The Urban Environment

Transcription

1 The Urban Environment GLOBAL URBAN GROWTH 1. Global patterns of urban growth and urbanisation Urbanisation is caused by rural to urban migration the movement of people from the countryside to the city due to push and pull factors. Urbanisation means the increase in the % of people living in urban areas. It started in MEDCs in the 19 th century and from the 1950s in LEDCS. Today half the world s population live in urban areas (75% in MEDCs and 40% in LEDCs) 2. Problems of pollution in urban areas. Increased traffic leads to air pollution (CO2 from car exhausts) which creates health problems e.g. asthma and pollutes the atmosphere (acid rain, global warming). Increased demand for power leads to more power stations being built. This takes up more land and leads to more air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. Urban sprawl as more buildings are built there is less and less green space. Water pollution caused by waste and rubbish being dumped in urban rivers. Also run off from roads adds salt and oil into rivers leading to the death of fish. Smog e.g. LA where smoke is mixed with fog to create a huge cloud of pollution over urban areas. 3. Managing the movement of people and traffic in urban areas. Park and ride schemes car parks are built on the edge of the city. Commuters drive there, park their cars and ride the bus into the city. This reduces the amount of traffic on the roads and therefore reduces air pollution as well as noise pollution and traffic congestion. E.g. Chester Park and Ride. Traffic free days Paris has days where only odd or even number plates are allowed to drive. Free buses are provided for these days. This reduces traffic on the roads and therefore reduces air pollution. It also encourages people to take the bus. Improved public transport systems e.g. Curitiba BRT integrated bus system is cheap, fast and reliable. 80% of all commuters use the buses and this massively reduces traffic problems. Increased pedestrianized areas both Curitiba and Paris have wide pedestrianized areas in the centre of the city. This encourages people to walk, reduces noise and air pollution and improves environmental quality. Development of green space in Curitiba they planted over 1.5 million trees which block out the ugly views, reduce noise pollution and clean the air (soak up CO2).

2 INEQUALITIES IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (MEDCS) 1. INEQUALITIES in London. In London, there are major differences in some socio-economic characteristics - in other words they have socio-economic inequalities. E.g. Average income is very high in Chelsea but much lower in Tower Hamlets and Docklands. Therefore some people cannot afford to keep their home and garden looking good and the area can get run down. Also they may need to use food banks to feed their families. Unemployment rate is higher in inner city areas like Tower Hamlets and docklands but it is much lower in Harrow. High unemployment can lead to problems like crime and vandalism as well as increased drug use and gangs e.g. Brixton. % of people who own their own homes is lower in inner city areas like Docklands but is higher in Chelsea. If people don t own their home they are less likely to spend money making it look good and the area can get run down. REASONS FOR THIS PATTERN: Many wealthy people chose to move out of the city and into the suburbs or surrounding countryside. The PUSH factors are traffic noise, air pollution, high property prices, not enough space, crime. The PULL factors are clean countryside air, peace and quiet, cheaper homes, more space and less crime. People who earn less cannot afford to move away so they stay in the inner city. 2. Ways inequalities can be reduced London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) PROBLEMS in Docklands racial tension, low income, unemployment, overcrowding, vandalism, graffiti, noise and air pollution, derelict and empty buildings, drugs, poor schools, little open space. REGENERATION The LDDC was set up in 1981 to regenerate London docklands. To do this they improved the following: Housing 22,000 luxury homes built and 10,000 old terraced houses refurbished; Services new shopping malls built, college and university of East London set up, leisure facilities set up with indoor arena; Environment 750 hectares of derelict land reclaimed, 200,000 trees planted and 130 hectares of open space created; Employment 90,000 jobs created, many new firms e.g. Stock Exchange, ITV studios, Sun newspaper; Transport new railway link and Underground extension, city airport built, new roads e.g. M11 link. PROBLEMS STILL REMAINING new jobs went to skilled people not the locals, new houses too expensive for the locals, house prices too high.

