GEO524 Seminar in Urban analysis and problems

Himmet Haybat

Development

Development is a process of becoming and a potential state of being.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs .

In urban planning, sustainable development represents a reorientation of traditional goals.

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A sustainable city enhances the economic, social, cultural and environmental well-being of current and future generations

Sustainable cities, sometimes known as ecological or ‘eco’ cities, are settlements designed to have as little impact on the environment as possible.

These can be pre-existing cities that feature management directed towards reducing the inputs of energy, water and food and reducing the outputs of heat, water and air pollution, or they can be cities designed from scratch with these concerns in mind.

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A controlled population for whom adequate, meaningful employment is available

Adequate governance set-up which can meet the needs of the populace and ensures civic responsibilities, community participation, a sense of identity, transparency and equity in local institutions

Planned housing colonies with adequate infrastructure like schools, parks, drainage system, local Medicare establishments.

Efficient basic civic amenities for a reasonably comfortable existence

Effective environmental infrastructure to address the issues of untreated sewage and waste polluting rivers, lakes and coastal zones 4

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Empowerment of women and encouraging their participation in the political, social and economic life of a city and adoption of urban policies that take into account women's needs and initiatives

An efficient health-care system which would also address issues of nutrition, family planning and sanitation

A mechanism in the form of a policy initiative for industrial dispersal to satellite townships where better employment opportunities are created

Development of an efficient urban private sector, both formal and non-formal which reduces poverty by generating jobs and helping in economic growth

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 More Sustainable

Less Sustainable

Compact forms of residential development

Low-density, spread-out residential development

Mixed land use; homes, jobs and shopping in close proximity

Segregation of land uses: homes, jobs and shopping separated into uniform tracts or concentrations

Employment based primarily on education and skills

Employment based primarily on environment polluting or non-renewable resource based industry

Movement on foot and by bicycle and transit

Heavy dependence on private cars

Wind and solar energy Thermal and nuclear energy

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Tertiary treatment of sewage; use of natural means of sewage treatment

Discharge of sewage into water bodies or water-courses untreated or with low level of treatment

Protection and use of natural hydrologic systems

Hard surfaces preventing infiltration; channeling natural water-courses

Natural open space;protection of wetlands, woodlands, stream valleys, habitat, etc.; use of manure, compost, integrated pest management, etc

Destruction of natural landscape; "manicured" parkland with exotic species; heavy use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides

Reduction of waste; recovery, re-use and recycling of waste materials

Landfills, incinerators

 More Sustainable

Less Sustainable9

Vauban, Freiburg, GermanyVauban is a new neighborhood of 5,000 inhabitants and 600 jobs 4 km to the south of the town center in Freiburg, Germany. It was built as "a sustainable model district" on the site of a former French military base, and is named after Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, the 17th century French Marshall who built fortifications in Freiburg while the region was under French rule.

Construction was begun in the mid-1990s, and by the beginning of 2001, 2000 people had moved in. 10

Streets Plan of Vauban, Freiburg, Germany

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Vauban, Freiburg, Germany

Vauban, Freiburg, Germany

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The city is located in the Grassland region of Alberta.

In 2006, the City of Calgary had a population of 988,193 making it the third-largest municipality in the country and largest in Alberta. The entire metropolitan area had a 2006 population of 1,079,310, making it the fifth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada. In 2009, Calgary's metropolitan population was estimated at 1,230,248, raising its rank to fourth-largest CMA in Canada.

Located 294 kilometers (183 miles) south of Edmonton, Statistics Canada defines the narrowly populated area between these cities as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor."

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Economic activity in Calgary is mostly centered on the petroleum industry, agriculture, and tourism. In 1988, Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic Winter Games.

Outline map of Calgary

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Calgary, Canada

The city is large in physical area, consisting of an inner city surrounded by communities of various density. Unlike most cities with a sizeable metropolitan area, most of Calgary's suburbs are incorporated into the city proper

Calgary maintains a major streets network and a freeway system. Much of the system is on a grid where roads are numbered with avenues running east–west and streets running north–south

Roads in predominantly residential areas as well as freeways and expressways do not generally conform to the grid and are usually not numbered as a result

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However, it is a developer and city convention in Calgary that non-numbered streets within a new community have the same name prefix as the community itself so that streets can more easily be located within the city

Calgary Transit provides public transportation services throughout the city with buses and light rail. Calgary's rail system, known as the C-Train was one of the first such systems in North America

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Calgary, Canada

Limits and RegulationsZoningPlanningProtectionTaxesTax BreaksRevitalization and New Growth

