120 Ecology and Applied Environmental Science
recent decades such cities have attracted great masses of migrants from poor
countries; their economic activity is diverse, with partial de-industrialisation
and strengthening of the services sector. This development is creating new
problems, but also offers opportunities to reduce pollutant loads and other
environmental disturbances in urban areas.
The environment of many industrial cities has improved significantly in
recent decades because technologies have improved or polluting activities have
been moved elsewhere. Often a reduction in emissions and an improvement
in air quality have been noted. In other environmental sectors, however, such
as noise, there has rarely been any improvement worth noting. Motor-driven
vehicles, especially private cars, are the principal contributors to the environmental burden on urban centres in the industrial world. Nevertheless, the
recent slowdown in the upward trend in the number of cars, in conjunction
with stricter specifications for exhaust emissions, through cleaner technologies and more effective urban planning, have mitigated the adverse effects of
vehicle traffic. Improved public transport, using new, non-polluting, silent
and convenient means of transport, plays a decisive part in lifting the burden on the urban environment and improving the mobility of passengers
and pedestrians. Pedestrianisation of the historic and commercial centres of
many cities has made a decisive contribution to this end.
Public opinion has a vital role to play in promoting changes in the direction of sustainability in cities. In many urban centres, social pressure has
caused programmes for mass urban development to be abandoned, imposed
tion of old buildings and historic districts, cancelled programmes to construct urban highways and promoted the conversion of abandoned spaces
into recreation areas.
However, many industrial cities suffer from deteriorating infrastructures and social services. Unemployed people, the elderly and minorities
are trapped in the vicious cycle of degradation and poverty, as job opportunities and younger, better-educated people abandon the neighbourhoods in decline. The municipal authorities must often manage a heritage
that includes poorly designed and poorly maintained dwellings, rising
costs and a decreasing tax base. Most industrial countries, however, have
the means to address urban and economic deterioration through suitable
redistribution policies. In fact, such trends are often reversed through
enlightened policies involving cooperation between the public and private
sectors, with important investments in staff, institutions and technological innovations. The exodus of the population and of economic activities
creates severe economic and social difficulties, but at the same time it
makes way for new uses of various abandoned buildings, protects the
historic city centres from the threat of demolition and contributes to the
renewal of industrial cities.
recent decades such cities have attracted great masses of migrants from poor
countries; their economic activity is diverse, with partial de-industrialisation
and strengthening of the services sector. This development is creating new
problems, but also offers opportunities to reduce pollutant loads and other
environmental disturbances in urban areas.
The environment of many industrial cities has improved significantly in
recent decades because technologies have improved or polluting activities have
been moved elsewhere. Often a reduction in emissions and an improvement
in air quality have been noted. In other environmental sectors, however, such
as noise, there has rarely been any improvement worth noting. Motor-driven
vehicles, especially private cars, are the principal contributors to the environmental burden on urban centres in the industrial world. Nevertheless, the
recent slowdown in the upward trend in the number of cars, in conjunction
with stricter specifications for exhaust emissions, through cleaner technologies and more effective urban planning, have mitigated the adverse effects of
vehicle traffic. Improved public transport, using new, non-polluting, silent
and convenient means of transport, plays a decisive part in lifting the burden on the urban environment and improving the mobility of passengers
and pedestrians. Pedestrianisation of the historic and commercial centres of
many cities has made a decisive contribution to this end.
Public opinion has a vital role to play in promoting changes in the direction of sustainability in cities. In many urban centres, social pressure has
caused programmes for mass urban development to be abandoned, imposed
tion of old buildings and historic districts, cancelled programmes to construct urban highways and promoted the conversion of abandoned spaces
into recreation areas.
However, many industrial cities suffer from deteriorating infrastructures and social services. Unemployed people, the elderly and minorities
are trapped in the vicious cycle of degradation and poverty, as job opportunities and younger, better-educated people abandon the neighbourhoods in decline. The municipal authorities must often manage a heritage
that includes poorly designed and poorly maintained dwellings, rising
costs and a decreasing tax base. Most industrial countries, however, have
the means to address urban and economic deterioration through suitable
redistribution policies. In fact, such trends are often reversed through
enlightened policies involving cooperation between the public and private
sectors, with important investments in staff, institutions and technological innovations. The exodus of the population and of economic activities
creates severe economic and social difficulties, but at the same time it
makes way for new uses of various abandoned buildings, protects the
historic city centres from the threat of demolition and contributes to the
renewal of industrial cities.