APES CHAPTER 25 SUSTAINABLE CITIES: URBAN LAND USE ...



APES CHAPTER 25 SUSTAINABLE CITIES: URBAN LAND USE & MANAGEMENT

Ecocity characteristics

-Matter and Energy used efficiently

-Far less pollution and solid waste produced – recycle, reuse

-Uses locally available energy sources

-Buildings, vehicles, and appliances meet stiff energy efficiency

-Native trees and plants planted to provide shade, beauty, reduce pollution, noise and habitats for wildlife

-Lots and streams cleaned up

-Nearby farms, forest, grasslands and wetlands preserved

-food comes from nearby farms

-People oriented city – not car oriented

-Not the future now – Davis California

-A lot like the idea of Haile plantation

3 Urbanization and Urban Growth

Rate

Cities

cradles of civilization, centers of commerce, communication, technology, education, religion

centers of crowding, pollution and disease

If over 2,500 people called and URBAN Area

Rural Area – less than 2,500 people

Degree of urbanization – the percentage of population living in an urban area

Urban growth – is the rate of increase of urban populations- will happen more in developing countries

5 major trends

Since 1850’s 40%more population is living in cities

Number of large cities are mushrooming – megacities – cities with over 10 million people – name three

Developing countries will have over half their population (57%) living in the cities – more than N.A. Europe, Latin America and Japan combined

Developed countries will reach 84% urbanization

Poverty is becoming increasingly urbanized

Slums – 5-6 people in a room inner city

Squatter settlements or shanty towns - found in every country S.A. Barrios, Africa Bidonvilles, India – bustees – undeveloped land (dumps)that poor move onto and live in shacks

Cities do not improve because they do not want to encourage squatters – Some residents have made efforts to improve.

Causes of Urban Growth

Natural increase – more births than deaths

Immigration

economic reasons – jobs, poverty

political reasons – war

Societal – cities get more charity/welfare

Educational reasons

Case Study – MEXICO CITY – (Makesicko City)

Problems

Air pollution

naturally caused by the terrain – no wind

cars and factories

Slums – barrios – no water or sewer /fecal snow

Deforestation due to burning wood for fuel

Lakes dried up to over use

Solutions

industrializing other parts of Mexico – to lure people away

closed oil refinery

use unleaded gas and catalytic converters

plant trees to clean air

purchased land to provide green space

Urbanization of US

3 shifts in US history – since 1800

people moved to large central cities

1970 – moved from large central cities to suburbs

1980 – moved from north and east to south and west

problems

since 1920’s decreased

deteriorating services – aging infrastructures

lost taxes causing budget crunch

violence, crime and unemployment increasing

Major Spatial Patterns of Urban Development

Concentric Circle

ex. New York City

Central Business District

developed usually ringed with slums and then affluent neighborhoods

developing usually ringed with affluent and then slums

Sector City

grows in pie shaped wedges

ex. San Francisco

Multiple nuclei city

develops around multiple centers

ex. Los Angeles

Any can develop into a Megalopolis ex. Bowash

can cause urban sprawl when gas is cheap, plentiful land and good highways

urban sprawl bad because gobbles up habitats and farmland, dependent on car

Can also grow vertically like NY and Tokyo

What pattern do you see in Gainesville?

25.2 Urban resources and environmental problems

Environmental Effects

Problems caused by poverty and Problems caused by Affluence

Cities are not self sustaining – must import everything

Produce massive amounts of waste – pollution

Benefits

recycling more feasible

birth rates less in urban areas

better education opportunities

helps preserve biodiversity

Cities need to convert from linear metabolism to Circular metabolism –

Trees and Food Production in cities

Trees important for

absorbs air pollution

gives off oxygen

helps cool the air

muffles noise

provides wildlife habitats

worth $57,000 of environmental services over 50 year lifespan

Cities have a hard time growing own food, but many European countries do this in community gardens

Cities can encourage farmer’s market.

Water Supply problems

Cities must import large amounts of water from far distances

Covering land with asphalt means rain is not absorbed and then flooding occurs

Many cities built in low areas – near water intensifies flooding problems

Pollution Problems of Cities

Solid wastes builds up and can spread disease

Air pollution

Water purification and sewage

Heat pollution – cities are warmer, rainier foggier and cloudier than surrounding rural areas

Heat also traps pollutants

Tree planting prevents urban heat islands

Noise pollution – noise that interferes with hearing

causes deafness, high blood pressure etc.

measured in decibel-A (dbA)

75dbA damaging, 180 dbA can kill

5 ways to control noise

Modify noise activities and devices to produce less noise

Shield noisy devices

Move noisy operations away from people

Use antinoise, cancel out one noise with another

Cities affect on human health

Good

better education

better health care

better social services

bad

increases infectious diseases

industrial and traffic accidents

exposure to pollution

crime

Affect on rural areas

swallow up farmlands as they grow

means food must be transported farther – prices go up

Land prices and taxes rise – pushing farmers out

Crowd rural roads

Movement out eventually causes the same problems immigrants were moving away from. - + feedback

7 Transportation

Individual – cars, bicycles, walking

Mass – buses and rail systems

US – has 5% of pop but 35% of cars

US uses cars not only for transportation but also for symbols of status, power, etc.

