- What are some of the key urban sustainability issues/challenges facing developing and developed countries?
Health, good working and clean environment, proper and inline development of infrastructure, technological developments are few of the issues faced by both developing and developed countries of the world in urban sustainability. Increased growth of population, poverty, expansion of cities, at the same time less amount of financial assistance are some of the issues of great concern for the developing countries. These issues are not of main problems for the developed countries. The huge ratio of migration from rural areas to urban areas both in developing and developed countries have become a great challenge for the countries as well as globally an issue has been developed. If we look at the developing countries, they are in a state of constant changes and developments. Developing countries are entering into an era where industrialization, modernization is taking place with higher speed.
In order to face to such changes in the developing countries, the need is there to sustain the urbanization. Urbanization issues are also increasing with the passage of time as the developing is taking place in the developing countries. If we look closely to the definition of urban development and its sustainability, we can come to know that there are more chances of development in urban areas and thus migrations takes place from rural to urban areas. When these migrants come to urban areas, many issues arise. For developed countries, there are certain line and length on which the development is going on, while in developing countries the issues are more serious. Health, education, development of healthy and working environment are the most important issues faced due to sustainability. According to the report of “House of Representatives Standing committee on Environment and Heritage,” the system of urban areas is very difficult to understand. According to the report that whether developing or developed countries are, the total sustainability can be achieved when we know the exact concept of urbanization, know the individual planning and human habits in accordance with the urbanization plans and rules (Peter Newton 26 JUNE 2003). This committee conducted a survey and formed a report based on that survey. That survey shows that the key issues in both developing and underdeveloped countries are:
- Sewerage system. The sewerage system is usually a closed one and thus not diverting water flow.
- Improving methods for the good flow of water and to sustain them are needed.
- Distribute energy system to make economical use of energy. Like solar energy.
- And an induction of environment friendly industries is necessary.
So according to the report the above stated issues should be taken into consideration. These are the challenging issues for both developing and developed countries.
- How does the concept of an urban metabolism help us to think about the sustainability of cities, and what is meant when we talk about moving from linear to circular metabolism?
Urban metabolism means moving of energy resources within the cities. According to the writer of the book Paulo Ferrao and John E. Fernandez, urban metabolism is a new and unique concept. This concept creates a mutual relationship among environmental, social, economic and technological factors. These factors relationship cause a good platform for information-oriented societies. The metabolism of cities includes a larger amount of energy and resources flowing with the available amount of space. With the inflow of resources, the wastes that are already available are flown out from the cities.
According to the few authors, to reduce the problems of urban metabolism few steps should be taken to move from linear to circular metabolism. Linear metabolism involves flowing within the straight line along with the impact of waste materials that is flowing out of the city. From nature point of view, circular metabolism is developed everywhere. The process of circular metabolism includes all the resources and energy that is being consumed, and the unwanted energy is reused or disposed off materials are recycled or reused, thus in such a way no hazardous emission in the environment and keeping environment safe and clean. So moving from linear metabolism to circular metabolism means to use full available resources and circulating again the unused or disposed resources by reusing or recycling them
- What are some of the key principles we should embrace for more sustainable cities?
The key principles for embracing more sustainable cities are advocated by many organizations. To embrace sustainability is one of the challenging tasks. More and more people come to the cities for better lifestyle and more earnings. However, a health, education, jobs, green and healthy environment, protection of humanity, technological advancements are few of the issues that should be addressed. And based on these issues, the key principles should be set forward. According to the book written on the way how cities were built in 19th century and now how they are constructed. The writer writes that 19th century houses were known for good terraces, wide lawns in the urban areas. Now this has changed to narrow and limited area. The writer is of the view that for construction of buildings, homes, towns or cities, the planners should think about next hundred years (David Rudlin 1999).
There should be diversification in all sectors of life. People need not to live very close to each other and depend on each other. Similarly, the induction of healthy and green environment in the cities makes more sustainable cities. People will love to work in a good environment. When more and more people are migrating towards cities for better and brighter future, it causes a huge burden on the land of any city. That case may cause less sustainable cities. So to avoid such haphazard solution, avoid insufficiency of natural resources like water, the main principle should be to accommodate as much as they can or otherwise provide more and more natural resources. According to the book named” world cities and urban forum,” the various countries of the world as Europe, Asia, North America countries having cities that have sustainability and the reason being an adherence to the exact plans (Mike Jenks 02-DEC-2013). The author has showed the city like Australia where there is good sustainability principles applied, and on the other hand, the cities that are not adopting the principles of sustainability.
References:
David Rudlin, NF 1999, Buiding the 21st Century. The sustainable neighbourhood., Architectural Press.
Mike Jenks, DKPT 02-DEC-2013, World Cities and Urban Form: Fragmented, Polycentric, Sustainable?, Routledge.
Peter Newton, JM 26 JUNE 2003, 'The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage.', CISRO Response. Inquiry into sustainable cities 2025., CISRO manufacturing and information technology, Canberra.
