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Urbanization
Urbanization, or Urban Drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. Urbanization is also defined by the United Nations as movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration.
Urbanization Urbanization is closely linked to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization.
Causes of urbanisation
Urbanization means an increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas compared to rural areas. An urban area is a built-up area such as a town or city. A rural area is an area of countryside.
Causes of urbanization
As a country industrializes, the number of people living in urban areas tends to increase. People migrated from rural areas (due to the mechanization in farming) to urban areas where there was employment in the new factories. The area of cities known as the inner city developed during this time as rows of terraced housing were built for workers.
Causes of urbanization
Today the UK is a mostly urban society, with 90% of the population living in towns or cities. Although the UK is an urban society, more and more people are choosing to live on the edge of urban areas - with many relocating to the countryside. This is called counter-urbanization.
Some cities have tried to manage this problem by introducing traffic management schemes. These schemes may include: Park and ride schemes. Cycle lanes. Congestion charging schemes, such as those in Durham and London. Car-pooling, as used in the USA, to encourage people to share cars.
Low Emission Zones, as in London. Local councils have also tried to make the roads in urban areas safer by introducing traffic calming, pedestrian zones, vehicle-exclusion zones and permit-only parking schemes.
Park and Ride scheme operating in Plymouth The introduction of Park and Ride schemes. People park in car parks on the edge of a settlement and catch regular buses into the centre.
Taxi cabs on a New York street Car pooling - people are encouraged to share cars. This has been used in a lot in the USA.
Permit holder parking in Westminster Permit holder parking - certain parts of the city, particularly near the centre, are designated as permit parking only. This means that people must have a permit to park in that area. This reduces the number of people driving in to towns and cities as parking opportunities are restricted.
Vehicle exclusion sign Vehicle exclusion zones - certain types of vehicles are excluded from certain parts of a city, eg large vehicles may not be allowed to enter narrow roads or residential areas.
Speed bump in a residential area in London Traffic calming - roads narrowing and speed bumps make traffic move slower around narrower streets. Narrow roads may restrict the type of vehicle that can enter certain parts of the city.
CASE STUDY
This means more and more vehicles on the road which leads to traffic congestion, waste of time for all the commuters, and a great load of particulate matter and carbon monoxide from the exhaust of vehicles. This causes a rise in the number of people having serious respiratory diseases. Thus there is a need to develop a more efficient public transport system and discourage the use of individual vehicles in all our urban areas.
Each of us as an environmentally conscious individual must reduce our use of energy. An unnecessary light left on carelessly adds to energy use. Imagine the amount of energy wasted by thousands of careless people. If we learned to save electricity, we would begin to have a more sustainable lifestyle.
Program Considerations
The Enabling Environment Successful UEM frameworks require a systemic understanding of local and regional environments. UEM programs should integrate the social, public health, political, economic and natural environment linkages inherent to the urban environment. This requires: A holistic understanding of a city's regional environmental quality and natural resource constraints. A means of mapping and prioritizing key problems and designing specific interventions within an environmental action plan. UEM problems are multi-sectoral and systemically linked, yet they cannot all be resolved all at once.
Contd
A focus on environmentally sound economic development, balancing growth needs with the resiliency and carrying capacity of ecological systems. Recognition of the local impact of emerging global environmental issues like global climate change. Implementation of participatory community planning practices that include representatives from key stakeholder groups. Integration of market incentives and appropriate cost recovery mechanisms that ensure timely and costeffective delivery of environmental services.
Environmental Maps:
To be most useful for planning purposes, environmental maps developed with landsat imagery, aerial photographs, and data from soil, air and water samples should include the location and types of existing infrastructure and human settlements as well as the geographical features of the chosen locality . Where data is available, layers can be added that will exhibit the current reach of water supply, sanitation, health, fire and other city services.
Contd.
Information compiled can be combined with demographic surveys and fed into a GIS mapping tool that will act as a "one-stop-shop", allowing city managers to view the environmental quality and services in their cities from a holistic perspective. The maps convey information that can help policy-makers make important decisions about growth and development in their cities.
