Do you think that cities can ever become sustainable?
In relation to cities, sustainability refers to development that lets the people living now get the things they need but without reducing the ability of people in the future to get what they need i.e. growth in a way that doesn’t irreversibly damage the environment or use up resources faster than can be replaced. For example, an urban area that is growing by generating all its power from finite sources will exhaust its supply and could accelerate climate change. Megacities require so many resources that it is unlikely they will ever develop in a truly sustainable way, but there are things that can be done to make them develop in a way that is more sustainable. In order for urban areas to become more sustainable the key issues that need to be tackled are overcrowding, transport problems, crime and pollution.
Exploring sustainability projects at different points along the urbanisation pathway in cities such as Shanghai (LEDC), Putrajaya (NIC), Chattanooga and London (MEDC) will give an insight as to whether city sustainability is more likely to be achieved in MEDCs or LEDCs. Whilst MEDCs may have the necessary resources and technology to make an impact on becoming more sustainable, their starting point is a much bigger ecological footprint. Therefore, there may be more potential in LEDCs becoming sustainable as they have a more appropriate use of intermediate technology.
Shanghai, at the heart of China’s economic surge, has realised that a key aspect of sustainability is transport. Their major challenge was to reduce energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions but at the same time maintain mobility within the city. The city developed an eco-friendly transport system which includes a network of 11 metro lines at a total of 325km which is integrated with a bus based mass transit system, reducing the need for people to use personal cars. A railway link to the new international airport, which involves the world’s first commercial magnetic levitation trains capable of reaching 550kmh reducing travel time and greenhouse gas emissions, has been built. A reduction in the number of cars on the roads has occurred due to increasing licensing fees and restricted access to the city centre, whilst the electronic guidance system helps avoid congestion and keeps road traffic flowing. Whilst it is common for cities to encourage people to cycle by introducing cycle lanes, the 9 million cyclists in Shanghai may soon face a ban from major roads as the authorities struggle to control congestion and reduce the rising car ownership of the middle classes proving that their attempts to become more sustainable are failing. Furthering the transport systems, Shanghai is planning to create a new city designed to be completely sustainable, it will be called Dongtan and will be the size of Manhattan. It was to have been built on Chongming Island, near Shanghai, in the Yangtze River Delta. The first phase, comprising a city of 25,000 people, was due to have opened for the Shanghai Expo in 2010. By 2030 it was intended to house 500,000 residents. However no construction of the eco-city has taken place yet, so the project has fallen much behind schedule. It is claimed to be the world’s first genuinely eco-friendly city powered by renewable energy sources (mainly HEP) and will be as close to carbon neutral as possible. However the waters are rich in aquatic life and it is an important feeding ground for migrating wetland birds, the construction of this city may cause a loss in habitats and safe resting places for the birds causing a loss in species diversity making this eco-friendly city not as sustainable as was hoped.
