Sustainable Cities!Ericah Lewis11D

Urbanization Urbanization- the creation and growth of

urban areas, or cities and their surrounding developed land.

Urban growth- the rate of increase of urban populations.

Grows in two ways- 1. immigration 2. natural increase

79% of Americans/ 50% of the world’s people live in urban areas.

Push/ Pull Factors Push- poverty, lack of land for growing

food, declining agricultural jobs, famine, and war.

Pull- jobs, food, housing, educational oppertunities, better health care, entertainment, and freedom

Four Major Trends in Urban Population 1. The proportion of the global population

living in urban areas is increasing. 2. Urban areas are expanding rapidly in

number and size. 3. Urban growth is much slower in

developed countries than in developing countries.

4. Poverty is becoming increasingly urbanized, mostly in developing countries.

Case Study: Urbanization in the U.S Percentage of Americans living in urban areas

between 1800-2008 has increased from 5% to 79%

This happened in four phases: 1.People migrated from rural areas to large

central cities. 2. Many people migrated from large central cities

to smaller cities or suburbs. 3. Many people have migrated from the North

and East to the South and West. 4. Some people have fled both cities and suburbs

and migrated to developed rural areas.

Urban Sprawl Urban Sprawl- the growth of low-density

development on the edges of cities and towns

Six major factors promoted urban sprawl in the U.S-

Ample land, government loans, automobile use and development encouraged, tax laws encourage home ownership, laws favoring large residential lots, multiple political jurisdictions.

Urbanization Advantages Cities are centers of economic

development, innovation, education, technological advances, and jobs, industry, commerce and transportation.

Longer lives, lower infant mortality rate and fertility rates.

Better access to medical care, family planning, education, and social services.

Recycling is more feasible, preserves biodiversity, saves energy.

Urbanization Disadvantages They have huge ecological footprints. They lack vegetation. They have water problems. They concentrate pollution and health problems. They have noise pollution- any unwanted,

disturbing, or harmful sound that impairs of interferes with hearing, causes stress, hampers concentration and work efficiency, or causes accidents.

They have different climates and experience light pollution.

Case Study: Mexico City The world’s second most populous city. 19 million people live there with an increase

of at least 400,000 each year. Suffers from severe air pollution, close to

50% unemployment, deafening noise, overcrowding, traffic congestion, inadequate public transportation, and soaring crime rate.

Air and water pollution causes an estimated 100,000 premature deaths per year.

City Expansion Cities can either grow outward or

upward. Outward growth creates dispersed

cities. Upward growth creates compact cities.

Motor Vehicles: Advantages/ Disadvantages Advantages: Convenient, comfortable,

power, sex appeal, social status Disadvantages: Kills app. 1.2 million

people a year, world’s largest source of air pollution, fastest growing source of climate changing carbon dioxide emissions, one third of the world’s oil consumption, traffic jams…

Alternatives to Vehicles Bicycles- healthy lifestyle, no emissions,

less congestion, cheap Heavy- rail systems (subways, elevated

railways, metro trains) Light- rail systems (street cars, trolley

cars, and tramways) Buses Rapid-rail system

vs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn_Xkx7TvbA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUEA8Q3TV10

Case Study: Destroying a Great Mass Transit System in the United States In 1917 all major cities in the U.S had light-

rail systems. Big vehicle related businesses such as

General Motors, Firestone Tire, SOC, Phillips Petroleum, and Mack Truck joined together to form Nation City Lines.

This company bought out and dismanteled privately owned streetcar systems in 83 major cities.

Their goal? Increase sales of cars!

Conventional Land-Use Planning Land-use planning encourages future

population growth and economic development, regardless of the environmental and social consequences.

Zoning- a process where various parcels of land are designated for certain uses.

Smart Growth Smart growth- encourages more

environmentally sustainable development and reduces the dependence on cars, controls and directs sprawl, and cuts wasteful resource use.

Good example of smart growth: Portland, Oregon. (Most livable/ greenest city in U.S)

The next nine greenest cities of the U.S are: San Francisco, Boston Oakland, Eugene, Cambridge, Berkley, Chicago, Austin and Minneapolis.

Preserving Open Space Urban growth boundary- draws a line

around each community and to allow no urban development outside those boundaries.

Forming municipal parks Surrounding large cities with a

greenbelt (an open area reserved for recreation, sustainable forestry and other nondestructive uses.

New Urbanism Cluster development- high density

housing units are concentrated on one portion of a parcel, with the rest of the land as a commonly shared open space.

New Urbanism/ Old Villageism principles: walkablilty, mixed-use and diversity, quality urban design, environmental sustainability, smart transportation

Case Study: China’s Vision for an Ecocity In 2008 China began constructing an

ecocity, called Dongtan. China wants Dongtan to be the first

“carbon neutral” city. (carbon emissions will be offset by its carbon absorption.)

The goal is to cut the city’s ecological footprint to half that of comparable conventional cities and to be the first “zero-solid-waste city”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ygw2L-Qi0c

Ecovillages Ecovillage movement- small groups of

people come together to design and live in more sustainable villages and eco-hoods in rural, suburban, and urban areas.

Now its your turn.. go forth and be an ecovillager!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPtg7KdFkWg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL_So666mYY – core case study!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk-JcsBfpa8