URBAN

ENVIRONMENTS

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Urban Environment Article

With an ever growing population, the world’s cities are increasingly

affecting,by,
affected and are ecosystems. The sheer number of people gives rise to
natural
numerous
urban and environmental issues, such as biological pathogens, chemical
pollutants,
p ysical hazards, depletion of resources, and heat island effects. They pose
h a real
and present threat to the inhabitants of any city, so their solution has
to be high
priority and involve everybody, from the individual household to the local
government.
Keywords Urban
: Environment

Abstract

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Table of Contents Page

Abstract 1 Preface 2

1.0 Introduction 4

2.0 Definition of Urban Environment 4

3.0 Cause of Urban Environmental Problems 5

3.1 Urbanization 6
3.2 Increasing Urban Global Economy 6

4.0 Effect from Urban Environmental Problems 6

4.1 Collapsing Infrastructure
7
4.2 Increasing Levels of Pollution 7
4.3 Increased Volume of Traffic on Poorly Maintained Roads 8
4.4 Inadequate Housing and Services 9
4.5 Urban Heat Island 10
4.6 Poor Waste Management 11

5.0 Solutions for Urban Environmental Problem 12

5.1 Provide More Soft Landscape 12
5.2 Demand Site Management 13
5.3 New Technology 14
5.4 Public Education and Awareness
15 5.5 Civic and Community Engagement 15
5.6 Direct Activities 16
5.7 NGO connecting with Other Sectors 16

6.0 Conclusion 17

List of References 18

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1.0 Introduction

“The city is a subject that is apparently above everything. It is about climate change and
racial tolerance, social justice and economic development, culture and personal
memory, national identity and civil liberty”
Deuan Sudjic
Director of the Design Museum of London

Urban area is a heart of all countries in the worlds. As four of every five citizens live in
urban areas, their quality of life and the quality of their environment depends upon how
cities look and how they function. Urban area is also places where business is done,
investments are made and jobs are created. People are usually travelling from one
building to another, using civil infrastructure facilities such as roads, bridges and
railways. For most people in the developed world, most of the time, the urban
environment is their environment. As cities continue to grow, increasing attention must
be given to the quality of their urban environment and to their liveability. Improving the
urban environment and city dweller's quality of life has become a major issue in the
global effort to achieve sustainable development. This article study focuses on the urban
environment issues and solutions in the context of sustainable development. The
purpose of this paper is to study the causes and processes of the emergence, formation
and development of the city and the urban environment.

2.0 Definition of Urban Environment

According to Max Weber (1962) stated that, the city is the centre of urban and rural
communities. City has offered to meet the needs of markets and products of marketing
daily. Dickinson (in Mayer 1971) consider that the city was a centre of civilization either
as community centres, cultural centres, activity centres, social, administrative, political
and economic. According to Hawley (1971) also stated, the city is a relatively permanent
settlement in specific population in the form of various nonagricultural activities.

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Refer to the (King, 1978) an environment is what surrounds a thing or an item. The
environment is the surrounding. It could be a physical element - physical environment
that includes the built environment, natural environment - air conditions, water, land,
atmosphere etc or it could be human environment - people surrounding the item or thing
(Goldstein, 2009). This is also known as the social environment and includes elements
like the spiritual environment, emotional environment, home, family etc. The environment
is a fluid dynamic thing.

The environment is defined as the whole physical and biological systems in which man
and other organisms live (King, 1978). Environmental studies involve every issue that
affects living organisms. Various interacting components of environment are biology,
geology, chemistry, physics, engineering, sociology, health and economics. Positive and
realistic planning is needed to balance them. Therefore, environmental science is
essentially a multidisciplinary approach.

Therefore, an urban environment is the environment of a city; usually characterized by

many buildings in a limited amount of space, with a high per capita per square mile. Most
of the living spaces, working spaces, shopping areas, educational facilities, services, etc.
are grouped in close proximity to each other. It is usually characterized by limited open
areas (green spaces) in specifically planned areas or places that have been abandoned
because of the higher value of real estate in urban areas. An urban area is often plagued
by lack of space for parking vehicles (both personal and commercial) and a higher cost
for leasing space for regular parking of vehicles because that also requires use of
expensive real estate.

