Essay on Critical Commentary on Urban Sustainability

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them. However sustainably needs to focus also on other issues such as crime and economic factors.

Impact of Urban Density on local climate. Melbourne has an oceanic climate which sees big natural fluctuations in the temperature and weather conditions throughout the year, giving Melbourne the reputation of having “four seasons in one day” (“Melbourne Regional Office”). In any growing city, the urban architecture has a huge impact on the local climate of the city.

The most commonly used definition of sustainable development is still that given in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), i.e. sustainable development is ‘a process to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Sustainable development is therefore about creating a better life for all people in ways that will be as viable in the future as they are at present. In other words, sustainable development is based on principles of sound husbandry of the world’s resources, and on equity in the way those resources are used and in the way in which the benefits obtained from them are distributed (Making Tourism More Sustainable, 2005).

“Sustainability is the ability to meet current human needs for natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their needs assumes the environment can function indefinitely without going to a decline from the stresses imposed by as natural systems; such as fertile soil, water, and air” (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP003214.html). I chose Italy for my city and it relates to sustainability because the country has circular/zero waste economy, there’s green growth and jobs provided, air quality, an energy package, and the county has a EU ETS reform. The circular/zero

Firstly, what do sustainable cities look like? They certainly don’t have polluted air, water and no shops. But what they do have is solar panels, lots of green trees/grass, fresh clean water and lots of housing, buildings, shops and transport.

What is sustainable urbanism? Sustainable urbanism, as a characterized term, is use of sustainability and flexible standards to the outline, arranging, and organization/operation of urban areas. Settled human conduct inclinations have blocked activity toward an economical future. In spite of more than 50 years of exertion by researchers and environmentalists, the fate of the human attempt can never again be underestimated. This is expected essentially to our tendency. For quite a long time researchers have created confirm depicting the genuine natural dangers we confront. Their work has neglected to light a critical open reaction on the grounds that our message has not been conveyed in a way that addresses the drivers of human conduct. The

My knowledge prior to this class about sustainability was that it was an attempt or effort to protect the environment from the encroachment of unchecked suburban sprawl. My assumptions were that it was a product of the 1970s counter culture hippie movement and a return back to nature. However, during the process of studying this subject I have since come to learn that sustainability is much more than just about the environment, but rather also about the economics

Sustainability is not just an individual’s responsibility but also the community and the government officials’ of where the individual lives. As individuals continue to move from rural to urban areas, it creates urbanization cities which present issues of environmental protection, economic viability, social and health equity. Cities cannot be sustainable in the long term if their economic growth harms the environment that they depend upon for clean air, fresh water, food supplies, and other ecosystem services. In this paper, I will introduce and analyze Washington D.C.’s sustainability plan and its involvement to the three pillars of sustainability. I choose Washington D.C. because it is an important center of politics, culture, and economics in the United States. In addition, I choose Washington D.C because I live very close to the city. I live in College Park which is about 30 minutes ride from the city. I have live at College Park for a year and have often visited the cities. I am interested in working in the city after graduation so I want to understand how the city addresses and responds to threats of the urbanization trend.

Sustainable development as defined by the Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987) is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Diesendorf, 1999). The initiative that involves the sustainable development of Glasgow is set up to improve the living standard of the future generation by setting up a system of development at city level. This will take on both the private and public interests to show the breadth and scale of the issues faced in a flexible business environment. Using the principle of sustainable development to engage a broad partnership base, Glasgow hopes to understand and influence all of the key social, economic and environmental factors supporting a

Campbell (1996), argues that it is necessary to focus on three major points, being the environment, economy and society when planning a sustainable city. He constructs a prism which holds each of these features at a

In order to fund projects such as environmental preservation, cities need an economic global influence. An economic global influence can be the lifeblood of a city. With money comes the responsibility of up keeping of infrastructure is needed to invite powerful global influencers to call New York City their home. Two important measures that New York City takes for sustainability are the preservation of the natural environment and upholding an economic global influence.

With the development of society, the life quality of human has been greatly improved. However, it also leads to the destruction of nature, and this result in climate change. Climate change affects human life in various aspects such as environment, economic, and social. For solving these problems, an idea of sustainable urbanism was put forward. Brundtland Commission defined in 2010 that sustainable urbanism is a urban development which not only can meet the needs of contemporary citizens, but also have the ability to meet the needs of future generations. Sustainable urbanism can slow down climate change while at the same time balancing environment, economic and social. Among these, environmental sustainability is most important. In 1995, Goodland reported that environmental sustainability is an eternal challenge which requires the environment which human being lives is not damaged, whilst the present and future generations can be fed and housed well. This essay will focus on the effects of three aspects as recycling, energy use and natural design of environmental sustainability in Western Harbour, Malmö, Sweden.

Urban sustainability is a very important topic that needs to be addressed and focused on so that cities and communities all over the world can change and reduce their harmful impact on the environment. In order to do so, communities must develop sustainably by focusing on how to manage resources in a way that guarantees welfare and promotes equity of current and future generations (Elmqvist, 2013). The impact of urbanization is only going to increase, so cities around the world need to find the means to do it in the most environmentally friendly and sustainable ways possible (Allen, 2009). Cities are a focus for sustainability because they are a hub of human activity and development, production, and consumption of goods (Elmqvist, 2013). Citizens and their governments need to embrace sustainability so they can secure the means of survival, improve the quality of the community, protect the environment, maintain healthy citizens, and to have pride in the legacy left for future generations (Roseland, 2012, p.3).

Urbanization, which is becoming a buzzword during the last few decades, is enlarging at a booming speed. It is predicted that 93 percents urban growth will occur to the year 2020, in the developing world (Elliot J.A, 1999). Generally speaking, more than half of the people around the world have been moved to cities, which led to a series of “matters” connected with people’s life that changed in a dramatical way. In this period, sustainable development, another buzzword during the past few years, came into people’s view and gradually became the mainstream of society development. Its definition is to make the development continue in a long term, which means allowing appropriate economic growth and industrialization without

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the