The+sustainable+city


 * __Sustainable City (City as a system)__**

A city can be defined as a system because it consists of inputs, processes and outputs. The city’s inputs include food, energy and goods. The outputs include organic and inorganic waste. The processes that go on include recycling and all other activities that involve re-using the energy resources or inputs. Rogers (1977) developed a model to describe the city as a system. He compared a sustainable city with an unsustainable one and he described the latter as “linear metabolism city” and the former as the “circular metabolism city.”

Fig. 1: Linear Metabolism Model.

The Circular Metabolism Model

Fig. 2: Circular Metabolism model.

A city is sustainable if it can meet the needs of its present inhabitants without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. According to Rogers (1977), the circular metabolism cities are much more sustainable than the linear metabolism cities. This is because the Circular Metabolism Cities are compact cities which minimize the distance traveled, use less space, requires fewer infrastructure (pumps, pipes, roads, cables, etc.) and are easy to provide for public transport network.

Additionally, compact cities reduce the need for urban sprawl and therefore minimise the number of problems facing urban areas. Such cities are said to be sustainable because they meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. Sustainable city management therefore refers to the process of managing the cities’ inputs and outputs in such a way that the quality of life for current and future urban dwellers can be maintained & enhanced (Codrington, 2010).

Unsustainable cities cover a large area and become over-crowded, over-priced, polluted and hence unsustainable. To achieve sustainability, a city must do a number of things: a) Using renewable resources, e.g. solar energy. b) Providing sufficient green spaces like gardens and parks. c) Promoting the use of public transport.

It refers to the adoption of urban management that seeks to maintain the quality of life for current and future urban dwellers. It may involve management strategies that take into consideration the following: Necessary conditions for sustainable urban Development Dimensions of sustainable Dev’t
 * Sustainable Urban Management strategy **
 * Social management e.g housing quality and crime
 * Economic management e.g jobs and income
 * Environmental management e.g air, water, land and resource
 * The interest and participation of the public must be encouraged
 * Appropriate Technology should be employed through the use of local resources, skills, design etc
 * The projects should also be socially acceptable by the people of the community
 * There should be acceptable minimum standards of living
 * Meeting urban health challenge
 * Sustainable energy and transport systems
 * Settlement planning
 * Improvement of human settlement management
 * Integrated provision of environmental infrastructure
 * Sustainable construction of industrial activities
 * Integrated provision or urban infrastructure:
 * Water, drainage, sanitation

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a782921202&fulltext=713240928
 * Case studies of successful urban management **
 * 1. Reducing pollution **
 * The Hoy no circula (car-free day,) launched in Mexico in 1989, saw pollution fall by 21% in the first year


 * In Cubatao, Brazil, local national government, and some business, have combined to reduce air pollution and enforce stricter regulations

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 * 2. Integrated transport and land use **
 * Singapore’s – decentralization of development to regional and sub regional centers served by Metro Rapid Transit (MRT)

Curitiba has an effective and green mass-transit system. It’s bus-rapid transit system is used by the majority of its population, now over 1.7 million. The price of bus fares is uniform, no matter how far a passenger is traveling.
 * Curitiba in Brazil

The city planners made the system enticing to citizens with modern glass bus stops and efficient logical routes, to encourage and not force residents to use the bus system. media type="youtube" key="r4sumpEqnlY" width="336" height="251"

"Curitiba, a municipality in Brazil's southern state of Parana, is an exemplification of sustainability. A sustainable city is one that accommodates the needs of its current generation, yet does not comprise the needs of future generations. Curitiba is a city that boasts a million residents, relatively low fuel consumption rates, and a superb public transport system. Curitiba is a great case-study for sustainable cities. Hopefully, some of the practices in Curitiba will be implemented in your home city some time in the future. The link to the Keynote presentation is provided below." - Josh Andah (an IB Higher-Level Geography student from Ghana, Africa - March 2015) The Municipality of Curitiba

**3. Recycling**
 * In Shanghai a programme that employs 30,000 people to retrieve and resell reclaimed and recycled products including 3600 advisors working for factories on sorting and retrieving waste
 * In Curitiba, 70% of households separate recyclable rubbish, and in squatter settlements food and bus fares are exchanged for garbage. Curitiba is also considered a green city because of its large number of parks and recreational areas. Curitiba decided to admit only non-polluters…through the creation of two-dozen recreational parks, many with lakes to catch runoff in low-lying areas that flood periodically. Curitiba managed, at a time of explosive population growth, to increase its green areas from 5 square feet per inhabitant to an astounding 560 square feet. Along with the parks and mass-transit system, Curitiba created a number of pedestrian only streets so as to encourage public spaces and to remain a green, livable city. This trend is becoming more and more popular elsewhere in the world.

It is defined as the theoretical measurement of the amount of land and water a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing technology. Or it is the measurement of the amount of arable land and aquatic resources that are needed to continuously sustain a population, based on its consumption levels at a given point in time. In other words, it is the amount of land area required to sustain a population of any size.
 * Urban Ecological Foot Print **

"Tokyo" as defined here is a conurbation region that includes the 23 wards of Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama (Yokohama city is therefore included within Kanagawa prefecture.)
 * Case Study: Tokyo’s ecological footprint **

With this definition, Tokyo population was 26.6 million for 1995. The total population of the country was 125.1 million (1995). The total land area of Japan is 377, 700 sq km. (37,770,000 ha) (habitable land is equal to 125,500 sq km or 12,550,000 ha, approximately 33% of the total land).[ [|One World] ]

According to the Earth Council report, "[|Ecological Footprints of Nations]" a biologically productive area of 1.7 ha is available per capita for basic living. This means that for sustainable living, the people in Tokyo alone need an area of 45,220,000 ha - which is 1.2 times the land area of the whole of Japan. If mountains and other regions are discarded and only habitable land included, then this becomes 3.6 times the land area of Japan. []

From the same report, taking the country as a whole, Japan has a demand for 6.25 ha per capita (for resources such as energy, arable land, pasture, forest, built-up area, etc.). But the supply has been 1.88 ha per capita. This leaves an 'ecological deficit' of 4.37 ha per person that has to be met from outside the country. For Tokyo alone, this is equal to 116,242,000 ha or 3.07 times the land area of Japan.

Sustainable housing management in Mexico Problems of housing in Mexico include;
 * Sustainable Strategies – Case studies **
 * Lack of access to water,
 * Unreliable and dangerous power supply,
 * Inadequate roofs
 * Poor foundation of buildings
 * Unsecure tenure


 * Solutions to these problems **
 * Gov’t support for low income owners to build their own houses
 * Subsidies for home-building
 * Flexible loans for help shanty-town dwellers
 * Slum upgrading in central areas
 * Improved private and public rental housing
 * Support of informal sector businesses operating at home
 * Construction of health and educational services
 * Encouragement of community schemes


 * Environmentally Sustainable pollution management Strategy **
 * Controlling Rapid City growth **
 * One strategy to control rapid city growth resulting from in-migration: **