Sustainability

Urban Sustainability

Entering the Urban Century, it is becoming increasingly more important to examine how our cities function to insure their continued viability as livable economic centers of our modern economy. Social, environmental, and economic forces are straining the resources of cities around the world. Creating inclusive, well planned, green cities, as well as alleviating urban poverty will help these cities better face the challenges associated with modern urban living.

Alleviating Urban Poverty:

Chronic poverty is a condition felt by nearly 3 billion people on the planet. Of those, nearly 1.4 billion live in extreme poverty, that is, living on less than $1.25 a day. For those living in the developing world, urban poverty manifests itself in the form of slums on the margins of cities. Mostly living in informal settlements, these slum dwellers are subjected to a lack of basic services, substandard housing, unsafe and unhealthy living conditions, insecure tenure, and overcrowding. While the percentage of urban slum dwellers has decreased over recent years, the actual number of those living in slum conditions continues to grow. The United Nations estimates that by 2020, nearly 1.5 billion people will live in slums world wide. Putting an emphasis on targeted and community based approaches can help to enable disenfranchised slum dwellers to escape the poverty trap and enjoy the benefits that can be had with sustainable urban living.

According to the United Nations, some 200,000 people will be added to the world's urban population each day.

Inclusive Cities:

Having inclusive cities means allowing equal access to resources and services, regardless of social, economic, ethnic, gender, or geographic factors. These include access to clean water, electricity, and basic sanitation in addition to affordable transportation, education, and health services. City infrastructure should also reflect the needs of all citizens rather than those the minority. Creating a partnership betweens citizens and their governments in ways that are participatory, inclusive, accountable, and transparent will help to promote safe, healthy and happy citizens able to enjoy the advantages of urban living.

Better Planned Cities:

Well planned cities are those that are designed around people and their needs. From rapid urbanization to low density urban sprawl, innovative and forward thinking land policy becomes of vital importance to maintain the balance between economic, social, and environmental needs. Developing effective policies and legislation through local and regional governments to achieve basic organization of proper zoning, public spaces, service, and infrastructure is essential to creating productive and livable urban environments.

Green Cities:

Promoting sustainable development will help to foster healthy and productive cities. This can be achieved with efficient and environmentally sound buildings and infrastructure as well as creating adequate public parks and green spaces throughout urban areas. With increasing global consumption and a growing scarcity of resources, it become more important for cities to have greater resilience in responding to changes in global markets and to reduce their carbon footprints. Governments must be responsive to these challenges as well as those of alleviating air and water pollution. In addition, comprehensive waste management policies are needed to deal with the ever growing mountains of garbage created each day..