Contemporary Urban Environments Flashcards
(81 cards)
1
Q
What is urbanisation?
A
When the proportion of population living in an urban area increases
2
Q
How has urbanisation changed over time?
A
Increased.
In 1950, 29% of the world’s population lived in urban areas
Today over 56-56% of the world’s population live in urban areas
3
Q
What are the most and least urbanised regions?
A
Most:
- North America -> 82%
- Europe -> 73%
Least:
- Africa -> 40%
- Asia -> 48%
4
Q
What are metacities?
A
Largest cities in the world. Over 20 million
Delhi - 24m
Seoul - 23m
Sau Paulo - 20.2m
5
Q
What are world cities?
A
Command and control centres of the global economy. Have influence on a global scale
London - 8.6m
New York - 20m
Tokyo - 37.8m
6
Q
What are megacities?
A
Cities with over 10 million people
Mumbai - 17m
7
Q
What are millionaire cities?
A
Cities with over a million people living there
8
Q
What are the reasons for increased urbanisation and the emergence of mega-cities?
A
- birth rate greater than death rate
- immigration
- push/pull factors
- economy growth
- rural-urban migration
- jobs
- education
- industrialisation
9
Q
What is urban growth?
A
increase in total population of a town/city
10
Q
What is urban sprawl?
A
spread of urban areas into the countryside
11
Q
What is the importance of urban cities in human affairs?
A
- transport links/accessibility (transport hubs: regional=bus/train, national=planes)
- social and cultural centres
- centres of ideas & creative thinking/intellectual centres
- retail & entertainment
- service provision (lawyers etc.)
- political power & decision making
- leisure
- economy/business
12
Q
What is suburbanisation?
A
Migration of people from urban areas to suburbs, typically residential areas on the outskirts of a city
13
Q
What is counterurbanisation?
A
Where people move away from urban areas to rural or less densely populated areas
14
Q
What is re-urbanisation?
A
Where people move back into urban areas that have previously experienced population decline or urban decay
15
Q
What is rural-urban fringe?
A
Transitional zone between urban and rural areas where urban development meets the countryside, serving as a buffer zone
16
Q
What is urban resurgence?
A
Renewed interest and growth in urban areas that previously faced decline involving increased investment in infrastructure and revitalisation of neighbourhoods
17
Q
What is the Cycle of Urbanisation?
A
Areas can move through what we call the cycle of urbanisation:
Urbanisation -> Suburbanisation -> Counterurbanisation -> Re-urbanisation
18
Q
What are SEZs?
A
Special Economic Zones.
They are zones encouraging rapid economic growth by using tax and business incentives to attract foreign trade.
19
Q
Why are companies attracted by SEZs?
& example of a SEZ?
A
- tax incentives
- bypass government red tape and permission for any development
- companies allowed to develop their own infrastructure without requiring approval
Shenzen:
Population grew from 30,000 in 1979 to 1,000,000 by 2000
20
Q
What is de-industrialisation?
A
Reduction of industrial activity or capacity in a region or economy, especially of heavy or manufacturing industry
21
Q
What is decentralisation?
A
Movement of economic activity e.g. shops, offices and industry away from urban centres into out of town location and into suburbs
22
Q
What is the rise of the service economy?
A
Shift in economic focus from manufacturing to services as the dominant sector of the economy
23
Q
What is the cycle of deindustrialisation?
A
Deindustrialisation -> decline in workers -> factories shut down -> massive loss of jobs -> people relocate elsewhere -> further loss in population -> economic decline -> derelict sites lead to environmental decline -> loss of investment
24
Q
What are the key causes of deindustrialisation?
A
- Mechanisation - cheaper and reduced need for labour
- Competition from abroad - NEEs and LICs offer cheaper locations to outsource production e.g. Taiwan, S. Korea, India, China)
- Increased costs - raw materials, taxes, tarrifs, strict environmental regulations
- Reduced demand for traditional products - people spend disposable income on new technologies and services rather than manufactured goods
- lack of regulation elsewhere
- market saturation
25
What are the causes of de-centralisation?
- Cheaper land outside of city (usually)
- Accessibility due to connections to motorways & huge sphere of influence as a result
- More space to expand and create custom built premises
- Attractive environment
- Cars - people are now able to commute to out of city work
26
What are the impacts of decentralisation?
- loss of farmland
- increased urban sprawl
- increased pollution (air/noise)
- loss of habitat/wildlife
- increased congestion
- pollution of nearby rivers and lakes
27
What causes the rise of the service economy?
