Sustainable Cities
G. Tyler Miller’s
Living in the Environment
14 th Edition
Chapter 25

Key Concepts

Distribution of urban and rural populations

Factors determining urban development

Resource and environmental problems in urban areas

Effects of transportation systems on urban growth

Planning and controlling urban growth

Making cities more sustainable and desirable

Urbanization and Urban Growth

Urban areas
 Rural areas

Villages

Cities

Urban growth: natural increase and immigration

Push and pull factors

Patterns of Urban Growth

Increasing proportion of population

Great increase in large cities
(>1,000,000)

Increasing rapidly in developing counties

Urban growth slower in developed countries

Poverty in urban areas increasing

Urbanization in the US

Migration to large central cities

Migration from cities to suburbs

Migration from north and east to south and west

Migration from urban to rural areas

Spatial patterns of development
(see Fig. 25-4 p. 566)

Major Urban Regions in the US
Fig. 25-4 p. 566

Impacts of Urban Sprawl
Fig. 25-6 p. 567

Urban Resource and Environmental
Problems

Air and water pollution; waste management

Reduction in vegetation

Importation of food, energy, and materials

Noise pollution

Climate impacts: urban heat islands

Impacts on surrounding rural areas

Urban Areas: Inputs and Outputs
Fig. 25-8 p. 569

Urban Poor in Developing
Countries

Slums

Squatter settlements

Shantytowns

Illegal settlements

Poverty and unemployment

Transportation and Urban Development

Individual transit

Mass transit

Buses

Trains

Automobiles
(See Pro/Con p. 572-573)

Urban Land-Use Planning and
Control

Land-use planning

Property taxes

Zoning

Smart growth

Urban growth boundary

Greenbelts

Cluster development
(See Fig. 25-18 p. 579)

Fig. 25-17 p. 579

Cluster Housing
Fig. 25-18 p. 579

Solutions: Making Urban Areas
More Livable and Sustainable

New cities and towns

Ecocity (green city)

Trees and climate-specific landscaping

People-oriented

High energy efficiency