Cities and urban sustainability

Urban sustainability

Living together in the urban fabric

“Nowhere has humankind altered the environment more than in cities”

John McNeill

What is a sustainable city?

• Environment?• Economic?• Social?

• Brainstorm topics!

• (my ideal city)

http://www.envirohealthsense.org/tag/urban-sustainability/

The city as a system

• What is a system?• In its basic meaning a system consists of

inputs, processes and outputs

What do you think we mean by inputs and outputs?

• Inputs• Food• Energy• Goods• Materials• Water• People

• = resources

• Outputs• Waste =• Solid• Liquid• Atmospheric• Noise• People

• = garbage and pollution

The linear city

The linear metabolism city is the traditional way that cities have always functioned. Inputs go in, are used and the result is outputs in the form of waste

The circular metabolism cityIn this model, applied for sustainable development, processes involve recycling, resource management and technology to reduce resource consumption. This reduces both inputs and outputs placing less strain on the environment and thus on the urban population

Environment

• Energy consumption• Water: consumption, polution• Waste: removal, recycling, restricting• Air: quality, movement, temperature• Natural environment and habitats

The environmental dilemma

• Cities in MEDCs have met:– Most social and economic goals for sus.dev.– But draw heavily on enviromental capital (wealth =

consumption)• Cities in LEDCs have not met:– Most social or economic goals– But do not draw greatly on environmental capital

Environment and Urbanisation, Vol. 4, No. 2 October 1992

The Urban Ecological Footprint• What is an ecological footprint?• It is a measurement of how

much land, water and natural resources a person, city, country or humanity as a whole requires to produce the resources it consumes and to dispose of its waste

Read more: The Definition of Ecological Footprints | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5090820_definition-ecological-footprints.html#ixzz0x8GoHoDt

Remember...

• An ecolocical footprint (thus an urban ecological footprint) is composed of

• All the resources required to sustain a population

• Food• Water• energy

Social sustainability – urban sustainability

General social aspects• Equity• Advocacy • Ethics • Human rights

Urban aspects• Participation• Integration• Opportunity

Generally we can say that social sustainability and especially urban social sustainability has challanging social exclusion as its target

Social exclusion

• Breaking down barriers that create social exclusion:– Social barriers– Political barrriers– Economic barriers

• These barriers create– Material poverty– Segregation– isolation

Views on development

• Traditional:– Emphasis on poverty and unequal distribution of

resources– Still relevant in poorest states (think Maslow)

• Social:– Unequal participation– Poor social integration– Discrepancies in power

Urban sustainability topics

• ownership: how land and property is owned (tenure),• Providing housing and education• Planning and maintaining assets – social and physical• Social networks • Transport and communications• IT• Leisure; sports, stadiums, the 24 hour city• Regeneration

The Egan

Wheel

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcomloc/1014/1014we16.htm

Housing issues

• Neighbourhood effect – good or bad?• Housing mix - ownership• Maintainence and development - assets

http://www.statistikomstockholm.se/images/statistik_pa_karta/2012/andel_lgh_i_br_std.png

http://www.statistikomstockholm.se/images/statistik_pa_karta/2013/F%C3%B6r%C3%A4ndring%202004-2013%20av%20l%C3%A4genhetsbest%C3%A5ndet%20och%20antal%20l%C3%A4genheter%202013.png

Maintaining assets

• Assets may be physical or social• Physical assets:– buildings, open spaces, roads and other

infrastructure• Social assets:– Social capital, socially bonded groups,

Physical assets

• Where are we? Developing or developed settlements?– Level and source of technology/materials– Who owns/provides buildings?– Are buildings used as planned? If not, why?– Who has decided changes?– Can local skills be used?– Who makes planning decisions?– Is the decision voluntary (desired change), or forced (repair

is necessary)?– Who’s interests do changes serve?

Social assets and physical planning

• Do social groups exist?• Are they homogenous or stratified?– Are there habits within groups that need to change?– Do social groups exhibit antisocial behaviour?– To what extent can change lead to sustainable

behaviour?• Do institutional or organisational frameworks

sustain, prevent, facilitate or limit social bonded groups?