- rise of knowledge economy: as society becomes technologically sophisticated there is a need of specialised services such as IT, legal, financial
- socieities becoming more affluent demand more leisure and retail
28
How has urban policy changed from 1970 to 2017?
| Case Studies: LDDC & Coastal Communities Fund
Shifted from top down (government led) e.g. London Docklands to bottom up (small scale) projects e.g. Coastal Communities Fund
In the 1980s urban policies focused heavily on economic revival (due to deindustrialisation). However by the 90s there was a shift to focusing on social and environmental regeneration too rather than just economic.
29
What is urban form?
the physical characteristics that make up a town/city e.g. size, shape, population, density, land use patterns
30
What factors cause urban form to change over time?
PHYSICAL:
- topography - flat land easier to build on
- water - grow along river for water
- natural resources - oil, diamond, coal, metal, gold
- land/rock type - some surfaces more difficult & expensive to build on e.g. swamps/wetland
HUMAN:
- infrastructure - along main transport routes, ribbon developments
- land value - where land value is expensive high rise buildings are more likely to be built. highest land value in city centre
- technology - businesses attracted to high speed internet areas
- government policy encouraging development in an area
31
What is London's Urban Form?
- river Thames
- London underground
- M25, M1
- Heathrow Airport
- Houses of parliment
- Clay, chalk allowing easy underground digging
32
What is Mumbai's urban form?
- distance to coast means they are the main seaport in Arabian sea
- 40% of indias foreign trade
- global financial hub
- home to bollywood
- second busiest airport in india
- hard rock meaning excellent foundations for high rise
- seismic activity & monsoons
- tropical climate
33
What is a post-modern western city?
Postmodernists celebrate difference, unique, quirky mixing of architecture and style
Post modern western city is a complex urban form that no longer reflects the modern city that existed before it.
Has mixed land use, not dominant centre, dynamic architecture, service and knowledge economy, voices of many stakeholders, large cultural diversity
A good example of a post modern city is LA.
34
What is an edge city?
Suburbs with the population of a small city, overdevelopment of the suburbs creating them almost into cities
35
What is flagship development?
Big development projects e.g. Meadowhall
36
What is regeneration?
When government money is spent on physical & economic revival
37
What is gentrification?
People moving back into inner city/central areas through choice.
Usually higher income people moving into lower income deprived neighbourhoods to capitalise on low property values. They renovate and add value to these properties inflating the value and eventually displacing locals as a result
38
Case Study on gentrification
Notting Hill
- used to be one of the worst slums in London, crime ridden e.g. Notting Hill riots by white youths attacking black people
- Today through gentrification houses in Notting Hill fetch way over millions of pounds
39
What are new urban landscapes I've studied?
- gentrified areas
- edge cities
40
Environmental Impacts of Gentrification:
+ reduction of urban sprawl
+ refurbishment of properties is environmentally pleasing
+ renovation of older buildings = more energy efficient upgrades
+ more green space and street decoration
/ increased congestion
/ loss of green space for new construction
/ pollution from increased cars
41
Define social segregation
when groups of people live separately from the larger population due to differences in wealth, ethnicity, religion or age
42
Why does cultural diversity exist in the UK?
multicultural societies are formed by migration
there have been a number of significant migrations to the UK in the last 200 years nad begond
Descendents of these immigrants and teh inter-marriage that has taken place have enhanced cultural diversity
e.g. Tower Hamlets/Banglatown
43
Why is cultural diversity often higher in cities?
- economic opportunities
- communities already there
- education e.g. universities, student migrants
- industrialisation
- transport links
- cities more tolerant/aware of ethnic and cultural diversity
- religious centres
- cities are first point of entry for many migrants
e.g. Tower Hamlets/Banglatown
44
Factors influencing economic inequality
| London
- gentrification driving up property prices e.g. NottingHill
- wearlthy residents also driving up cost of basic living not just housing
- housing prices driven up forces more and more people to rent. no rent regulation and prices are increasing
- tax avoidance by the wealthy
- access to services
- min wage doesn't take into account London CoL
45
Issues with economic inequality
| London
Tensions, political and social unrest e.g. rioting
polarised society
social exclusion
poor living conditions e.g. frenfell tower
social problems foster such as crime and drugs
46
CASE STUDY
contrasting urban area
MUMBAI
| inequalities and strategies
Causes of inequality in Mumbai:
rapid rural to urban migration
property prices
caste system
rapid economic growth
government priorities
Strategies to tackle inequalities:
- slum solutions: demolish, site and service schemes
- Tackling segregation
- Education -NGOs and MDGs
- Slum upgrading: self help schemes,
47
What is the albedo effect?
dark surfaces absorb heat energy whilst light services reflect it
48
What are anticyclone weather conditions?