3.0 Cause of Urban Environmental Problems

3.1 Urbanization

Urbanization can be defined as the rapid and massive growth of, and migration
to, large cities (Mantra, 2000). Moreover, if viewed from the perspective of the

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science of population, urbanization is the percentage of population living in urban

areas. Today, urbanization has become a new trend in rural communities.
The villagers are flocking to urbanization has increased each year. Flows
increase in urbanization raises a process of spatial urban destination in the city.

According to Weng (2007), as a result of the increasing process of urbanization,

it has caused impacts on the environment of the city, both in terms of urban
planning, community, or surrounding circumstances. Furthermore, Impact of
urbanization on the environment includes: decrease of capacity in empty spaces
on the city, add to pollution in urban areas, cause of natural disasters, increase
traffic congestion and will damage the city.

3.2 Increasing Global Urban Economy

Urban are known to be places where money, services and wealth are
centralized (Turner, 1998). Many rural inhabitants come to the city for reasons of
seeking fortunes and social mobility. Businesses, which provide jobs and
exchange capital, are more concentrated in urban areas. Whether the source is
trade or tourism, it is also through the ports or banking systems that foreign
money flows into a country, commonly located in cities.

Economic opportunities are just one reason people move into cities, though they
do not go to fully explain why urbanization rates have exploded only recently in
places like China and India. Rural flight is a contributing factor to urbanization. In
rural areas, often on small family farms or collective farms in villages, it has
traditionally been difficult to access manufactured goods, though overall quality of
life is very subjective, and may certainly surpass that of the city. Farm living has
always been susceptible to unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times
of drought, flood or pestilence, survival may become extremely problematic.

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4.0 Effect of Urban Environmental Problems

The developing world cities are suffering many very serious problems. These are a
consequence of the rapid population growth, a lack of capital to invest and a nonexistent,
very poor and outdated infrastructure. According to the (Krier, 1979), generally, there are
several types of environmental problems which are:

4.1 Collapsing Infrastructure

Many cities in the developing world do not have an infrastructure that is capable
of dealing with the massive increases in population (Kosanko, 2006).
Infrastructure includes the basic physical and organizational structures needed
for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities
necessary for an economy to function. In addition, the governments do not have
sufficient funds available to maintain the facilities, let alone improve them.
Particular problems arise because of the inadequacy of the road and sewerage
networks.

Figure: Collapsing Infrastructures

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4.2 Increasing Levels of Pollution

Pollution of air, land and water is a major problem in most developing world cities (Karl
D, 1985). The drive to industrialisation brings with it inevitable problems,
especially as legislation to protect the environment is often nonexistent or rarely
enforced. Furthermore, the hidden economy can add to the
levels of pollution as small, unlicensed industries are set up in people’s homes or
on rooftops. These industries release their pollutants into the air, land and water.

On the other hand, the most common pollution in urban areas is noise pollution that a
form of pollution done by different audio sources that distract, irritate or damage
certain environment. The most common source of noise pollution is
transportation, in form of motor vehicles. Some other sources like car alarms,
emergency service sirens, office equipment, factory machinery, and construction
work, barking dogs, power tools, lighting hum, different audio systems,
loudspeakers and noisy people can also cause noise pollution but motor vehicles
are globally speaking dominant source of noise pollution.

Figure: Air and Noise Pollution from traffic problems

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4.3 Increased Volume of Traffic on Poorly Maintained Roads

Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is
characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular
queuing. Traffic congestion occurs when a volume of traffic or modal split
generates demand for space greater than the available road capacity; this point is
commonly termed saturation.

The effects from increasing the volume of traffic are, wasting time of motorists and
passengers. As a non-productive activity for most people, congestion reduces
regional economic health. Inability to forecast travel time accurately, leading to
drivers allocating more time to travel "just in case", and less time on productive
activities. Wasted fuel will increase the air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions
owing to increase idling, acceleration and braking. Stressed and frustrated
motorists, encouraging road rage and reduced health of motorists. Emergencies:
blocked traffic may interfere with the passage of emergency vehicles travelling to
their destinations where they are urgently needed.

Figure: Very critical traffic congestion

4.4 Inadequate Housing and Services

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Shanty towns or inadequate housing display most problems typical of developing world
cities. A squatter settlement therefore, can be defined as a residential area which
has developed without legal claims to the land and/or permission from the
concerned authorities to build; as a result of their illegal or semi-legal status,
infrastructure and services are usually inadequate (Grood, 2006). Squatter
settlements as a result of dumping, it has spawned many serious problems
especially water pollution problems. This is so because; all were directed to
removal of water sources directly. For example, garbage disposal, sewage
channels and so on. This situation will certainly lead to serious water pollution
problems. Severe garbage disposal would affect the water quality of the river
near the settlement areas. In fact, it also will have an impact on other rivers.

