Lecture 3 - The Vulnerability of 21st Century Cities Flashcards
Why is consumerism bad?
No responsibility to people around us, isolate, detach ourselves to nature
What are the vulnerabilities to cities today?
- increasing global interdependence has implications for security of urban populations
- increasing concern for reliable food supplies
- “Peak oil” could impact price and availability of food, urban transportation, and future size of cities
- human-induced climate change could end peaceful global integration
Setting the Ecological Stage
- Global ecological change is accelerating
- cities face challenges to their functional integrity, even survival
- need to better understand cities as ecological entities subject to biophysical laws or else societies will not be able to assure the sustainability of cities
- need to understand cities as organisms
unprecedented challenges require what?
unprecedented solutions
What shift did humans do to land that started unsustainability
shift from hunter-gather to agriculture-based, settlement-centered way of life
Why are cities an emergent phenomena?
cities make up a small portion of human time line
What did First Nations do right?
had innate connection to the land only used what they needed, very sustainable
what negative aspect did this shift create?
urbanization insulates city dwellers from the negative consequences of their own ecological dysfunction, physical and psychological disconnect
People’s lives are separated from what?
land
Separation from land causes what?
- diminishes urbanites’ sense of connectedness to the land
- critically reshapes spatial relationships and psychological sensitivities to nature
What are the challenges of urbanization?
- urbanization is still viewed as a demographic or economic phenomenon
- urbanization does not reduce dependence on productive ecosystems
- don’t see things environmentally when living in cities
Why are we not green?
because we are huge consumers
Which city is the most economical city in North America
Manhattan, low carbon footprint
What is urbanization transformation?
transforms local, cyclical ecological production systems into global, horizontally-disintegrated, unidirectional, throughput systems
What needs to happen with ALR?
We need to not develop the land if we want to be sustainable, need to use it for local food source
What is ecological footprint?
refers to the area of land and water ecosystems required on a continuous basis, to produce the resources that the population consumes and to assimilate its (carbon dioxide) wastes, wherever on Earth the relevant land/water is located
What are all human populations competing for?
productive capacity (biocapacity) of the earth
Ecological footprint measures what?
how fast we consume resources and generate waste
What are 5 categories for ecological footprint?
Carbon footprint - Energy Built-up land - Settlement Forest - Timber and paper Cropland and Pasture - Food and fibre Fisheries - Seafood
Cities are in what kind of deficit?
ecological
What is an oxymoron?
Sustainable city
What is almost absolute?
Ecological dependence of urbanites on the hinterland
What must work together to achieve sustainability?
Urban sustainability work with rural sustainability
what is the world exceeded?
its long-term global carrying capacity
