The Environment in the City 129
• Hold the soil in place
• Create a milder microclimate
In a city surrounded by mountains, periurban forests offer basic protection
from floods, soil erosion, landslides and torrential phenomena.
A substantial proportion of cities have developed in coastal areas. Coasts,
as a periurban natural environment, offer cities many advantages, including:
• A milder microclimate
• Rapid renewal of the air
• Direct proximity to an extensive natural ecosystem
• Pleasant location, attractive landscape and seascape
• Increased possibilities for recreation
However, coastal ecosystems require careful management (Chapter 5)
because they are vulnerable and can degrade quickly if exposed to thoughtless interventions. In particular pollution by urban wastewater, rubbish,
industrial waste and waste from marine transport seriously damages the
ecological functions of coasts as well as their image. In addition, careless
planning of coastal works and indiscriminate extension of embankments
and break waters may irreparably destroy the periurban coastal environment.
Urban development, when not carefully planned, has extremely adverse
impacts on the periurban natural environment. Tendencies towards chaotic urban expansion are particularly destructive. Fires and clearing of
periurban forests are among the consequences of residential pressures on
the natural environment. Settlements that are created in this way may
be at risk for flooding and torrential phenomena, and also have a poorer
micro climate. Seasonal torrents in and around the city need careful management, particularly those whose riverbeds have been filled in, along with
illegal construction, culverting and inadequate engineering works, and
may create serious dangers to people living in the area.
Important adverse impacts on the natural environment and on periurban forests in particular are also caused by other activities associated
with urban development, such as excessive road cutting, modification of
major parts of the natural environment to accommodate vehicle traffic
and parking, excessive or haphazard creation of recreation and sports
venues, plantings of unsuitable and non-indigenous plant species, uncontrolled
logging, etc. In general, the harmonious coexistence of the city
with its periurban natural environment requires that people and nature
be regarded as two separate parts of a single system. Green spaces and
the overall natural environment of the urban and periurban space must be
regarded as the city’s broader ecosystem, the necessary complement to the
buildings and other structures, within which the city dweller must adapt
and develop as a biological and social being.
• Hold the soil in place
• Create a milder microclimate
In a city surrounded by mountains, periurban forests offer basic protection
from floods, soil erosion, landslides and torrential phenomena.
A substantial proportion of cities have developed in coastal areas. Coasts,
as a periurban natural environment, offer cities many advantages, including:
• A milder microclimate
• Rapid renewal of the air
• Direct proximity to an extensive natural ecosystem
• Pleasant location, attractive landscape and seascape
• Increased possibilities for recreation
However, coastal ecosystems require careful management (Chapter 5)
because they are vulnerable and can degrade quickly if exposed to thoughtless interventions. In particular pollution by urban wastewater, rubbish,
industrial waste and waste from marine transport seriously damages the
ecological functions of coasts as well as their image. In addition, careless
planning of coastal works and indiscriminate extension of embankments
and break waters may irreparably destroy the periurban coastal environment.
Urban development, when not carefully planned, has extremely adverse
impacts on the periurban natural environment. Tendencies towards chaotic urban expansion are particularly destructive. Fires and clearing of
periurban forests are among the consequences of residential pressures on
the natural environment. Settlements that are created in this way may
be at risk for flooding and torrential phenomena, and also have a poorer
micro climate. Seasonal torrents in and around the city need careful management, particularly those whose riverbeds have been filled in, along with
illegal construction, culverting and inadequate engineering works, and
may create serious dangers to people living in the area.
Important adverse impacts on the natural environment and on periurban forests in particular are also caused by other activities associated
with urban development, such as excessive road cutting, modification of
major parts of the natural environment to accommodate vehicle traffic
and parking, excessive or haphazard creation of recreation and sports
venues, plantings of unsuitable and non-indigenous plant species, uncontrolled
logging, etc. In general, the harmonious coexistence of the city
with its periurban natural environment requires that people and nature
be regarded as two separate parts of a single system. Green spaces and
the overall natural environment of the urban and periurban space must be
regarded as the city’s broader ecosystem, the necessary complement to the
buildings and other structures, within which the city dweller must adapt
and develop as a biological and social being.