Urban Environments Revision Sheet: The Syllabus
Key Idea from syllabus
Urbanisation is a global phenomenon.
Urban areas have a variety of
functions and land uses.
There are aspects of urban living in a
richer part of the world that need
careful planning in order to support
the population and environment of
cities and towns
Content
Students should appreciate the different pace and causes of
urbanisation in the rich and poor world.
Students should gain an appreciation of different functional parts of a
settlement including locations of CBD, inner city, suburbs and ruralurban fringe.
Overview of the issues facing many urban areas.
Housing – the attempts to satisfy the increased housing needs of the
population in different parts of the city. Impact of Government
strategies from the 1990s on the inner city.
Traffic – impact of increased use of road transport on the environment
and solutions aimed at reducing the impact.
Revitalising the image of the CBD by improving the physical
environment.
Rapid urbanisation has led to the
development of squatter settlements
and an informal sector to the
economy
Cultural Mix – factors causing ethnic segregation within urban areas.
Strategies aimed at supporting the multicultural nature of many urban
areas.
Characteristics of squatter settlements.
Effect on the lives of the people of living in squatter settlements.
Attempts by the inhabitants themselves to improve squatter
settlements over time.
Revised
Self-help, Site and Service and Local Authority schemes to improve
squatter settlements.
Rapid urbanisation in a poorer part of
the world requires the management of
the environmental problems caused.
Attempts can be made to ensure that
urban living is sustainable.
A case study of a squatter settlement redevelopment
Effects of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.
Difficulties of disposal of waste, much of which is toxic.
Effects and management of air and water pollution.
Characteristics of a sustainable city.
Environmental – the importance of conserving the historic and natural
environment. Use of Brownfield sites. Reducing and safely disposing of
waste. Providing adequate open spaces.
Social – including local people in the decision-making process.
Provision of an efficient public transport system.
A case study of sustainable urban living.
KEY WORD TABLES FOR Urban Environments
Key words
Urbanisation
Rural – urban migration
Land use
Function
CBD Central Business District
Inner city
Suburbs
Key words
Household
Brownfield sites
Greenfield sites
Urban Development Corporations
(UDCs)
City Challenge
Regeneration
Gentrification
Definitions
A process where an increasing proportions of the population lives in towns and cities
resulting in their growth.
Moving home from a rural area to settle in a town or city.
The type of building or other features that are found in the area, e.g. terraced housing,
banks, industrial estates, roads, parks.
The purpose of a particular area, e.g. for residential use, recreation or shopping.
The main shooing and service area in a city. The CBD is usually found in the middle of a
city so that it is easily accessible.
The area around the CBD- usually built before 1918 in the UK.
The area on the edge of the city. Many suburbs were built after 1945 and get newer as
the y reach the edge of the city.
Definitions
A person living alone or two or more people at the same address, sharing a living room.
Land that has been built on before and is to be cleared and reused. These sites are
often in the inner city.
Land that has not been built on before, usually in the countryside on the edge of the
built up area.
Set up in the 1980s and 1990s using public funding to buy land and improve inner city
areas, party by attracting private investment.
A strategy in which local authorities had to design a scheme and submit a bid for
funding, competing against other councils. They also had to become part of a
partnership involving the local community and private companies who would fund part
of the development.
Improving an area.
Houses are bought then improved which then attracts more people into the area and
raises house prices.
Sustainable community
Quality of life
Park and ride schemes
Segregation
Key words
Squatter Settlements
Informal sector
Self help
Site and service
Key words
Industrialisation
Disposal of waste
Landfill
Recycling
A community that is broadly in balance with the environment and offers people a good
quality of life.
How good a persons life is measured by such things as quality of housing and
environment, access to education, health care, how secure people feel and how
happy they are with their lifestyle.
A bus service run to key places from car parks on the edges if busy areas in order to
reduce traffic flows and congestion in the city. Costs are low to encourage people to
use the system.
Occurs when people of a particular ethnic group choose to live wit others from the
same ethnic group, separate from others groups.
Definitions
Areas of cities (usually on the outskirts) that are built by people from any materials they
can find in the land that does not belong to them. They have different names in different
parts of the world (e.g. favela in Brazil) and are often known as shanty towns.
