APES Lesson 7 - Demogrphy AP Environmental Science Mr. Grant Lesson 68 Urban Sustainability

Mastery Check Why have so many city dwellers in the United States, Canada, and other nations moved into suburbs? Affluent city-dwellers fled inner cities they perceived as crowded and crime-ridden to suburbs they considered safer, more spacious, and more attractive.

APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Objectives: Define the terms greenways and smart growth. Analyze environmental impacts and advantages of urban centers. Assess urban ecology, green building efforts, and the pursuit of sustainable cities. TED - Jaime Lerner reinvented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. Along the way, he changed the way city planners worldwide see what’s possible in the metropolitan landscape.

Define the terms greenways and smart growth. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Define the terms greenways and smart growth. Greenways: A strip of parkland that connects parks or neighborhoods; often located along rivers, streams or canals. Smart Growth: A city planning concept in which a community’s growth is managed in ways that limit sprawl and maintain of improves residents’ quality of life. It involves guiding the rate, placement, and style of development such that it serves the environment, the economy. and the community. Greenways: A strip of parkland that connects parks or neighborhoods; often located along rivers, streams or canals. Smart Growth: A city planning concept in which a community’s growth is managed in ways that limit sprawl and maintain of improves residents’ quality of life. It involves guiding the rate, placement, and style of development such that it serves the environment, the economy. and the community.

Analyze environmental impacts and advantages of urban centers. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Analyze environmental impacts and advantages of urban centers. Cities are resource sinks with high per capita resource consumption, and they create substantial waste and pollution. Cities also can maximize efficiency, allow natural areas to be preserved, and foster innovation that can lead to solutions for environmental problems.

APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Urban sustainability Things that make cities safe, clean, healthy and pleasant also make them more sustainable **A sustainable city functions effectively and prosperously over the long term** Generations will have a good quality of life Impacts on natural systems and resources are minimized A city’s impacts depend on how we use resources, produce goods, transport materials, and deal with waste

Urban Sustainability Things that make cities safe, clean, healthy, and pleasant also make them more sustainable A sustainable city functions effectively and prosperously over the long term Generations will have a good quality of life Impacts on natural systems and resources are minimized A city’s impacts depend on how we use resources, produce goods, transport materials, and deal with waste

Urban resource consumption brings a mix of environmental effects Resource sinks: cities must import resources, relying on large expanses of land elsewhere to supply resources We need natural land for Food, shelter, ores, water Ecosystem services (air and water purification, nutrient cycling, waste treatment) Moving resources to cities requires fossil fuel use But would it be greater if populations were widely spread?

Urbanization impacts the environment APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Urbanization impacts the environment Many cities must import water from far places Resource sinks = cities must import resources Relying on large expanses of land elsewhere for resources We need natural land for Food, shelter, ores Ecosystem services (air and water purification, nutrient cycling, waste treatment)

Urban resource consumption brings a mix of environmental effects Efficiency: dense concentrations of people in cities allow efficient delivery of goods and services Delivery of electricity is more efficient High city density facilitates social services that improve the quality of life Medical services, education, water and sewer systems, waste disposal, transportation

Urbanization’s effects: efficiency APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Urbanization’s effects: efficiency Efficiency = dense concentrations of people in cities allow efficient delivery of goods and services Delivery of electricity is more efficient High city density facilitates social services that improve the quality of life Medical services, education, water and sewer systems, waste disposal, transportation

Urban resource consumption brings a mix of environmental effects Consumption: heavy use of outside resources increases the ecological footprints of cities The footprints are far greater than their land area Cities take up 2% of the land surface, but consume over 75% of the world’s resources London’s ecological footprint is 125 times larger than the actual city Urban dwellers have far larger ecological footprints than rural dwellers Urban residents tend to be wealthier, and wealth correlates with consumption

Urbanization’s effects: consumption APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Urbanization’s effects: consumption Consumption = heavy use of outside resources increases the ecological footprints of cities The footprint is far greater than their land area Cities take up 2% of the land surface, but consume over 75% of the world’s resources Urban dwellers have far larger ecological footprints than rural dwellers Urban residents tend to be wealthier, and wealth correlates with consumption

Urbanization preserves land, but urban centers suffer and export pollution Because people are packed densely in cities, more land outside cities is left undeveloped Without cities, we would have much less room for agriculture, wilderness, biodiversity, or privacy Cities export wastes through pollution and trade They transfer the costs of activities to other regions Acid precipitation and garbage impact distant areas Not all pollution leaves the urban centers Citizens are exposed to heavy metals, chemicals, smog, acid precipitation, etc.