In addition, the spread of disease outbreaks also occurred in squatter settlements for
example, cholera and malaria. This is caused by irregular channel system and
systematic. This situation has caused the residents of squatter settlements is
easy with these diseases may be. The houses are close together in the channel
construction has made it difficult to run. Indirectly, this situation has exposed
them to the danger. When the disease existed by squatter settlements, it will also
spread the virus to other disease.

Figure: Shanty town that fulfilling with inadequate houses

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4.5 Urban Heat Island

Urban heat islands can have worse air and water quality than their rural
neighbours. UHIs often have lower air quality because there are more pollutants
(waste products from vehicles, industry, and people) being pumped into the air.
These pollutants are blocked from scattering and becoming less toxic by the
urban landscape: buildings, roads, sidewalks, and parking lots.

Water quality also suffers. When warm water from the UHI ends up
flowing into local streams, it stresses the native species that have adapted to life
in a cooler aquatic environment.

Scientists are studying how urban heat islands might contribute to global
warming, the most recent climate change pattern that includes the gradual
warming of the Earth's temperature.

4.6 Poor Waste Management

Waste management simply means the collection, transport, processing or

disposal, managing and monitoring of waste materials to minimize its'
consequences on humans and environment (Rosenhall, 1990).

Wastes that end up in water bodies negatively change the chemical composition
of the water. Technically, this is called water pollution. This will affect all
ecosystems existing in the water. It can also cause harm to animals that drink
from such polluted water. Hazardous chemicals that get into the soil
(contaminants) can harm plants when they take up the contamination through
their roots. If humans eat plants and animals that have been in contact with such
polluted soils, there can be negative impact on their health.

Everyone wants to live and visit places that are clean, fresh and healthy. Cities
with poor sanitation, smelly and with waste matter all over the place do not attract

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good people, investors and tourists. Such cities tend to have poor living
standards. Cities that do not invest in recycling and proper waste control miss out
on revenue from recycling. They also miss out on job opportunities that come
from recycling, composting and businesses that work with them.

Figure:
Waste
depletion in
the river
4.7 Destruction of Natural Habitat

Many
urban areas lack green spaces, especially in lower-income neighbourhoods.
Urban forests across the country are under stress from development activities
and poor growing conditions within cities. Urban rivers and lakes are
experiencing shoreline erosion and high pollutant loads from development
activities, flooding and poor storm water management. Wetlands in urban areas
have in the past been viewed as “waste lands” and have frequently been
converted to urban (and other) uses - e.g., 70% of wetlands across the Canadian
prairies and in southern Ontario have disappeared. Pesticides are used on lawns
by homeowners, commercial interests, and city parks departments.

5.0 Solution for Urban Environmental Problems

5.1 Provide More Soft Landscape

Trees make their own nutrients from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, water,
sunlight and minerals in the soil. They also release oxygen in this process. This

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process helps the environment by removing large quantities of the major

"greenhouse gas" involved in carbon dioxide. Trees also help us by absorbing
other pollutants and replenishing the oxygen. Trees absorb gaseous pollutants
through pores in their leaves. Trees help us by trapping particle pollutants like
dust, ash, pollen and smoke that may damage lungs. Tree leaves and stems filter
and trap particulates which are washed to the ground by rain. Planting bushes
and trees in and around sound generating sources is another effective solution
for noise pollution. Dense shrubs and trees block sound passage, thus avoiding
disturbance to the surrounding areas. You can also plant trees around your
residential area to live peacefully.

Figure: Proposal of Landscape Master Plan in Urban area that

provided much of soft landscape

5.2 Demand Site Management

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NGOs and governments should take approach in reducing the demand for a
service or resource such as water, transportation, waste removal or energy,
rather than automatically supplying more of the service or resource. This strategy
is typically pursued through economic incentives, technological changes and/or
behavioural modifications (conservation). NGOs can work both to increase
adoption of demand-side management policies by governments and directly with
consumers to help them reduce demand (e.g., through home-based energy
audits, consumer rebates on energy efficient products, etc.) A number of
municipalities and NGOs across worlds such as Perth and Sudbury have
developed community energy plan in order to reduce energy throughput.
Transportation management associations (TMAs) aim to reduce car travel.
Usually led by a community group, private industry, or a municipal government,
TMAs offer a range of services to their members, such as a guaranteed ride
home, flex-time support, rideshare matching and vanpool co-ordination.