3 URBANISATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (LEDCS) 1. Causes of urban growth natural increase and migration NATURAL INCREASE is the increase in population caused by high birth rates and lower death rates. Birth rates are higher in LEDCs as people have less access to contraception and large families are needed to support parents when they are older. Death rates are falling as access to health care improves. MIGRATION this is the movement of people to a new home. E.g. Rural to urban migration is the movement of people from countryside areas to cities. The rapid rate of rural to urban migration in LEDCs has caused a lot of problems e.g. shanty towns like Kibera. 2. Social and economic advantages of urban growth Urban areas (cities) can help the poorest people begin to get a better life for themselves and their families e.g. with better access to education so the children can learn to read and write so they can get a good job in the future and leave the shanty town. Shanty towns provide low cost housing for the poor, which is better than living on the street. Community spirit can be high and neighbours look after each other. There are more job opportunities in urban areas e.g. informal sector jobs like shoe shine, recycling paper and charcoal, running VIP toilets. The urban poor provide a huge labour force for the essential jobs that keep the city running e.g. recycling, litter picking, sewing. There is some access to clean water, sanitation and health care and it is getting better all the time. 3. Problems of urban growth CASE STUDY: Kibera Shanty Town, Nairobi. HOUSING houses are built close to the Ngong River, on land that no one else wants because it is prone to flooding. The houses are usually one room for up to 10 people to share. The walls are made of mud and wood and roofs from plastic or corrugated iron. When it rains the houses leak. Families sleep on the floor which is bare earth. SQUATTER DEVELOPMENT many homes are built illegally on land that doesn t belong to them. They are unplanned and often unsafe too. ELECTRICITY most homes have access to just enough electricity for one light. Often this electricity supply is illegal and unsafe. WATER SUPPLY - water for washing and drinking comes from one single tap shared by up to 40 families. The pipes that lead to the tap are often cracked so dirty sewage can get in. This leads to the spread of disease e.g. cholera and typhoid. WATER POLLUTION - Rivers are polluted with raw sewage and rubbish because there is no sewage system for people to go to the toilet and there are no bin collections. Sewage runs down tracks between the houses. There are also a lot of mosquitos which spreads malaria as well. INCREASED DEMAND FOR SERVICES as the population continues to grow, the schools, clinics and water supply cannot cope. There are too many people. POOR EDUCATION many families have up to 10 children and there are not enough school places for them all. School fees are also too high for many families. So many children cannot read or write therefore they cannot get a well-paid job. JOBS most people work in the informal sector this means they do not have a formal job instead they make money by recycling rubbish, or set up small stalls at their house. They earn very little money and if they are sick and can t work they get nothing. CRIME drugs, prostitution, theft and illegal squatting are all problems because many people become desperate to earn money however they can. It is very difficult for the police to control this as the population is so big and often there are powerful gangs in the shanty towns.

4 4. Solutions to Problems in LEDCs KIN (Kibera in Need) is a charity that get people in the UK to sponsor a child for 20/month. This money is used to send the children to school, buy school uniforms and food. This way the children get a good education and will be able to get a better job and hopefully leave Kibera when they are older. They also give a free meal to children once each week and send them home with some corn to feed their families. Finally they run adult education centres e.g. teaching about contraception to try to reduce birth rates as well as helping local people set up their own businesses e.g. recycling paper to make and sell jewellery. By providing better education, the people have a better chance of looking after themselves in the future. LOW COST HOUSE IMPROVEMENTS cheap breeze blocks and tiles are given to people to rebuild their homes. The bricks are stronger than the wood and mud houses. Some underground sewers have been built to help reduce the spread of disease from raw sewage. Houses have water tanks on the roof to collect rainwater (cleaner than drinking river water). SELF HELP SCHEMES local people are given the building material and they are trained to build the houses themselves as well as dig ditches and clear sites. This teaches them new skills so they can get more jobs in the future and it improves community spirit as people work together. Money saved by using local people is then spent on providing clean water supply, tarred roads and community centres. WATER AND SANITATION PROJECTS - three 10,000 litre water tanks and two VIP latrines are run by KWAHO so people can pay for clean water which will reduce disease. They also run regular classes on hygiene and sanitation so people understand how to reduce the spread of disease e.g. by cleaning their hands properly. Finally they have a solar-disinfection project run by local people where water in bottles in disinfected by using UV rays from the sun for 6 hours. They then sell this water to make money to continue to run the scheme.

5 SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN URBAN AREAS 1. What is urban sustainability? For a city to be sustainable it needs to be able to provide a good standard of living for its residents as well as cause very little damage to the environment. In order to achieve this it needs to: Use renewable energy for electricity e.g. wind and solar power. Recycle and reuse as much of its waste as possible. Collect and manage its own water supply. Develop a fully integrated transport system that causes very little pollution. Provides good quality housing for its residents. Preserve and manage the environment and create green areas throughout the city. 2. Examples Sustainability in Cities: Carbon neutral housing/renewable energy e.g. BEDZED in London has 100 houses made of natural materials that use 90% less energy than a normal home for heating. They have large windows facing the sun to there is lots of natural light so less lighting is needed; they have double glazing and high levels of insulation to reduce energy loss; there is a local power station that uses tree waste and this provides the houses with hot water; solar panels on the roof are used for electricity; rainwater is collected and used for flushing toilets and for heating. Greening Urban Areas this means increasing the amount of green space in towns and cities. This helps to reduce flooding (trees soak up rain), reduces noise pollution (trees block out traffic noise), reduces summer heat, improve air quality, make the area look nicer and provide a pleasant place for people to walk and meet. BEDZED, London they plant gardens on the roof and on balconies. Curitiba, Brazil over 1.5 million tress have been planted and sheep are used to keep grass in the parks cut. Recycling/sustainable resource use BEDZED recycles the dirty water produced to flush toilets. Curitiba has a green exchange where slum dwellers who collect rubbish can exchange it for a bus ticket. Sustainable city: Curitiba, Brazil UNIT 1 (Coasts and Urban Environments): Tuesday 24 May 2016 UNIT 2 (Hazards and Tourism): Wednesday 8 June 2016