Managing Urban Environments
Topic
Case study
Impacts of rapid urban growth
(urbanisation)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Managing inner city decline in an
MEDC
Newcastle Upon Tyne – TWDC and
WECC
Managing conflict at the edge of cities
Newcastle Great Park (NGP)
Managing urban environmental
pollution
Cairo, Egypt
Key ideas in the unit;
1. Urban areas in MEDCs are subject to constant change in their land use.
2. Urban areas in LEDCs are subject to very rapid growth.
3. Urban problems require sustainable solutions.
Urbanisation – causes of growth of
cities.
• In most rich countries (MEDCs) city growth has slowed down and
stopped. In LEDCs city growth continues. The increasing number
of people living towns and cities is known as ubanisation, the main
causes of urbanisation are natural increase and rural to urban
migration (where people migrate from rural or countryside areas to
urban areas). The table below summarises the causes of
Urbanisation.
Push factors forcing people away from rural
areas.
Pull factors attracting people to urban areas
Crop failures due to unpredictable climate.
Low wages in agriculture.
Poor service provision in the countryside, e.g. few
hospitals, no schools.
Natural hazards – drought, forest fires etc.
Poor range of employment opportunities.
A wider range of jobs are available.
Higher wages in manufacturing industries
(although migrants have to fight for these jobs
and often don’t get them).
“Bright lights, big city” syndrome – people are
attracted by the recreational and retail facilities in
the city.
Reliable food supplies.
Better service provision.
Impacts of rapid urban growth (urbanisation) – Rio de Janeiro
Location
Rio De Janiero is on the south-east coast of Brazil. It
has a large port running through it and lies on the
tropic of Capricorn.
Causes of problems.
Rio De Janeiro is affected by urbanisation
caused by Rural to Urban migration. This has
resulted in the growth of many large favelas.
Rochina is a favela which is home to over
100,000 people on one single hillside.
Although the buildings have been improved,
many are built by the people who live in them
and lack some basic amenities such as toilets.
There are no refuse collection facilities,
schools are over crowded and drug crime is
rife.
Rio also suffers from urban pollution and traffic
congestion.
Rio cannot grow because of physical factors,
to the North and West are mountain ranges, to
the South and East lies water. This makes the
traffic congestion problems and overcrowding
in outlying shanty towns worse.
Rio De Janeiro
Impacts of rapid urban growth (urbanisation)
– Rio de Janeiro
Solutions to the problems in Rio
•
A new town has been built (see map) at Barra da
Tihuca. This has shopping malls, busses, good
schools, transport links and holds over 100,000
people. It is mainly for middle class residents of Rio
who can afford to move. It is separated from Rio by a
mountain range which had to be tunnelled to allow
access to Rio.
•
Within the Favelas the government has assisted
people in improving their homes. Breeze blocks and
other materials (pipes for plumbing etc) were given as
long as people updated their homes.
•
The government also moved a lot of people out of
shanty towns and into low cost, basic housing estates
with plumbing, electricity and transport links. The
waiting list for these properties was huge.
•
Community policing has been encouraged with
greater links between the police and the local
communities and businesses, but drug gangs still
pose a huge problem.
Managing inner city decline in an MEDC;
Newcastle Upon Tyne – TWDC and WECC
The problem.
The riverside areas of Newcastle upon Tyne were responsible for the cities incredible growth and wealth during the
industrial revolution. Heavy industries such as the Armstrong armaments works and ship building (e.g. Swan Hunters)
employed tens of thousands of people from riverside communities in Newcastle such as Elswick and Scotswood.
Overseas competition in these industries in the 1960s, 70s and 80s led to the decline and closure of these industries
and the communities suffered as a result.
The graph shows this decline in these riverside areas in comparison to the rest of Newcastle. The graph shows that
the West End is a poorer area than Newcastle overall. There are a lot more people who live in a council property in the
West End than Newcastle. This could be because of low monthly wages given to the people at the West end, this might
be because of the people being under qualified in the area from lack of education. This also could be proven by the
30% of students still at school at the age of seventeen compared to the Newcastle area of 41%. This means that the
area overall is under qualified and a lot poorer than Newcastle. Unemployment was an incredible 42%.