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Limits and Regulations

Limit building permitsUrban growthGreenbelts around cities

Public review of new development

ZonningEncourage mixed useConcentrate development along mass transportation routes

Promote high-density cluster housing developments

ProtectionPreserve existing open space

Buy new open spaceBuy development rights that prohibit certain types of development on land parcels

TaxesTax land, not buildingsTax land on value of actual use (such as forest and agriculture) instead of highest value as developed land

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PlanningEcological land use planning

Environmental impact analysis

Integrated regional planning

State and national planning

Tax BreaksFor owners agreeing legally to not allow certain types of development

For cleaning up and developing abandoned urban sites

Revitalization and New Growth

Revitalize existing towns and cities

Build well-planned new towns and villages within cities

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Greenbelts

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Individual transit(Motor Scooters)

Mass transitBusesTrainsAutomobiles

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Advantages

Affordable

Produce less air pollution than cars

Require little parking space

Easy to maneuver in traffic

Electric scooters are quiet and produce little pollution

Disadvantages

Little protection in an accident

Does not protect drivers from bad weather

Gasoline engines are noisy

Gasoline engines emit large quantities of air pollutants

Motor Scooters

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Advantages

More energy efficient than cars

Produces less air pollution than cars

Requires less land than roads and parking areas for cars

Causes fewer injuries and deaths than cars

Reduces car congestion

Disadvantages

Expensive to build and maintain

Cost effective only along a densely populated narrow corridor

Commits riders to transportation schedules

Can cause noise and vibration for nearby residents

Mass Transit Rail

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Advantages

Produce no pollution

Quiet

Require little parking space

Easy to maneuver in traffic

Take few resources to make

Very energy efficient

Provide exercise

Disadvantages

Little protection in an accident

Do not protect riders from bad weather

Not practical for trips longer than 8 km

Can be tiring

Lack of secure bike

Bicycles

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Advantages

More flexible than rail system

Can be rerouted as needed

Cos less to develop and maintain than heavy-rail system

Can greatly reduce car use and pollution

Disadvantages

Can lose money because they need low fares to attract riders

Often get caught in traffic unless operating in express lanes

Commits riders to transportation schedules

Noisy

Buses

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Advantages

Can reduce travel by car or plane

Ideal for trips of 200-1000km

Much more energy efficient per rider over the same distance than a car

Disadvantages

Expensive to run and maintain

Must operate along heavily used routes

Cause noise and vibration

Rapid Rail

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The Impediments-barriers to the Sustainable City

The Growth Machine Fragmented nature of planning policy

Historical inertia Short-time frame ideology

Planning problems Lack of political commitment

Weak laws Lack of funds and other resources

Human greed Planning jurisdictions

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The Growth Machine

Society's concern for economic considerations over environmental concerns (e.g., abuse of the commons—air and water)

Once growth happens, municipal governments need more growth to support infrastructure needs

The sexual theory of cars (cars beget more cars)

Politics as a short run enterprise, while environmental issues have a long run timeframe 32

The simplistic desire to develop where it's easiest and cheapest (e.g. flat, well-drained agricultural land).

Relative independence of municipalities makes competition fierce for industrial and commercial clients (i.e., in order to improve the city's tax base)

Historical inertia.(e.g., land platting makes cities monotonous and not ecologically-driven)

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Planning problems are inherently wicked (e.g. difficult to define, have no rules that determine when they are solved, are not true or false but good or bad, are unique, basically political in nature and are often derivative of another problem)

Weak laws and regulations, and a related lack of enforcement.

Human greed(açgözlülük,hırs)

Ambition, Passion

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The fragmented nature of planning policy (e.g. zoning decisions made in isolation of transportation and public investment decisions)

Planning jurisdictions are defined politically rather than ecologically

Short-time frame ideology. Instead, think about 500-year planning

Lack of political commitment to environmental goals

Lack of funds and other resources to implement ecological planning

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Air and water pollution; waste management

Reduction in vegetation

Importation of food, energy, and materials

Noise pollution

Climate impacts: urban heat islands

Impacts on surrounding rural areas

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Compact Urban Form

Permit higher urban densities through zoning (e.g., facilitate vertical rather than horizontal development).

Set urban growth boundaries (e.g., growth management): urban land consumption very often occurs on the highest quality lands (e.g., prime agricultural land). Use Greenbelts (and forbid leap-frog development).

Minimize conversion of natural lands to urban uses (therefore, stress infill—except for some earthquake-prone areas).

