1. APES Lesson 7 - Demogrphy
AP Environmental Science
Mr. Grant
Lesson 68
Urban Sustainability

2. Mastery Check
Why have so many city dwellers in the United States, Canada, and other nations moved into suburbs?
Affluent city-dwellers fled inner cities they perceived as crowded and crime-ridden to suburbs they considered safer, more spacious, and more attractive.

3. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Objectives:
Define the terms greenways and smart growth.
Analyze environmental impacts and advantages of urban centers.
Assess urban ecology, green building efforts, and the pursuit of sustainable cities.
TED - Jaime Lerner reinvented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. Along the way, he changed the way city planners worldwide see what’s possible in the metropolitan landscape.

4. Define the terms greenways and smart growth.
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Define the terms greenways and smart growth.
Greenways:
A strip of parkland that connects parks or neighborhoods; often located along rivers, streams or canals.
Smart Growth:
A city planning concept in which a community’s growth is managed in ways that limit sprawl and maintain of improves residents’ quality of life. It involves guiding the rate, placement, and style of development such that it serves the environment, the economy. and the community.
Greenways: A strip of parkland that connects parks or neighborhoods; often located along rivers, streams or canals.
Smart Growth: A city planning concept in which a community’s growth is managed in ways that limit sprawl and maintain of improves residents’ quality of life. It involves guiding the rate, placement, and style of development such that it serves the environment, the economy. and the community.

5. Analyze environmental impacts and advantages of urban centers.
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Analyze environmental impacts and advantages of urban centers.
Cities are resource sinks with high per capita resource consumption, and they create substantial waste and pollution.
Cities also can maximize efficiency, allow natural areas to be preserved, and foster innovation that can lead to solutions for environmental problems.

6. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Urban sustainability
Things that make cities safe, clean, healthy and pleasant also make them more sustainable
**A sustainable city functions effectively and prosperously over the long term**
Generations will have a good quality of life
Impacts on natural systems and resources are minimized
A city’s impacts depend on how we use resources, produce goods, transport materials, and deal with waste

7. Urban Sustainability
Things that make cities safe, clean, healthy, and pleasant also make them more sustainable
A sustainable city functions effectively and prosperously over the long term
Generations will have a good quality of life
Impacts on natural systems and resources are minimized
A city’s impacts depend on how we use resources, produce goods, transport materials, and deal with waste

8. Urban resource consumption brings a mix of environmental effects
Resource sinks: cities must import resources, relying on large expanses of land elsewhere to supply resources
We need natural land for
Food, shelter, ores, water
Ecosystem services (air and water purification, nutrient cycling, waste treatment)
Moving resources to cities requires fossil fuel use
But would it be greater if populations were widely spread?

9. Urbanization impacts the environment
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Urbanization impacts the environment
Many cities must import water from far places
Resource sinks = cities must import resources
Relying on large expanses of land elsewhere for resources
We need natural land for
Food, shelter, ores
Ecosystem services (air and water purification, nutrient cycling, waste treatment)

10. Urban resource consumption brings a mix of environmental effects
Efficiency: dense concentrations of people in cities allow efficient delivery of goods and services
Delivery of electricity is more efficient
High city density facilitates social services that improve the quality of life
Medical services, education, water and sewer systems, waste disposal, transportation

11. Urbanization’s effects: efficiency
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Urbanization’s effects: efficiency
Efficiency = dense concentrations of people in cities allow efficient delivery of goods and services
Delivery of electricity is more efficient
High city density facilitates social services that improve the quality of life
Medical services, education, water and sewer systems, waste disposal, transportation

12. Urban resource consumption brings a mix of environmental effects
Consumption: heavy use of outside resources increases the ecological footprints of cities
The footprints are far greater than their land area
Cities take up 2% of the land surface, but consume over 75% of the world’s resources
London’s ecological footprint is 125 times larger than the actual city
Urban dwellers have far larger ecological footprints than rural dwellers
Urban residents tend to be wealthier, and wealth correlates with consumption

13. Urbanization’s effects: consumption
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Urbanization’s effects: consumption
Consumption = heavy use of outside resources increases the ecological footprints of cities
The footprint is far greater than their land area
Cities take up 2% of the land surface, but consume over 75% of the world’s resources
Urban dwellers have far larger ecological footprints than rural dwellers
Urban residents tend to be wealthier, and wealth correlates with consumption

14. Urbanization preserves land, but urban centers suffer and export pollution
Because people are packed densely in cities, more land outside cities is left undeveloped
Without cities, we would have much less room for agriculture, wilderness, biodiversity, or privacy
Cities export wastes through pollution and trade
They transfer the costs of activities to other regions
Acid precipitation and garbage impact distant areas
Not all pollution leaves the urban centers
Citizens are exposed to heavy metals, chemicals, smog, acid precipitation, etc.