Community Surveys:
Community surveys, when properly conducted, can elicit important information about land-use patterns and physical features that could not be accessed in any other way. Surveys also need to account for land-use preferences? how people would prefer to use the natural resources around them. An understanding of people's preferences is an important step that will allow planners to engage the community in a discussion around the long-term impacts of different kinds of use patterns.
Contd.
If UEM is to be effective it must be fully integrated with municipal planning and budgeting processes. It is possible that individual components can be achieved through isolated action on the part of NGOs and other interested parties but the process will not be fully effective until it is institutionalized.
Implementation:
There are number of tools available for the implementation of EMS. Regulatory frameworks established at the national level should recognize that environmental management will be largely implemented at the local level, and thus should grant some flexibility to local governments. For example, a city can enforce strict environmental standards in residential areas and simpler standards in zones where adverse impacts are not as great. Capital improvement plans - linked to the budget - must consider protecting ecosystems when planning for new roads and other infrastructure. The placement of trunk infrastructure will largely determine where industries and residents locate.
Contd.
Many cities own surplus land that could be used more efficiently by the private sector, while slowing the encroachment of vulnerable ecosystems in outlying areas. In these land deals, the city should dictate that the buyer use the land in an environmentally sensitive manner. Public/private partnerships can be developed to establish and achieve mutually agreed upon benchmarks on pollution abatement.
Contd.
Pollution fines and incentive-based programs can be designed to correct for market failures, increase the accountability of polluters and increase efficiencies at the production sites. If the government does not have the capacity to enforce compliance or if polluters cannot be not clearly identified, the inputs used in production can be taxed as an indirect way of making the polluter pay. Subsidies and capital grants can be distributed for pollution-control equipment. Natural disaster and environmental hazard mitigation activities can be implemented - such as flood plain delineation, storm drainage systems, steep slope protections, and the development of building restrictions to govern ecologically sensitive areas.
Urban Slums
Slum dwellers both contribute to and are victims of urban pollution. High population densities and unregulated urban growth combined with a lack of environmental services, cause slum residents to further contribute to the poor environmental quality of informal settlements. The environmental risks of these settlements perpetuate the cycle of urban environmental degradation and contribute to greater economic and environmental vulnerability, both for low-income households and the urban area at large.
Urban Slums
Lessons learned from developing countries show that the informal settlements with the least land security also harbor the greatest in-migration and population density; face the greatest environmental risks; and have the least coverage of urban services. Without effective property rights and legal or de facto recognition of informal settlements, the urban poor have neither the incentives nor the proper legal channels to reinvest in improving their communities and to strengthen the social networks necessary for community environmental planning and upgrading. Effective EMS planning and participatory slum upgrading projects can lessen the environmental costs of informal settlements and mitigate future slum creation.
Contd.
Other investments must be made in laboratory facilities and specialized testing and analysis rooms (for example, dust free rooms for trace level sample preparation). Environmental education of the public through presentations at schools and information sharing with the media and environmental NGOs, will greatly increase a city's ability to monitor compliance at a relatively low cost. Knowing that there are watchdogs will also deter polluters.
Contd.
Selection of appropriate growth management controls, while largely dependent upon local political and geographical contexts, must also balance the environmental priorities of the community-at-large. The adoption of a mix of most appropriate tools is designed to mitigate environmental impacts and vulnerabilities associated with rapid and unplanned urbanization. Policy concerns include: mitigating and/or preventing urban slum growth, redistributing pressure from urban squatters into more effective community participation, decreasing pollution and natural resources contamination, and regulating population, commercial and industrial densities.
Sustainable cities
Many people are working towards trying to make cities more sustainable. A sustainable city offers a good quality of life to current residents but doesn't reduce the opportunities for future residents to enjoy. Key features of a sustainable city Resources and services in the city are accessible to all. Public transport is seen as a viable alternative to cars. Public transport is safe and reliable. Walking and cycling is safe. Areas of open space are safe, accessible and enjoyable. Wherever possible, renewable resources are used instead of non-renewable resources. Waste is seen as a resource and is recycled wherever possible.
New homes are energy efficient. There is access to affordable housing. Community links are strong and communities work together to deal with issues such as crime and security. Cultural and social amenities are accessible to all. Inward investment is made to the CBD. A sustainable city will grow at a sustainable rate and use resources in a sustainable way.