is becoming increasingly urbanized; mostly in
developing countries
Satellite Image of Major Urban Areas
Throughout the World
Typical Daily Traffic Jam of People, Carts,
& Other Vehicles in Delhi, India
Major Urban Areas in the United States
Revealed by Satellite Images at Night
Urban Sprawl Gobbles Up the Countryside
• Urban sprawl – the growth of low-density
development on the edges of cities and towns
– It is eliminating surrounding agricultural and wild lands
• Contributing factors to urban sprawl in the U.S.
– 1st = Ample land
– 2nd = Federal government loans
– 3rd = Low-cost gasoline; highways
– 4th = Tax laws encouraged home ownership
– 5th = State and local zoning laws
– 6th = Multiple political jurisdictions: poor urban planning
Urban Sprawl in and around the U.S. City
of Las Vegas, Nevada, from 1973 to 2000
U.S. Megalopolis of Bowash
What are two ways in which this development might be harming the ecosystems
along the Atlantic Coast?
Objective 2
What Are the Major Urban Resource
and Environmental Problems?
Urbanization Has Economical Advantages
• Centers of:
– Economic development
– Innovation
– Education
– Technological advances
– Jobs
• Environmental advantages
– Recycling is more economically feasible
• Funding for programs is higher in urban areas
– More walking, mass transportation, and bicycling
Urbanization Has Disadvantages
• Huge ecological footprints
– Urban areas only occupy 2% of the earth’s land area
– Consume 75% of earth’s resources
– Produce 75% of all carbon dioxide emissions
• Lack vegetation
– Most trees, shrubs, or other plants are destroyed to
make way for parking lots and housing developments
• Water problems
– As cities grow, water demand increases
– Reservoirs and canals must be built and deeper wells
must be drilled
Urban Areas Rarely Are Sustainable Systems
Noise Levels of Some Common Sounds
Life Is a Desperate Struggle for the Urban
Poor in Developing Countries
• Slums – areas dominated by
tenements(apartments) and rooming houses where
several people might live in a single room
• Squatter settlements – people take over
unoccupied land without the owners’ permission,
simply because it is their only option for survival.
• Shantytowns – Located on the outskirts of cities.
Shacks made from corrugated(wavy/uneven) metal,
plastic sheets, scrap wood, and other scavenged
building materials.
Extreme Poverty Forces Hundreds of Millions
to Live in Slums
Objective 3
How Does Transportation Affect Urban
Environmental Impacts?
Cities Can Grow Outward or Upward
• Compact cities (Grow Upward – very little land)
– Hong Kong, China
– Tokyo, Japan
– Mass transit
• Dispersed cities (Grow Outward – lots of land)
– U.S. and Canada
– Car-centered cities
Hong Kong, China
upward growth
Motor Vehicles Have Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages
– Mobility and convenience
– Jobs in
• Production and repair of vehicles
• Supplying fuel
• Building roads
– Status symbol
• Power
• Sex Appeal
• Social Status
Disadvantages
– Largest source of outdoor air pollution
• Causes 30,000 - 60,000 premature deaths a year
– Accidents: death and injury
• In the US 40,000 people per year are killed and another
300,000 people are severely injured
• Globally 50 million wild animals and pets are killed annually
– Helped create urban sprawl
• 1/3rd of urban land is devoted to roads and parking lots
• ½ of the urban land in the US is devoted to roads & parking lots
– Traffic congestion
• US motorist spend an average of 2 years of their lives in traffic
jams
Reducing Automobile Use Is Not Easy, but
It Can Be Done
• Full-cost pricing
– Charge gasoline taxes to cover the harmful cost of
driving
• Difficult to pass in the United States
– Strong public opposition
– Mass transit: not an option in most cities
– Dispersed nature of the U.S. (Outward not Upward)
• What about a tax shift?
– Reducing taxes on income, wages, and wealth to offset
the increased taxes on gasoline
• Raise parking fees
• Raise fees on tolls, tunnels, and bridges that lead
into major cities
– Road congestion fees - $49.00/day in London, England
• Car-sharing
– Members reserve a car in advance or call the network
and are directed to the closest car
– Then they are billed monthly for their car use
Write 1
advantage
&1
disadvantage
Write 1
advantage
&1
disadvantage
Potential Routes for High-Speed Bullet
Trains in the U.S. and Parts of Canada
Write 1 advantage
& 1 disadvantage
Write 1 advantage & 1 disadvantage
Objective 4
How Important Is Urban Land Use Planning?
Conventional Land-Use Planning
Land-use planning – used to determine the best present and
future use of each parcel of land
– Encourages future population growth regardless of environmental
and social consequences
– Economic development
– Revenues: property taxes
• 90% of revenue for local governments comes from property taxes
– Environmental and social consequences
Zoning – various parcels of land are designated and protect
areas from certain types of development
– Mixed-use zoning
• Allowing business to build in residential areas
Smart Growth Works
Smart growth - is one way to encourage more
environmentally sustainable development by…
– Reduces dependence on cars
– Controls and directs sprawl
– Cuts wasteful resource use
Example: Conserving resources
by reinvesting in existing
infrastructure
Pg 603 of text
Preserving and Using Open Space
Urban growth boundary – an urban growth line
around each community and then allows no urban
development outside those boundaries
Municipal parks – large urban parks like Central Park
in New York City
Greenbelts – are an open area surrounding cities that
are reserved for recreation, sustainable forestry, or
other nondestructive uses
Central Park, New York City, USA
Objective 5
How Can Cities Become More Sustainable
and Livable?
New Urbanism Is Growing
Conventional housing development has been to bulldoze a tract of
woods or farmland and build rows of houses on standard-size lots
and then name the street after the trees or wildlife they displaced.
(examples: Oak Lane, Fox Fields, or Cedar Drive)
Cluster development – high density housing units are built in a
concentrated area and the rest of the land is used as a common
area.
New urbanism a.k.a. old villageism
–
–
–
–
Walkability = everything located w/in a 10 minute walk
Mixed-use and diversity = a mix of shops, offices, and apartments
Quality urban design = emphasizing beauty and architectural aesthetics
Environmental sustainability = development with minimal
environmental impact
– Smart transportation = well designed systems to connect
neighborhoods, towns and cities
Conventional and Cluster Housing Developments
Cities for People Not Cars
Ecocities = environmentally sustainable cities
– Build and redesign for people not for cars
– Use renewable energy resources
– Recycle and purify water
– Use energy and matter resources efficiently
– Prevent pollution and reduce waste
– Recycle, reuse and compost 60% of municipal waste
– Protect and support biodiversity
– Promote urban gardens and farmers markets
– Zoning and other tools for sustainability
The Ecovillage Movement Is Growing
• Ecovillage movement
– Small groups of people have come together to design
and live in more sustainable villages and eco-hoods in
rural, suburban, and urban areas.
Summary
List 5 tools used
to promote
smart growth.