Cities preserve land but export pollution APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Cities preserve land but export pollution Because people are packed densely in cities, more land outside cities is left undeveloped Without cities, we would have much less room for agriculture, wilderness, biodiversity, or privacy Cities export wastes through pollution and trade They transfer the costs of activities to other regions Citizens are exposed to heavy metals, chemicals, smog, acid precipitation, etc. The poor bear the brunt of pollution because they are too poor to move

Urban centers suffer and export pollution Noise pollution = undesired ambient sound Degrades surroundings, stressful, hurts hearing Light pollution = light that obscures the night sky, impairing the visibility of stars

Urban centers suffer and export pollution Urban heat island effect = cities are hotter than surrounding areas Buildings, vehicles, factories, and people generate heat Dark buildings and pavement absorb heat Those who bear the brunt of pollution by living downstream or downwind of polluting facilities are disproportionately poor or racial and ethnic minorities

APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Pollution in cities Noise pollution = undesired ambient sound Degrades surroundings, stressful, hurts hearing Light pollution = lights obscure the night sky Impairing the visibility of stars Urban heat island effect = cities are hotter than surrounding areas Buildings, vehicles, factories, and people generate heat Dark buildings and pavement absorb heat

Urban centers foster innovation Cities promote a flourishing cultural life and mix a diverse group of people and influences They spark innovation and creativity, promoting education and scientific research They are engines of technological and artistic inventiveness that can solve societal problems The wealth accumulated by urban residents allows them to serve as markets for organic produce, recycling, and environmental education

Urban centers foster innovation APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Urban centers foster innovation Cities promote a flourishing cultural life They spark innovation and creativity, promoting education and scientific research They are engines of technological and artistic inventiveness that can solve societal problems They serve as markets for organic produce, recycling, and education

Assess urban ecology and the pursuit of sustainable cities. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Assess urban ecology and the pursuit of sustainable cities. The linear mode of consumption and production is unsustainable, and more circular modes will be needed to create sustainable cities. Although a true “eco-city” has yet to be built, many cities worldwide are taking steps to decease their ecological footprints. Most steps taken for urban livability also enhance sustainability.

Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability Cities must replace the one-way linear metabolism of importing resources and exporting wastes This destabilizes environmental systems and is not sustainable Urban ecology = field that holds that cities can be viewed explicitly as ecosystems Fundamentals of ecology and systems apply to cities

Urban ecology helps sustainability APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Urban ecology helps sustainability Cities must replace the one-way linear metabolism of importing resources and exporting wastes This destabilizes environmental systems and is not sustainable Urban ecology = cities can be viewed explicitly as ecosystems Fundamentals of ecology and systems apply to cities Cities should follow an ecosystem-centered model Urban ecosystems include concentrations of people and the built environment ...

Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability Cities should follow an ecosystem-centered model by striving to Use resources efficiently Recycle Develop environmentally friendly technologies Account fully for external costs Offer tax incentives for sustainable practices Use locally produced resources Use organic waste and wastewater to restore soil fertility Encourage urban agriculture

Cities following an ecosystem model… APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Cities following an ecosystem model… Use resources efficiently Recycle Develop environmentally friendly technologies Account fully for external costs Offer tax incentives for sustainable practices Use locally produced resources Use organic waste and wastewater to restore soil fertility Encourage urban agriculture

Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability Future “eco-cities,” built from scratch, have been planned but not yet been built Urban sustainability is happening step by step across the world Urban agriculture is thriving

Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability Curitiba, Brazil has invested in mass transit, recycling, environmental education, job training, and free health care Its citizens are happier and economically better off than residents of other Brazilian cities PlaNYC is a program through which New York City is trying to become the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city

Sustainability is happening, but slowly APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Sustainability is happening, but slowly Future “eco-cities,” built from scratch have not yet been built Faulty implementation, corruption, misunderstanding Urban sustainability is happening piecemeal But rapidly Singapore produces all its own meat Other cities have community gardens, recycling programs, mass transit, environmental education, etc. PlaNYC = New York City is trying to become the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city

Steps toward livability enhance sustainability Making cities more livable (pleasant, safe, clean, healthy) helps make them more sustainable Planning and zoning are long-term, powerful sources for sustaining urban communities They project farther into the future than most political leaders Smart growth and new urbanism reduce energy use Mass transit reduces gasoline use, carbon emissions Because urban centers affect the environment in many positive ways, they are a key element toward global sustainability

Steps to livability enhance sustainability APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity Steps to livability enhance sustainability Making cities more livable (pleasant, safe, clean, healthy) helps make them more sustainable Planning and zoning are long-term, powerful sources for sustaining urban communities Smart growth and new urbanism reduce energy use Mass transit reduces gasoline use, carbon emissions Developed nations should invest in resource-efficient technologies to reduce their impacts Developing nations should invest in infrastructure to improve health and living conditions

APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity TED Video From building opera houses with wire to mapping the connection between the automobile and your mother-in-law, Jaime Lerner delights in discovering eccentric solutions to vexing urban problems. In the process he has transformed the face of cities worldwide. “The message is simple, the quality of life for me is a turtle eternal because it is an example of labour, mobility, all together and at the same time the skin of the turtle resembles the map of a city, an urban area. What happens if we cut that skin, we would kill it, and that's exactly what we're doing in our cities, living here, working there, leisure is elsewhere, we are cutting, we are killing that turtle.” Jaime Lerner sings of the city (15:40)