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10 Sustainability
10.4.2.1 Constructions and Human Settlements
Throughout the last decades, we have experienced unprecedented and exponential
urban growth. Close to four billion people (54% of the world’s population) lived in
cities in 2015, and this number is only projected to increase to around five billion
people by 2030. This rapid urbanization has resulted in tremendous pressure on
the environment, and with over 4% of the Earth’s entire land area now occupied
by cities, it has created a number of challenges (Moldan et al. 2012). Increased air
pollution and unplanned urban sprawl into the environment are the most damaging
consequences. The safe management and removal of waste from our cities also
present a further set of environmental challenges. However, these will be discussed
in further detail later.
While it may sound counterintuitive, urbanization can actually benefit the
environment. People that live in dense cities generally drive less and their homes
require less energy. This results in decreased resource consumption, and as such,
leads to less pollution. However, while as a general rule this may be true, there
are a number of aspects of urban life that can cause negative consequences. With a
densely populated city, there is greater traffic congestion that leaves cars stationary,
often for a long period of time, which leads to the burning of gasoline while idling,
a fossil fuel and energy source that is responsible for a large amount of pollution
across the world.
Many cities also often construct their buildings using materials from nonrenewable sources, much of which is imported from a great distance, therefore
increasing the amount of energy consumed via transportation. Indeed, the energy
that powers a city may also come from a distant location, where a power station
may not be within a city’s limits, further increasing the energy cost for our cities to
operate.
Identify three world cities that construct their buildings from sustainable
resources. How can this be emulated globally?
In order to address this unsustainable nature, a new concept is the creation of
“eco-city.” These are essentially cities designed with careful urban planning that
consider their environmental impact and place an emphasis on the minimization of
water, energy, and food inputs as well as the minimization of waste outputs such as
air pollution and heat. For a city to achieve environmental sustainability, it needs
to be able to feed itself with a sustainable reliance on the nearby countryside and
should be able to power itself on sustainable renewable energy sources. These ecocities can be achieved through a variety of methods, many of which have already
begun to be incorporated into many greener cities around the world. An example is
Copenhagen which is touted to be Europe’s greenest city.
10 Sustainability
10.4.2.1 Constructions and Human Settlements
Throughout the last decades, we have experienced unprecedented and exponential
urban growth. Close to four billion people (54% of the world’s population) lived in
cities in 2015, and this number is only projected to increase to around five billion
people by 2030. This rapid urbanization has resulted in tremendous pressure on
the environment, and with over 4% of the Earth’s entire land area now occupied
by cities, it has created a number of challenges (Moldan et al. 2012). Increased air
pollution and unplanned urban sprawl into the environment are the most damaging
consequences. The safe management and removal of waste from our cities also
present a further set of environmental challenges. However, these will be discussed
in further detail later.
While it may sound counterintuitive, urbanization can actually benefit the
environment. People that live in dense cities generally drive less and their homes
require less energy. This results in decreased resource consumption, and as such,
leads to less pollution. However, while as a general rule this may be true, there
are a number of aspects of urban life that can cause negative consequences. With a
densely populated city, there is greater traffic congestion that leaves cars stationary,
often for a long period of time, which leads to the burning of gasoline while idling,
a fossil fuel and energy source that is responsible for a large amount of pollution
across the world.
Many cities also often construct their buildings using materials from nonrenewable sources, much of which is imported from a great distance, therefore
increasing the amount of energy consumed via transportation. Indeed, the energy
that powers a city may also come from a distant location, where a power station
may not be within a city’s limits, further increasing the energy cost for our cities to
operate.
Identify three world cities that construct their buildings from sustainable
resources. How can this be emulated globally?
In order to address this unsustainable nature, a new concept is the creation of
“eco-city.” These are essentially cities designed with careful urban planning that
consider their environmental impact and place an emphasis on the minimization of
water, energy, and food inputs as well as the minimization of waste outputs such as
air pollution and heat. For a city to achieve environmental sustainability, it needs
to be able to feed itself with a sustainable reliance on the nearby countryside and
should be able to power itself on sustainable renewable energy sources. These ecocities can be achieved through a variety of methods, many of which have already
begun to be incorporated into many greener cities around the world. An example is
Copenhagen which is touted to be Europe’s greenest city.