Areas such as Scotswood and Benwell suffered economic, social and environmental (in the form of derelict buildings
etc.) decline.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Newcastle (%)
Area of problem studied
Council rented
accomodation
17 year olds
still at school
Households
with the use of
the car
Male
unempolyment
children from a
one parent
family
Westend (%)
nonwhitehead
household
Percentage
Comparison of Newcastle to the West End
Managing inner city decline in an MEDC;
Newcastle Upon Tyne – TWDC and WECC
What did the government do and
where?
• They set up 2 groups do the work.
• Each group was given an area to
work in.
• The Tyne and wear development
corporation (TWDC) and west end
city challenge (WECC).
• The TWDC were given the area
between quay side to the port.
• The WECC were given the west
end of Newcastle to work.
Key words
Regeneration – The complete demolition and
rebuilding of an area.
Renewal – The improvement of an urban
area, using the building that are there and
improving them.
Managing inner city decline in an MEDC;
Newcastle Upon Tyne – TWDC and WECC
Tyne and Wear Development Corporation (TWDC)
– large scale regeneration
West End City Challenge
Aims
Create new business districts or modern offices and
industrial estates
Increasing employment through grants and training
Reviving riversides as a place to live
Improving environment and landscaping
Create new jobs
Improve educational achievements
Support training and employment opportunities
Funding
£430 million of government money attracting £1,114
million of private sector money
£37.5 million of government money over 5 years,
which attracted £80 million of private cash.
Management
style
Top down
Bottom up
Projects
Mainly Flagship projects including
Newcastle Business park - £140 million
development of 25ha of offices on previous derelict
land British Airways have offices there
Newcastle Arena
Newcastle quayside – cost £170 million
Local community based projects including
Extension to Newcastle Breweries – creating 280
jobs
Renovation and gentrification of old Scotswood
housing
Employing extra teachers and free alarm clocks for
students
John Marley community centre for training
CCTV to combat crime
Evaluation
TWDC has transformed the Newcastle Quayside
but has been less successful at regenerating
housing estates. Many local communities had to be
relocated to make way for the big developments.
WECC has tried to benefit local people in
improving their local environment. Despite strides
being made in local housing many properties
remain derelict and children still fail to achieve in
school
Managing conflict at the edge of cities Newcastle Great Park (NGP)
NGP is all about whether or not we should build in the greenbelt or
regenerate inner city Brownfield sites. NGP is a major housing and
commercial development that has been built on a GREENFEILD
SITE within the GREENBELT. Its located north of Newcastle next to
Gosforth. The government gave special permission for the
development to go ahead. Newcastle Great Park lies three miles
North-west of Newcastle City Centre and is one of the biggest
mixed-use developments in the UK. Around 600-acres has been
earmarked for business, residential and commercial development
and a further 600-acres will be richly landscaped, open parkland.
Where is NGP?
The park is located close to the A1 London to Edinburgh trunk road
and the A19, which gives good access to the North Sea Ferries,
Sunderland and Teesside. The park also has good links with rail
networks, Newcastle International Airport and the city centre.
Key words
Greenfield Site – a green area of land that is used for a housing, industry or recreational development.
This land has not been built on before.
Brownfield site – land that has been developed/built upon before but is now disused. This land is
within the city, needs clearing and cleaning before being re-used.
Greenbelt - an area of land that is protected by law from development, they surround cities and are
designed to stop cities spreading into the countryside.
Managing conflict at the edge of cities Newcastle Great Park (NGP)
Arguments for NGP
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
2,500 new homes in a parkland setting of 442
hectares will be complete. Useful for richer residents
and generating income for the developers.