5.3 New Technology

New technologies can be developed by government and private sector

companies in other to capture landfill gases for electricity generation, and to
accelerate the breakdown of materials in landfill sites. In the building sector,
innovative technology includes ground heat storage (storing warm water in
boreholes) and deep-water cooling (drawing cool water from large water bodies
to cool buildings). High-efficiency district heating systems are also being
improved and more widely disseminated. Zero-emission vehicle technologies
based on fuel cells are being tested and may play an important role in urban
transportation once they reach commercial development.

Examples of the small scale of the new technologies are smart car where these
cars just use battery and not produce carbon emission. Besides, the latest

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technology for overcoming the effects of noise pollution is using white noise
machine. It is a device meant for converting unbearable noise into pleasant
sound. A white noise machine is placed between the source of noise and the
receptor. It produces soft sound like that of a waterfall, fan and soft music.

Figure: Smart Car Figure: White Noise Machine

In order to reduce the release of black smoke by public transport such as

buses and taxis that use diesel fuel, the use of smoke filters is most greet. With
this, the smoke released has been refined and the smoke does not pollute the air.
Bio-filter is a technique for pollution control which uses living matter to trap and
biologically degrade pollutants. In air pollution control, the pollutants in the air are
subjected to micro biotic oxidation. In other words, when it is applied in the
filtration and purification of air, microorganisms, such as fungi and bacteria that
are embedded in a bio-film, are used to degrade the air pollutant.

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Figure: Bio-Filter technology in Building

5.4 Public Education and Awareness

Governments and NGOs should be conducting many local public awareness

campaigns. It must focus on water consumption, waste generation, commuting,
pesticide use, and home energy use. National campaigns such as a federal
public awareness initiative that asks Citizens to reduce their annual greenhouse
gas emissions by one tonne by using less energy. Example from 'Go for Green' is
a national non-profit organization that promotes active forms of transportation as
a way of improving personal health and the urban environment. The Smart
Growth movement aims to educate the public on issues related to urban sprawl
and the quality of our urban environment. Urban footprint measurements are
used as a tool to raise public awareness of the impact of their community's (and
of their own) use of resources on the earth's capacity.

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5.5 Civic and Community Engagement

As the world is now being threatened by pollution, appropriate measures should

be taken in effective way. To protect the urban environmental problem are not the
responsibility of the government alone. It is the responsibility of all parties.
Government must tighten the laws in protecting the urban environment. Patrols
by officers of the Department of Environment should be increased. Operators,
particularly operators of large-scale factory should be seeking advice from the
Department of Environment before any industrial operation carried out. The user
plays the most important role in addressing the problem of pollution. As a
responsible consumer, we have to choose items that are less polluting once.
Without demand for goods that cause pollution, industrial operators will start
using materials more suited to the environment. For example, we should choose
pesticides in aerosol cans that do not contain CFCs. If all parties are working
together to address the pollution problem, of course, the earth will be in the
extended age.

5.7 NGO Connecting with Other Sectors

Linking with other sectors on issues of shared or multiple benefits are a growing
and powerful strategy being adopted by the environment sector on urban
environment issues. Environmental groups have forged effective working
partnerships with health and medical associations on such local issues as
pesticides and air quality. The example is, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Canada
is a coalition of 88 organizations including environment, health and consumer
groups, faith communities, utilities, unions, and municipalities. Linking the
concepts of green and affordable housing addresses urban poverty alleviation
and environmental goals. As noted, community garden projects have been
successful in linking environmental/food issues with both low income and
culturally diverse communities.

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6.0 Conclusion

As cities continue to grow, increasing attention must be given to the quality of

their urban environment and to their liveability. There have two factors that contribute the
urban environmental problems which are urbanization and increasing global urban
economy. On the other hand, there are the major effects from urban environmental
problems which are, collapsing infrastructure, increasing levels of pollution, increased
volume of traffic on poorly maintained roads, inadequate housing and services, urban
heat island and poor waste management.

In other to improve and overcome the urban environmental problems, the action
will be taken by provide more soft landscape, demand site management, use new
technology, public education and awareness, civic and community engagement, make
direct activities, and NGO should connecting with other sectors. Improving the urban
environment and city dweller's quality of life has become a major issue in the global
effort to achieve sustainable development.

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