Sustainable Strategies IB SL

Urban Ecological Footprint According to the Global Development Research Centre, the urban ecological footprint is the land area required to sustain a population of any size. All the resources which people use for daily needs, such as food, water, and electricity, must be produced using raw resources. The urban ecological footprint measures 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.

Measuring The Footprint To the fullest extent possible, this measurement incorporates water and energy use, uses of land for infrastructure and different forms of agriculture, forests and all other forms of energy and material “inputs” that people require in their day-to-day lives. It also accounts for the land area required for waste assimilation.

Tokyo’s Ecological Footprint According to the Earth Council, a biologically productive area of 1.7 hectares is available per capita for basic existence. This means that for sustainable living, the people in Tokyo alone need an area of 45,000 hectares 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.

Tokyo City Here land is used several times at several levels. The difference between very high-density cities and extended cities would be 3 or 4 times greater. Compact cities such as Tokyo have a large population living in a very small and dense area of land, freeing land area for other purposes. They also require reduced amounts of infrastructure and resources – it is easier to provide services, utilities and infrastructure to a population concentrated in a small area than is the case when people are spread over a large area.

Sustainable Housing There are many problems with much of the housing in Mexico City. Many lack access to water, adequate sanitation, a reliable and safe water supply, adequate roofs, solid foundations, secure tenure, i.e. The residents are at risk of eviction.

Possible Solutions Government support for low-income, self-built housing. Subsidies for home building. Flexible loans to help shanty-town dwellers. Slum upgrading in central areas. Improved private and public rental housing. Support for the informal sector/small businesses operating at home. Site and service schemes. Encouragement of community schemes. Construction of health and educational schemes.

Control Of In-Migration There have been many attempts to reduce the importance of very large cities, such as London, Rio de Janeiro, and Seoul. Developers have attempted to build new towns and new capital cities to deflect growth away from the main cities. At the wealthier end of the scale are new towns and cities such as Brasilia, Canberra and, in Korea, Gongju-Yongi.

New Cities In Korea And Malaysia Originally, Gongju-Yongi was planned to replace Seoul as Korea’s capital by 2020. It is a US$54 billion scheme. Construction began in 2007. Seoul will remain as the capital, but government offices will relocate to Gongju-Yongji. The new development is still necessary to ease chronic overcrowding, to aid redistribution of the state’s wealth and to reduce the danger of a military attack from North Korea.

Other Schemes The Malaysian new town of Putrajaya. This is a totally new city situated 25km to the south of koala lumpur. Covering an area of 4931 hectares, Putrajaya was established in 1995. Putrajaya is a planned city, built according to a series of comprehensive policies and guidelines for land-use, transportation system, utilities, infrastructure, housing, public amenities, information technology, parks, and gardens.

Putrajaya Corporation Mission To provide an efficient and effective administration. To provide quality services to ensure customer satisfaction. To provide infrastructure and amenities conductive to creating an ideal environment for living and working.

Putrajaya Functions A local government in the Putrajaya area. To promote, stimulate, facilitate, and undertake commercial, infrastructure, and residential development in the area. To promote, stimulate, and undertake economic and social development in the area. To control and coordinate the performance of the above activities in the area.

Activity Using Essential AS Geography P301-304, answer the following… Describe how the economic fortunes of Glasgow have fluctuated over the last 100 years. Identify some of the social and environmental problems resulting from economic decline. Describe the aims of the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal Project (GEAR). How successful is the project?