15. Cities preserve land but export pollution
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Cities preserve land but export pollution
Because people are packed densely in cities, more land outside cities is left undeveloped
Without cities, we would have much less room for agriculture, wilderness, biodiversity, or privacy
Cities export wastes through pollution and trade
They transfer the costs of activities to other regions
Citizens are exposed to heavy metals, chemicals, smog, acid precipitation, etc.
The poor bear the brunt of pollution because they are too poor to move

16. Urban centers suffer and export pollution
Noise pollution = undesired ambient sound
Degrades surroundings, stressful, hurts hearing
Light pollution = light that obscures the night sky, impairing the visibility of stars

17. Urban centers suffer and export pollution
Urban heat island effect = cities are hotter than surrounding areas
Buildings, vehicles, factories, and people generate heat
Dark buildings and pavement absorb heat
Those who bear the brunt of pollution by living downstream or downwind of polluting facilities are disproportionately poor or racial and ethnic minorities

18. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Pollution in cities
Noise pollution = undesired ambient sound
Degrades surroundings, stressful, hurts hearing
Light pollution = lights obscure the night sky
Impairing the visibility of stars
Urban heat island effect = cities are hotter than surrounding areas
Buildings, vehicles, factories, and people generate heat
Dark buildings and pavement absorb heat

19. Urban centers foster innovation
Cities promote a flourishing cultural life and mix a diverse group of people and influences
They spark innovation and creativity, promoting education and scientific research
They are engines of technological and artistic inventiveness that can solve societal problems
The wealth accumulated by urban residents allows them to serve as markets for organic produce, recycling, and environmental education

20. Urban centers foster innovation
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Urban centers foster innovation
Cities promote a flourishing cultural life
They spark innovation and creativity, promoting education and scientific research
They are engines of technological and artistic inventiveness that can solve societal problems
They serve as markets for organic produce, recycling, and education

21. Assess urban ecology and the pursuit of sustainable cities.
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Assess urban ecology and the pursuit of sustainable cities.
The linear mode of consumption and production is unsustainable, and more circular modes will be needed to create sustainable cities.
Although a true “eco-city” has yet to be built, many cities worldwide are taking steps to decease their ecological footprints.
Most steps taken for urban livability also enhance sustainability.

22. Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability
Cities must replace the one-way linear metabolism of importing resources and exporting wastes
This destabilizes environmental systems and is not sustainable
Urban ecology = field that holds that cities can be viewed explicitly as ecosystems
Fundamentals of ecology and systems apply to cities

23. Urban ecology helps sustainability
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Urban ecology helps sustainability
Cities must replace the one-way linear metabolism of importing resources and exporting wastes
This destabilizes environmental systems and is not sustainable
Urban ecology = cities can be viewed explicitly as ecosystems
Fundamentals of ecology and systems apply to cities
Cities should follow an ecosystem-centered model
Urban ecosystems include concentrations of people and the built environment ...

24. Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability
Cities should follow an ecosystem-centered model by striving to
Use resources efficiently
Recycle
Develop environmentally friendly technologies
Account fully for external costs
Offer tax incentives for sustainable practices
Use locally produced resources
Use organic waste and wastewater to restore soil fertility
Encourage urban agriculture

25. Cities following an ecosystem model…
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Cities following an ecosystem model…
Use resources efficiently
Recycle
Develop environmentally friendly technologies
Account fully for external costs
Offer tax incentives for sustainable practices
Use locally produced resources
Use organic waste and wastewater to restore soil fertility
Encourage urban agriculture

26. Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability
Future “eco-cities,” built from scratch, have been planned but not yet been built
Urban sustainability is happening step by step across the world
Urban agriculture is thriving

27. Urban ecology helps cities toward sustainability
Curitiba, Brazil has invested in mass transit, recycling, environmental education, job training, and free health care
Its citizens are happier and economically better off than residents of other Brazilian cities
PlaNYC is a program through which New York City is trying to become the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city

28. Sustainability is happening, but slowly
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Sustainability is happening, but slowly
Future “eco-cities,” built from scratch have not yet been built
Faulty implementation, corruption, misunderstanding
Urban sustainability is happening piecemeal
But rapidly
Singapore produces all its own meat
Other cities have community gardens, recycling programs, mass transit, environmental education, etc.
PlaNYC = New York City is trying to become the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city

30. Steps toward livability enhance sustainability
Making cities more livable (pleasant, safe, clean, healthy) helps make them more sustainable
Planning and zoning are long-term, powerful sources for sustaining urban communities
They project farther into the future than most political leaders
Smart growth and new urbanism reduce energy use
Mass transit reduces gasoline use, carbon emissions
Because urban centers affect the environment in many positive ways, they are a key element toward global sustainability

31. Steps to livability enhance sustainability
APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
Steps to livability enhance sustainability
Making cities more livable (pleasant, safe, clean, healthy) helps make them more sustainable
Planning and zoning are long-term, powerful sources for sustaining urban communities
Smart growth and new urbanism reduce energy use
Mass transit reduces gasoline use, carbon emissions
Developed nations should invest in resource-efficient technologies to reduce their impacts
Developing nations should invest in infrastructure to improve health and living conditions

32. APES Lesson 67 - Creating Livable Cities & Urban Sustainabiity
TED Video
From building opera houses with wire to mapping the connection between the automobile and your mother-in-law, Jaime Lerner delights in discovering eccentric solutions to vexing urban problems. In the process he has transformed the face of cities worldwide.
“The message is simple, the quality of life for me is a turtle eternal because it is an example of labour, mobility, all together and at the same time the skin of the turtle resembles the map of a city, an urban area. What happens if we cut that skin, we would kill it, and that's exactly what we're doing in our cities, living here, working there, leisure is elsewhere, we are cutting, we are killing that turtle.”
Jaime Lerner sings of the city (15:40)