Issues of Urbanization

Urbanization has numerous benefits for the environment, but along with the positive aspects comes a lot of problems. Housing, poverty, unemployment, pollution, inadequate water supplies, sewage, waste disposal, and school, medical, and transportation systems are the many challenges that face an urbanized city. On the positive side, though, urbanization benefits the environment, if the city is well-planned and laid out properly, urbanization will lessen the overall pollution levels and will preserve the surrounding areas.

The environmental benefits from a well planned out city far outweigh the work involved in setting it up. Urban areas can provide a means for less vehicles to be used, such as walking and biking paths, and local busing routes that are set up to transport people at the optimal times of day. Car pooling is also more likely to be used in a rural area, because people that work in the same areas of town can simply rotate driving duties, This will not only save on fuel consumption, but air pollution as well.

A well planned urban area also allows for the surrounding habitats to remain unchanged because there will be little, if any, reason for the city to expand outward. For instance, skyscrapers can be added instead of single home dwellings, which saves space and reduces the need to destroy the surrounding areas.

The impact on the environment in an urban area can be a positive effect, if the time is taken in the planning stage to ensure the best possibly arrangement of buildings, roadways, etc.

Urbanization, even though it has benefits to the environment, contains many problems for city planners. Housing, poverty levels, and high unemployment rates are one set of issues that has to be dealt with. Pollution levels are another problem that needs to be constantly dealt with. Another step in the urbanization process is the supply of good water, and the disposal of waste and sewage. The last issues that need to be addressed during urbanization are the school, medical, and transportation systems. All these problems are combined together when an urbanized area tries to be effective when it addresses environmental issues.

Housing is one of the biggest issues for urbanized cities. Proper planning needs to be set before and during the urbanization process. There has to enough dwellings to sustain the population, with extra room for growth. The best way to accomplish this is to build homes upwards in the form of skyscrapers. This adds numerous housing areas combined with saving space. In this way, more people can live in a smaller area comfortably. All homes should also be build with energy saving appliances, windows, flooring, siding, roofs, etc. This is another small step that can help the environmental impact of an urbanized city. The final step in the housing problem deals with cost. The homes built need to be affordable to everybody, not just the middle and upper class. This alone will help the environment by providing shelter for everybody, and there will be less homeless people living on the streets, which will lower the littering problem which also lowers pollution levels.

Poverty is another problem faced by cities. This area can be solved by two things, making affordable housing available and supplying enough jobs for the entire population. No matter what, though, poverty will be an issue that has to be dealt with. Some type of outlet needs to be set up that can aide families in need, such as food stamps, medical help, and food banks. The implementation of these federally funded programs will help to alleviate poverty, and at the same time will promote more people moving into the city.

Unemployment levels in an urbanized area must be kept at a minimum because this problem affects the two issues listed above. The city planners must make sure that factories, stores, plants, etc. are at a high level within the city so that there is enough jobs to sustain the population. If there are not enough companies, then city planners need to invite others to build in the city, which will boost job levels as well as bring more money into the local economy.

A clean supply of water is a necessity for any city, especially one that is trying to lower environmental impacts. A system for supplying, and disposing, water needs to be set in place. Some type of filtering system also needs to be set up in order to sustain the entire population of the city and the surrounding rural areas.

Sewage disposal is another important aspect of urbanization. Proper plumbing and processing plants need to be added to the city to prevent pollution of water and soil. Proper sewage disposal also makes for a cleaner living environment, which will boost the appeal of the city and make growth possible.

Another aspect involved in a city is waste disposal. Whether it is an isolated section of land, or transporting waste to other areas, some form of waste disposal must be in place. A dump site has to be located in an area that does not disturb the living conditions of the city, and it must be in an area that will cause the least amount of pollution possible.

A clean supply of water is a necessity for any city, especially one that is trying to lower environmental impacts. A system for supplying, and disposing, water needs to be set in place. Some type of filtering system also needs to be set up in order to sustain the entire population of the city and the surrounding rural areas.

Sewage disposal is another important aspect of urbanization. Proper plumbing and processing plants need to be added to the city to prevent pollution of water and soil. Proper sewage disposal also makes for a cleaner living environment, which will boost the appeal of the city and make growth possible.

Another aspect involved in a city is waste disposal. Whether it is an isolated section of land, or transporting waste to other areas, some form of waste disposal must be in place. A dump site has to be located in an area that does not disturb the living conditions of the city, and it must be in an area that will cause the least amount of pollution possible.

The means for the cities population to acquire a decent education is needed in order to increase the net worth of the city. Better educated people means an increase in available professional for jobs, which will also increase the amounts of entry level jobs. Education is the beginning of building a solid economy within any city.

Medical care also has to be addressed by city planners. A big city needs to have enough medical care facilities, in different areas of the town, to support the entire population of the city, as well as allowing for the surrounding areas and any visitors that happen to be in the area. The health care must also be affordable, and must be required to help all people in need. This will increase the overall health of the city, and once again will increase the desirability of the city to others seeking to live in a good dwelling environment.

Transportation is the last issue that urbanized city planners need to deal with, but it is definitely not the least important. A good transportation system, such as buses or subways, can reduce the amount of air pollution dramatically. A well-planned system will also allow the city to leave more room for growth because the need for wider roads will not ever become an issue. A well maintained, and planned, transportation system can cause the most impact on the environment, as well as being able to cause the most damage to the surrounding air.

The Dubai award is a coveted recognition received by cities when they urbanize in such a way that it positively affects the environment, the people, or the living conditions in an area. According to UNESCO three such awards that where given in 1996 to Argentina, the Bronx, and to the Netherlands.

Argentina was having a population problem and devised a plan to expand its living area into a new section. This project solved part of an ongoing issue of the lack of adequate dwellings for the population. It also offered an affordable way for families to get their own place by allowing family members that qualified to participate in building their own homes. With a small down payment, affordable monthly payments, and the reduced building price due to volunteered labor, this project offered good quality houses for 815 people, and along with the housing were an increase in water supply, an increase in taxpaying citizens, and overall improvement to the overpopulated area.

The second Dubai award that we are going to cover was in a rundown section of the Bronx. This community ran project encompassed a 300 block area within the Bronx that needed some serious help. Instead of expanding current neighborhoods, the community formed a group and decided to repopulate an area which needed improvement. In this way, the impact to the environment of expansion was avoided, and dangerous areas where cleaned up, which impacted the environment in two positive ways. This plan would also improve the local economy and the social environment, which would provide better living conditions for current occupants, as well as offering new dwellings for incoming people.

The final Dubai award that we are going to cover happened in the Netherlands. The city had grown from an agricultural center into an industrial center, and has become the seventh largest city in the Netherlands. The city council came up with a plan for controlling aspects of physical and quality development. In other words, city council members will have meetings, evaluate the cities resources, and decide what types of products need to be made, imported, or exported. In this way, the town of Tilburg will not become oversaturated with one product. Instead, the city will become diversified and will be able to continue growing, without causing harm to the cities population.

The Dubai award is recognition for urbanizing cities that try to meet, or exceed, environmental, and human, standards. This award means that the city planning departments are doing their jobs, and that they have considered all aspects of urbanization, including the good and the bad. And then they come up with, and implement, rules, regulations, and projects which improve living conditions while lower environmental harm.

Urbanization can be good for the environment, or extremely bad for the environment. It all depends on how problems are dealt with. If problems, such as housing, poverty, unemployment, supplying water, disposing of sewage and waste, and the systems of education, medical and transportation are dealt with effectively, then the environment will benefit by sustaining less pollution and the conservation of the areas surrounding cities.

UNESCO Dubai Awards UNESCO.org