Urbanization

Living in cities or towns

  • The human population increase is now decreasing.

  • Rival- scattered houses.

*United States takes more geographical area.

Advantages:

  • Jobs/economic development

  • short commute

  • easier to access resources

  • education

  • cultural diversity

  • entertainment

  • conserve land when building up

  • easy recycle

Disadvantages:

  • expensive

  • less space

  • less nature

  • bad air quality

  • traffic

  • not as many ecological services

  • pollution

    • light, air, noise, heat, water

  • pathogen transmission

Urban Sprawl:

  • The uncontrolled and unplanned expansion of urban areas into the surrounding rural land.

  • Issue: It leads to more land being consumed for non-agricultural and non-natural habitat development, resulting in environmental and logistical challenges.

Importance of city planning:

  • Purpose: City planning is essential to manage growth and prevent sprawl.

  • Zoning: Municipalities must create zoning laws to designate specific areas for different types of development, such as residential, commercial, and agricultural.

    • Residential Zoning: Areas set aside for housing that regulate the density and type of residences.

    • Agricultural Zoning: Maintaining certain areas for farming to protect from being replaced by urban structures.

    • Natural Conservation: Preserving natural forests and ecosystems within city boundaries.

Growth Boundary:

  • Boundaries: Establishing clear boundaries for urban growth helps control the limits of expansion.

    • Example: Designating areas beyond certain boundaries specifically for agriculture or nature conservancies.

  • Encouragement of Vertical Development: By limiting horizontal expansion, cities are encouraged to develop upward (e.g., skyscrapers, multi-story buildings) rather than outward, preserving surrounding land.

  • Community Focus: Ensuring local communities grow sustainably and cohesively rather than allowing disjointed, spread-out neighborhoods that can arise from unchecked sprawl.

Green Belt: nature surrounding the city

Mixed-use development:

  • Buildings, churches, houses, and other institutions within a short distance from each other.

    • Ex. shop downstairs, apartment upstairs.

Mass transit: public transportation. Dense close together population.

Redesigning roads- cars take up a lot of space

Green spaces: Public nature spaces in the city, such as parks and community gardens.

Revitalization and Repurposing:

  • Remake into something new.

    • An old manufacturing building turned into a company building.

Gentrification: the displacement of individuals due to property value increase.

Stormwater Management:

  • Lots of flooding in urban areas due to concrete. No nature to absorb the water.

  • Solutions:

    • Bioswales- landscape features that collect, filter, and convey stormwater runoff while removing pollution and debris

      • gravel instead of concrete

      • plants on buildings

      • plants next to a sidewalk

Environmental Justice

In an environmentally just world, everyone has the right to a healthy environment.

Toxicology- How toxic substances are.

Acute Toxic:

  • Permanent damage

  • Life-threatening, one-dose

Chronic toxic:

  • Over time

  • Daily intakes of minimal concern

Chronic:

  • Arsenic

    • Naturally, it occurs in soil.

    • Poison

    • Damages kidneys, child development, and black spots over the body.

  • Mercury

    • Naturally occurring

    • Burning coal

    • Bioacculated and biomagnified

      • processes that occur when pollutants build up in organisms and increase in concentration as they move up a food chain

    • Brain damage (go mad), fertility

    • Released mainly through gold mining.

  • Bisphenol A (BPA)

    • In plastic

    • Mimicks endocrine system (hormones)

    • Increase cancer, fertility, and puberty.

  • Formaldehyde

    • Irriate the nose, skin, eyes, and throat

    • Breathing problems

    • In paint, products, cigarettes, new carpet.

  • Radon

    • Naturally occurring in certain regions inside the soil.

    • Radon detectors are needed since they can enter a household

    • Can cause lung cancer

  • Phthalates-

    • In plastic

    • Increase fertility and puberty

*Do NOT heat plastic or metal. Don’t know all the chemicals it contains. Heat causes chemicals to rise.

Redlining: 1930’s. Grading neighborhoods in terms of property values.

  • Old, white, powerful men did this during the great depression.

  • The city doesn’t invest in low-graded areas, which are mainly minorities.

  • Loss of generational wealth

  • Now illegal due to racism

Superfunds: Contaminated areas needing remediation (cleaning).