There will be 80 hectares of commercial development
which could generate jobs. Already, the £50m
headquarters for Newcastle computer group Sage
have been completed. It is expected the software
firm's 575,000 sq ft building headquarters will
provide jobs for 1,500 workers within two years.
There is an integrated transport plan which will see
every home not more than 400 meters from a bus
stop, 27km of cycle routes in and around NGP, a
discount cycle purchase scheme for residents and a
car share database on the Internet.
A full time ranger will be employed to manage the
country park to ensure local wildlife conservation
The development lies adjacent to the A1, which will be
widened and improved, and is within easy reach of the
airport, providing excellent opportunities for national
and international travel.
It is hoped that the scheme will slow down the net
loss of 1,500 people per year who migrate from
Newcastle, pleasing city council members.
Arguments against NGP
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The three-storey properties priced from £188,000 are
well beyond the average wage of people in Newcastle.
Environmentalists are concerned about the impact upon
Red Squirrel (an endangered species) and deer
populations which inhabit this area North of Newcastle.
The NGP housing plans contradict the principles of
no/little development in the Green Belt. The greenbelt
was designed to prevent urban sprawl into countryside
areas which have recreation and agricultural uses, to
the detriment of farmers.
There is space for around 20,000 high quality homes on
Brownfield sites near to the city centre in the East and
West end of the city. These areas (e.g. Scotswood,
Benwell and Byker) are in decline since the loss of the
shipping industry and are in need of a boost. Urban
planners would generally prefer these sites to be used.
There is no guarantee of job creation.
Traffic volumes in Gosforth and Newcastle city centre
will increase.
Improving inner-city areas could slow down out
migration.
CAIRO, EGYPT
(MANAGING URBAN POLLUTION)
Cairo is located to the east of the river Nile. This built up area has an airport to the north and to
the east of the built up area is Eastern desert. This poses as a problem because the area now
cannot expand to the west, due to the Nile and cannot expand to the east due to the desert
region. The only way is north or south.
Cairo’s main problem is overcrowding, and due to this overcrowding it means there is a great
problem with pollution. Cairo is overcrowded for two reasons:
• people have moved from rural areas to the urban city in search of jobs and a better lifestyle
• the life expectancy has risen due to advances in medical care from 41yrs to 64 yrs
Cairo's rapid population influx now means that there is over 30,000 people per square
kilometre.
This increase in population has lead to an increase in pollution:
PROBLEM:
PROBLEMS CAUSED
WHAT CAIRO GOV. IS DOING
POSSIBLE SUSTAINABLE
SOLUTIONS:
AIR
POLLUTION
Fumes from Cairo’s 2 million vehicles combined with
suspended particulate matter plus sand blown into
urban areas, the concentration of air particulates is 510 times higher in Cairo than the recommended
average. This is worst in the industrial areas and Cairo
Old Town- this causes high blood pressure kidney
problems, infertility and an IQ drop it kills 10-25000
people
Gas emissions are 5-10 times higher than WHO
recommends
•Change unleaded petrol
•Cairo Air Improvement Project has
monitoring stations and car checks. it has
36 monitoring stations funded by US aid
which gives $60 million. Have produced a
programme that reduces the emissions
from air filters- new equipment and
smelters and relocation of factories; they
also have vehicle emission testing
randomly.
•Change fuel to natural gas
•Relocate factories or install
new equipment to stop
harmful emissions
•Metro system reduce no. of
cars on road
LAND
POLLUTION
•10,000 tonnes of waste
•Waste incinerators broken
•No health waste disposal
•Cairo Cleaning and Beautification
Agency only collect 60% of waste
•Service incinerators with
filters
•No fee for rubbish disposal
•recycle
•Metro-system to reduce cars
•Encourage people to walk or
take public transport
•Reduce opening hours of
clubs
•MOTs on boats + cars
Hazardous waste is helped to spread by rats and other
vermin
NOISE
POLLUTION
•Cars in rush hour traffic mean roads are gridlocked
throughout the day and night
•Night clubs open late
•Boats on river