High pressure weather system, sunnier warmer clear skies
49
what is Urban Heat Island
increase in temp within urban areas compared to rural
e.g. average london temp in summer = 24 degrees
in edale = 18 degrees
50
When is the Urban Heat Island effect stronger?
- at night, because heat storage capactiy of urban surfaces is high and buildings continue to release heat aborbed during the day
- in summer as more solar radiation
- in an anticyclone
51
Why are urban areas warmer?
- dark surfaces e.g. roads, pavements, buildings
- higher population, humans generate heat
- less vegetation, less shade, less evapotranspiration which has a cooling effect
- less open spaces, buildings close together traps heat
- pollution from cars/ fossil fuels traps outgoing heat radtion by increasing cloud cover
- heating systems in buildings e.g. radiators
- draining systems move water out of teh system that could absorb heat + less evapotranspiration
- lots of glass/streel which reflcets and concentrates heating effect onto surrounding streets
52
Impact of Urban Heat Island on lived experience of pepole
more water used for gardens/showers. expensive
pollen. hayfevers, allergies,asthma
increased business cost
uncomfortable in summer. heatlh risks, sweating, heat stroke
flowers blooming. prettier environment
gardening. ideal conditions
smog
increased weathering
tarmac melting
have to have AC on
commuting becomes uncomfortable
53
Solutions to Urban Heat Island
green energy, renewables less pollutants
more green space (urban greening)
lighter surfaces
electric cars, white cars
green architecture e.g. green roofs that absorb heat
increase sky view factor with bigger gaps between buildings
54
Frequency and intensity of precipitation
Urban areas have up to 30% more precipitation than rural
Thunderstom development is up to 25% more
55
5 types of air lifting leading to increased intense rainfall
1. Convenction lifting = warm particles moving up, less dense. rising air cools, condenses, and forms clouds, which can lead to precipitation
2. Convergent lifting = when air masses converge (come together) and are forced to rise, leading to condensation and the formation of clouds and precipitation
3. Orographic lifting = rain, snow, or other precipitation produced when moist air is lifted as it moves over a mountain range
4. Factories and power stations producing vast amounts of warm water vapour
5. Condensation nuclei - urban dust and pollution. particles of dust act as condensation nuclei encouraging clouds to form
56
Fog in Urban environments
higher fog in winter in urban areas thatn rural. because nights are longer os cooling of air goes on longer so air is more likely to be cooled to condensation point
particles of dust and pollution act as condensation nuclei encouraging fog.
Fog is not dispersed as pollution prevents sun rays
wind speed sometimes lower in urban areas so fogs not easily dispersed
57
What is particulate pollution
particulate matter of pollution too small to see e.g. dust, ash, soot
58
What is photochecmical pollution
formation of smog when pollutions from combustion of fossil fuels react with sunlight
59
What is a temperate inversion
Cold air getting trapped under warm air, also traps pollutants
60
Sources of particulates
Vehicle exhausts
burning of water, fuel
construction,mining, quarrying
plants and mould spores
pollen
61
CASE STUDY
Particulate pollution - Mumbai Deonar Dumping Ground
- frequent fires at dump
- massive fire in January 2016 led to thick smoke covering parts of Mumbai for days
- Respiratory illnesses (asthma, bronchitis
- Eye irritation and skin problems
- Nearby slums house thousands of informal waste pickers who live and work under dangerous conditions.
-
62
CASE STUDY
Photochemical pollutation Smog/London 'Pea Soupers'
London smog of 1952 killed 4000 in a 5 day period
"pea soup" also known as "black fog" thick black smog caused by air pollution that contains soot particulates and the poisonous gas sulphur dioxide
63
Categories of pollution reduction policies
- Legislative
- Technical Innovation
- Public Transport Improvements
64
Technical innovation pollution policy
| London
- Cameras and sensors placed around ULEZ to see if vehicle meets pollution standards
- Electric vehicles, made cheaper to run, over 300 charging ports
- AI traffic light management to limit speed
- Different fuel types
- air quality maps show where action is needed
65
Legislative pollution reduction policies
| UK
Clean Air act
MOT emissions requirements
ULEZ
Congestion Charge
66
Public Transport Improvement polciies
| London
electric buses and taxis
bike lanes
tram systems
67
CASE STUDY
River Restoration
River Quaggy, London
Quaggy runs through southeast london.
Before restoration it was a forgotten river that flowed encased in concrete, provided little habitat
Risk of flooding and regular flood as river lost its flood plain due to urban development
Concrete channel removed, natural course and meanders reinstated brought river above ground with a culvert remaining to take excess water underground. natural geomorphological features e.g. floodplain created.