One out of every 4 jobs are connected to the car

Car Cons

Very few people can afford it

causes death and injury

Largest source of air pollution

Use non renewable fossil fuels

Highways have caused social fragmentation

One third of urban land is used for roads, parking lots, etc.

Cars have not increased the average speed in cities

All these factors are hidden cost of cars – one way to pay for these things is to tax – user pays approach – gas -$5-6

Do away with tax breaks for using your car for business (subsidies)

Bicycles

Most used type of transportation in urban settings

Cheaper

No pollution

Go faster in crowed conditions

Are increasing in some cities

Unfortunately – decreasing in developing countries as they acquire affluence

Mass Transit in US

1. Only 8% in US, 15% Germany, 47%Japan

Car industries bought out cable car systems and dismantled to increase car and bus sales

20% of taxes go to mass transit 80% improvements of highways

Federal tax breaks for companies that provide parking, does not encourage use of mass transit or walking

Rail Systems – electric engines

3 systems

rapid rail – subway

regional trains – connect central cities with suburbs

light rail – trolleys or trams

Pros

energy efficient

less air pollution

fewer injuries

take up less land

availability to young, old, poor

cost a lot less to build and operate than highways

More passengers per driver

High Speed Regional Trains – bullet trains

Expensive to run so only good on long well traveled routes

Europe, Japan, Australia, China – have trains that take less time to get to an area than by flying. US is behind

MAGLEV trains – magnetic levitation rail - no friction, no noise, elevated over existing highways – very expensive.

Buses

Pros

more flexible – rerouted easily

don’t need tracks

cheaper

Cons

sometime operate in the red due to low fares to attract riders

can get caught in traffic

only profitable when full – some routes cut

25.4 Urban Planning and Control

Conventional Land Use Planning

Zoning – controversial – controlled by elected officials

2. Based on assumption that population growth and economic development should be encouraged.

3. Assumption made because most of revenue to run public services ( schools, police, fire, water, sewer) comes from property taxes.

4. Positive feedback loop

Encourage growth Get more people

Get more taxes

Need more taxes Need more services

5. If taxes get too high business and people move – leaving environmental decay

Ecological Land use planning

Complex process that takes in to account Geological, ecological , economic, health and societal factors

6 basic steps

Make and environmental and social inventory

Identify and prioritize goals – areas critical for preserving water, soil erosion and flooding

Develop individual and composite maps

Develop a master composite

Develop a master plan

Implement the master plan

Difficult because requires many years – due to being controlled by politics and politicians change every few years

Officials unwilling to pay for ecological land use planning

Need cooperation with surrounding areas – ex. Airport

Controlling land use

Allow zoning – land designated for certain activities

ex. Commercial, residential, industrial, utilities, transport, recreation, wetlands, floodplains

Bad because encourages urban sprawl when jobs away from home

Limit # of building permits

Tax according to actual use instead of Potential use

Japan and Western Europe have most comprehensive land use plans

In US only Oregon has a land use plan

25.5 Solutions – Making urban areas more Liveable

“History shows that the level achieved by a civilization can be measured by the degree to which it performs maintenance.” Eric Hoffer – philosopher/Longshoreman

Problems in US maintenance

Sewer backs us in Chicago, Boston has leaky pipes

Bridges and highways unsafe

Neglect due to budget cuts and neglect due to budget deficits

Urban Space can be preserved by

green spaces in the city – Central Park

Green belt around the city, kept by urban growth boundary

Cluster approach instead of typical row housing

Green ways – jogging paths, rail trails etc.

Build new towns?

Relieve pressure on overcrowded cities

3 basic types

a, satellite Towns

freestanding new towns

in town new towns

Need government help

How can we make towns more sustainable

more self reliant and energy efficient

Examples

give up lawns

cluster building

develop town center

plant lots of trees instead of cutting them down

people friendly not car centered

Good ex. Chattanooga Tenn, US and Curitiba, Brazil –

Primary problem not urbanization but our failure to make cities more sustainable and livable

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