Retrofitting and renovation of older structures

Greenbelts that work by refusing to permit leapfrog development

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Human scale

Gives priority to the pedestrian (i.e., walkability), reduces dependency on the automobile, and enhances the aesthetic appreciation of urban life

Mixed uses

Increases the efficiency of human interactions in space. Transactional intensity (e.g., business, news, life business) is facilitated. Minimizes travel times and commuting times and therefore reduces the waste of time and non-renewable resources (e.g., petroleum). How?

Through zoning, integrate commercial, retail, recreational and residential land uses on individual land parcels

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Non-polluting forms of transportationMinimizes impacts on urban air quality. How?Stress walking, biking, public transit, and light rail.Provide pedestrian and cycling networks (even cycling commuter networks).

Preservation of open space/green space. How?Provide a system of urban parks, connected systems of green spaces, extensive trees & landscaping.

GREEN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE (e.g., Florya is one of the best examples in Istanbul).

Connect the open space system to waterMunicipal land banking, conservation easements, land trusts, public-private partnerships

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Florya

Healthy environmental elements (e.g., healthy air, water and land)

How?Aggressively rehabilitate degraded landscapesMinimize automobile dependencyIsolate polluting industries and demand scrubbers on industrial smokestacks

Use an integrated approach to waste management (e.g., the 3Rs) (reduce, reuse, recycle)

Design waste disposal sites and take particular care with toxic waste

Use a municipal environmental impact assessment system for all new developments

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Environmental rehabilitation. Why? Contributes to environmental quality and human health, enhances biomass productivity of urban areas. How?

naturalize, replant, landscape

reconstruct water courses that have been buried

cap all contaminated sites (e.g., use engineering solutions)

clean up the city (i.e., garbage minimization, efficient disposal)

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Urban operations (i.e., the way in which communities are operated and managed).

The municipality should set an example about environmental consciousness and has a considerable impact on how city itself will operate. How?

The 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle)Waste reductionSolar and wind projectsEnergy conservation measures (e.g. force municipal vehicles to use alternative energy sources)

Municipal procurement policies that target sustainably-produced products

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Northwest of Tokyo

Solar powered houses

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Resource conservation (air, water, soil, energy) How?

Promote water pricing and water conservation methods

Promote public transitRequire anti-erosion landscaping and/or appliances on urban stream embankments

Minimize consumption of prime agricultural lands, etc.

The 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle)

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Promotion of an economic base that has minimal environmental impact.

Why? Greater long run feasibility, less expensive to clean up, and maximizes the health of the environment. How?

Promote quaternary economic development (since wealth and educational attainment are related to the demand for a healthier environment)

Promote businesses with low energy demands, and produce few or no toxins

Promote businesses with closed loop production process for durables in which manufacturers design products for disassembly and disposal or recovery or reuse

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Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

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Eco-community development. How?

facilitate urban gardening, aquaculture

alternative energy sources like wind, solar and thermal

wetlands and aquatic organisms for wastewater treatment

define jurisdictions by ecological criteria, not political

Sense of placenatural heritage conservation

heritage conservation of buildings and landscapes (to recognize and value the past)

legislate the requirement for a percentage of development costs to be allocated to public art

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Bhubaneswar, India

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Social goals. Why? Urban populations require adequate and affordable housing, health care, safety, cleanliness, freedom from crime, opportunities for work and personal development. How?

Bonusing for mixed-income housing

Protect the existing housing stock

Facilitation of cooperative housing

Diversity (e.g., cultural, lifestyle, land uses, transportation modes, choices, choices, choices). Why? Diversity makes a city more interesting and makes it more resilient to external environmental shocks. How?

Protect cultural resources through conservation areas or designations

Plan for urban surprises (e.g., use organic design)51

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Full-cost accounting (i.e., account for the full environmental costs of development in both short and long terms). Why? More efficient in the long term. How?

Development impact fees (i.e., a progressive development impact fee structure that increases with distance from the city core to discourage sprawl)

Higher property taxes for industry

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Ahmedabad, India54

Sustainable economic development has become the world’s political objective to combat the intensified environmental problems and especially the non-reversible degradation of the natural environment

Sustainable development suggests a framework for the development of economic systems that respect the limits set by the natural environment

In this context, the examination of the pattern of sustainable development in the urban system becomes now all the more important

*The intense presence of the humans in the urban system asks de facto(fiili, gerçekten yapılan) for a particular human-oriented interpretation of sustainability

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Furthermore, urban systems require further specification of the general concept of sustainable development, one that will take into account the special natural and social features of the urban system

In addition, the fact that cities accumulate human population, they have to maintain certain levels of environmental quality, which are related to the healthy survival and reproduction of the human species

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