Reduced flooding risk for over 600 homes and business. Small permanent lake/pond formed. Park provides wildlife reserve. Fun place to play
68
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
SUDs imitate natural draining systems and work with natural processes to
1. reduce water pollution
2. decrease flooding/runoff
3. reduce drought by recharging groundwater
4. provide habitats
5. provide greenspace
69
Sources of waste
- Industrial
- Commercial
- Personal
70
Generators of solid waste
- residental: households, food waste, paper, carboard
- industrial -> housekeeping, food packagain, constuction
- commercial -> stores, hotels
- insitutional -> schools, prisons
- construction
- urban services -> parks, beahces, water water treatment
71
Disposal strategies
- landfill
- combustion
- compost
- recycle
- into oceans
72
Causes of water pollution
- surface runoff from streets carrying oil, pollutants, road salt, pesticides
- industriaal waste
- illegal dumping
- untreated sewage
- air pollution acid rain
73
Impacts of water pollution
- eutrophication: algae blooms and suffication of fish and aquatic life
- microbial pollutants from sewage spread disease
- high infant mortality in LIC
- metal contimination is carinogenic and birth defects
- industrial waste toxic to ecosystems
74
CASE STUDY
London Water pollution
Thames Tideaway and Great Stink
50 yrs ago thames so polluted it was considered biologically dead. hot summer and leakage of sewage led to great stink
Extensive underground network of sewers built to intercept raw sewage
Can no longer withstand population of London, overflow into Thames at high levels of water
Tideaway Tunnel
3 separate schemes
Lee Tunnel, Upgrade sewer, Tideaway Tunnel
4.2 billion pounds cost. began in 2010 and completed on time
75
CASE STUDY
Mumbai water pollution
River Mithi
Particulate pollution from indistry and human pollution of feces plastic e waste etc
Around 700,000 cars on the roads of Mumnbai. Emissions 3x the safe amount. Attributed to promotion of cars over public transports.
Built environment increased 4x causing Mithi to narrow. Sever overcrowding
When it doesn't rain the stagnant water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying malaria and dengue. Ekectricians installed fans to ward off stink. Monsoon climate. Unregulated dumping widespread
2005 deluge entire city held hostage for 3 days 668m of rain in just 12 hrs. Mithi clogged due to destruction of mangroves and domestic pollution so instead of downstream it flowed into settlements
Strategies:
- SUDs reduce pollutants by 90%
- laws and regulations, however trouble enforcing them
- Clean India Campaign, providing toilets to rual population. Limited success due to time taken to convince populations of nee dof toilets etc
76
Why are developed countries often less polluted than developing?
- greater funds for projects
- more educated population
- regulation adn policies e.g. clean air act
- better urban planning
- water managememnt
- investment in infrastructure
- better sanitation awareness
- technology
- often water dumped into LDCs by MDCs
77
What is Dereliction?
more common in developed countries
associated with deindustrialisation, urban decline and death of high street
Often leads to cycle of urban decline causing crime, vandalism, outmigration
example: Detroit
78
Dimensions of sustainability
Natural -> how env, resources, waste managed
Physical -> how well a city can support population
Social -> community, QoL, public services
Economic -> economic growth without compromising env or increase social ineq
79
Ecological Footprint
Impact of cities can be measured via ecological footpring
Amount of land needed to produce eveerything a population consumes and to abrob the waste produced
80
CASE STUDY
Sustainable Cities
Curitiba Brazil
one of the first in the world to start bin collector and recycling service in the 90s
garbage split in organic and non-organic
2 teams, 1 for recyables. REcyables go to a plant and sorted then bundles upe lsewhere.
Recycles nearly 2/3 of rubbish
Process provides jobs, doesn't cost more than landfill and leaves a cleaner area
'Solution of the parks' Solved flooding by emphasising the importance of greeen space. Turn river banks into parks and divert excess water into lakes
Integrated Transport System (ITS). Buses cheap and can move freely throughougt city. Red=express bus, few stops. Orange=people from out settlements to express stops. Green=suburbs to express. Grey=suburbs with lots of stops
Lack of travel congestion. Most commutes take the bus. Normal bus = 1000 a day. Express bus=2000
300x cheaper than a metro
Passengers pay for bus in advcance allowing loading and unloading cut travel times by 1/3 also reducing pollution
Highly educated workforce and unis
Free education schemees, parks to socialise, painting activities for kids enrichment
'Green Exchange' people bring sorted garbage to trucks and get bus tickets and food in exchange based off of worth
Criticisms:
more people move to city, illegal homes near habitats on the edge
poor pushed to outskirts
struggle to deal with growing population
81
Concept of liveability
Characteristic of a city which improve qol for people living there. Cna mean diff things
- career opportunities
- parks/green space
- uni/schools
As such people centred planning increasinlgy important
