Sustainable Urban Development (3.1.1) Intro Part 1 of 2

Define Economic Vitality

Adaptive to changing conditions and able to continue growing (attract new investments and employment for all)

Define Economic Sustainability

Ability of local community to sustain itself without causing irreversible damage to the resource base that it depends on.

Maximize productivity through sustainable growth (in relation to other dimensions)

Define Social Well-being

Ensures that people in the city can live safely, comfortably and fairly.

→ ensures safety, access to healthcare, education, and equitable access to housing and other needs

Define social sustainability

Reduction in inequalities and poverty, ensuring that everyone’s basic needs are met; improving overall quality of life

Define Environmental Integrity

It is the environmental processes the ensure long term sustainability of the environment (air, water, land), sustaining species and their habitats, preserving nature’s intrinsic value.

Define urban growth

Absolute increase in size of urban population

What are the factors that can cause urban growth?

• Natural increase (birth rates increase)

• Net immigration

Define urbanisation

Relative increase in proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas.

Define urbanization level

% of total population in the country that are living in urban areas

Define urbanisation rate

Rate at which % of people in the country living in urban areas grow or decline

Problems of urbanization + consequences

• Envir. Impacts — consume more resources in cities (food, energy and goods)

  • consequence: degradation of environment, waste production & pollution

• Social & Economic sustainability compromised — unequal access to services & opp, slums, urban sprawl

• Informal Sectors — operates outside gov regulations, ignoring sustainability goals and have limited access to formal planning.

  • consequence: loss of opportunity: could be integrated into urban systems to better it (waste management strategies, urban design innovations etc.)

What is urban population loss/shrinking cities & what does it lead to?

Economic and population decline over time

→ lead to drastic outflow of capital investment, declining revenues, giving rise to social & economic problems

Example of a shrinking city

USA, Detroit; Decline of automobile industry led to shutdown of factories and massive loss of employment. By 2010, there was a 61% decrease in its population from its peak in 1950, with business and middle class population leaving the city.

Left: Abandoned buildings, impoverished communities, declining tax base.

→ sharp increase in Detroit's poverty rate, doubling to 33% from 1970 to 2021.

Problems of waste management (in DCs)

High volume of waste

Challenges of waste management (in DCs)

1. High cost of disposal

2. Limited landfill space

Problems of waste management (in LDCs)

Lack of proper waste collection systems

Challenges of waste management (in LDCs) + consequences

Lack of funding for proper infrastructure

Consequences:

• Water pollution (of water bodies) from untreated sewage and industrial waste.

  • Loss of aquatic life + increase in water borne diseases

How can waste be treated then?

They can be seen as a potential resource (encouraging circular metabolism)

What is circular urban metabolism?

Waste becomes input/resource again (allows for output to be used)

→ cities can move from linear to circular systems

Define ecological footprint

Amount of land + resources needed to support a city’s population, consumption & production

Why do cities have high ecological footprint?

High demand for water, energy, land and materials that cannot be obtained within the city internally (need to outsource to other countries or in surrounding regions)

Changing Patterns of Ecological Footprint (past vs present)

In the Past:

• Cities depended on nearby resources

• Ecological footprint = local

Today:

• Globalisation allows cities to:

  • Source resources worldwide

  • Exploit resources beyond their region with little regard for environmental impact

Example of changing patterns in ecological footprints

Calgary, Canada 2007; ecological footprint calculated at 100 times the area of its city limits, with 9.8 global hectares per person; required 5 earths to maintain consumption levels.