That part of the economy where jobs are created by people to try to get an income
(e.g. taking in washing mending bicycles) and which are not recognised in official
figures.
Sometimes known as assisted self-help (ASH), this is where local authorities help the
squatter settlement residents to improve their homes by offering finance in the form of
loans or grants and often installing water, sanitation etc.
Occur when land is divided into individual plots and water, sanitation, electricity and
basic track layout are supplied before any building by residents begins.
Definitions
A process usually associated with the development of the economy, where an
increasing proportion of people work in industry.
Safely getting rid of unwanted items such as solid waste.
A means of disposing of waste by digging a large hole in the ground and lining it before
filling it with rubbish.
Collection and subsequent reprocessing of products such as paper, aluminium cans,
Air pollution
Transnational Corporations TNCS
Water pollution
Sustainable city
Green belt land
Urban sprawl
Sustainability
plastic containers and mobile phones, instead of throwing them away.
Putting harmful substances into the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide.
Companies that spread their operations around the world to try to reduce costs.
Putting poisonous substances into water courses such as sewerage, industrial effluent
and harmful chemicals.
An urban area where residents have a way of life that will last a long time. The
environment is not damaged and the economic and social fabric is able to stand the
test of time.
Land on the edge of the built up area, where restrictions are placed on building to
prevent the expansion of towns and cities and to protect the natural environment.
The spreading of urban areas into the surrounding rural/rural urban fringe areas.
Development that looks after future resources and considers the need of future
generations.
Urban Environments CASE STUDIES
Context and link to syllabus
Kibera in
Nairobi,
Kenya.
A case study of a squatter
settlement redevelopment.
Content
60% of people in Nairobi live in slums. Half of them live in Kibera.
Population of 800,000- 1 million people. Area 255ha.
High population density.
100,000 orphans due to AIDS/HIV.
Homes made of mud, boards, wood, corrugated iron sheeting.
Open sewers. Rubbish not collected.
Smells of charcoal burnt for fuel, smells of human waste.
Running water expensive but available to some areas.
High crime rate, groups offer protection at a high price.
Residents welcome visitors, they try to keep clean.
Solutions to the problems:
Things are improving in Kibera.
-
London 2012
Olympics.
Curitiba,
Brazil.
A case study of sustainable
urban living. Attempts can be
made to ensure that urban
living is sustainable.
A case study of sustainable
urban living. Attempts can be
made to ensure that urban
living is sustainable.
Practical Action (British charity) has been developing low cost roofing
tiles. These allow the self-help schemes to progress.
- United Nations Human Settlement Program provided affordable
electricity to some parts.
- 2 main water pipes, one provided by the council and one by the World
Bank. Slow progress on improving sanitation.
- Medical facilities are provided by charities.
- Plans to re house thousands of residents. 770 families have been re
housed in new blocks of flats with running water, toilets, showers and
electricity.
Sustainable legacy for local communities.
Improved the physical environment and also looked to ensure the long term
sustainability of the economy, retailing and transport.
-
Built on brownfield site, on derelict land. New parks and landscaping.
70% events take place at park reducing the need for transport and
reducing traffic congestion.
- No car parking- encourages people to use public transport.
- 97% of materials from demolished buildings were reused in the
construction.
- Buildings such as the velodrome, have been designed to minimise energy
use.
- Rainwater collected and used to flush toilets.
- Green spaces created.
- Cycle tracks.
- Facilities to be used in the future for other events such as the 2017 Athletic
championships.
- Affordable housing created.
7th largest city with population of 1.8million.
Model for planning and sustainability.
1968 Curitiba master plan adopted to control urban sprawl, reduce traffic,
develop public transport and preserve the historic sector.
Emphasis on keeping quality of life good for residents.
-28 Riverside parks
-100miles of city trails
-Land designed to reduce flooding.
Green Exchange program- people in shanty towns exchange rubbish for bus
tickets and food. 70% rubbish is recycled.
BRT System (Bus Rapid Transport)
-1st Brazilian city to have dedicated bus lanes.
Direct speedy bus routes.
Housing- city has public housing policy that ensures people have adequate
housing not just shelter.