GEOG2131: URBAN GEOGRAPHIES

Thursday October 22, 2015

Sustainable Urban
Development

Dr. Kevon Rhiney,

Department of Geography & Geology,
University of the West Indies.
Kevon.rhiney@uwimona.edu.jm
 Outline
›  Changing concepts of development
›  Rise of Sustainable Development
›  Sustainability and Cities
›  Sustainable Urban Development
›  New Directions in Urban Planning
›  Smart growth
Changing perceptions of development
› Really short history

› Varied definitions and interpretations

›  Optimistic early decades: 1950s + 1960s
›  Radical 1970s

›  Lostdecade of the 1980s

›  The neo-liberal 1990s
›  The Global era

› Broadening of the development concept

The rise of sustainable development
›  WCED Brundtland Report (1987)
“Development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs” (p. 43)

›  Emerged out of:

(i) A concern for the environment
-  A flourishing ‘environmental movement’
-  Forest fires in Indonesia, flooding in the Americas,
China, Bangladesh and typhoons in SE Asia

(ii) A discontent with development by 1980s

-  Social development; equity; development seen
as multi-dimensional; self-reliance
Contesting Sustainable Development
› Highly contested concept
“A creatively ambiguous phrase…an intuitively
attractive but slippery concept” (Mitchell, 1997: 28)

“SD appears to be an over-used, misunderstood

phrase” (Mawhinney, 2001: 5)

›  Substantial debate over the term through the 1990s

›  Early
1990s, trans. into 24 languages with > 70
definitions (Elliott, 2006: 8-9).

› Importantdevelopment rhetoric nonetheless,

especially in terms of urban planning
 Objectives of Sustainable Development

Biological
- Genetic diversity
Complex inter- Recognition of the
dependencies - Resilience cost involved for
- Biological particular interest
productivity groups

Economic Social system

- Reducing poverty - Cultural diversity
- Enhance equity - Institutional
sustainability
- Increasing useful
- Social justice
goods & services
- participation
Sustainable Development: Key Concepts
› Ecological Footprint
›  Method of auditing human use of nature in relation
to the assessed biophysical constraints of the globe
as an indicator of sustainability
›  Carrying capacity

› Environmental justice
›  Concerned with how environmental ‘bads’ and
‘goods’ are distributed across society
›  Concern over (i) the equity of environmental
management interventions and (ii) nature of
public involvement in decision-making
›  Poverty & the environment; Political ecology (see
Dodman)
Sustainable Development & Cities
›  Rising
concentration of the world’s pop. in
urban centers presents a challenge to SD
Sustainable Development & Cities
› Rising
concentration of the world’s pop. in
urban centers presents a challenge to SD

› Urbanitesare more dependent on markets

for food, basic needs and services than rural
dwellers
›  Any threat to income have more profound
impacts on poverty and vulnerability
›  Low-income groups in developing world cities
face substantial environmental health risks
›  Inadequate sanitation, poor water supplies, poor
housing conditions.
Sustainable Development & Cities
› Cities and environmental issues
›  60% of the world’s GNP is produced in cities
›  60% of cities > 2.5 mill. people are coastal

›  Avg. each city of 1 mill. people daily consumes

625,000 tonnes of water, 2,000 tonnes of food &
9,500 tonnes of fuel
›  Similarly, generates 500,000 tonnes of waste-
water, 2,000 tonnes of solid waste & 950 tonnes of
air pollutants

›  Egypt,
more than 10% of farmland has been lost
to urban encroachment (Satterthwaite &
Dodman (2008) IIED Report )
Sustainable Development & Cities
›  These
problems are mediated e.g. through class,
race and sex/gender differences

A labourer in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sustainable Development & Cities

o  Processes of decentralization and of

privatization of basic services have immense
implications

o  Capacity building, accountability and

transparency of local authorities are key to
sustainable urban development
- Greater role for NGOs and civic groups
- Participatory urban planning
Sustainable urban development
› Cities
cannot continue to prosper if the
aggregate impact of their economies
draws on global resources in unsustainable
ways

›  Cities contribution to Global Climate Change

› A need for social and environmental

justice
›  Urban poor are the most vulnerable
›  IIED reports; BBC’s ‘hot cities’
Raised slum dwellings,
Dhaka
New Directions in Urban Planning
›  Intelligentand Sustainable Development; Cities as
solutions rather than the problem
›  Integrated planning

›  Smart growth (cf. new urbanism, compact city)

- an urban planning theory that concentrates
growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid
sprawl and advocates compact, mixed-use
development with a range of housing choices.
›  Challenges old assumptions in urban planning e.g.
value of unattached housing and automobile
usage
Smart growth
›  Emerged in the last 10-20 years
›  Not so new, fundamental development
practices that have been around for century
Examples of smart Celebration, FL

growth
›  Chesterfield, NJ
›  permanently preserved
over 7000+ acres of
farmland through state
and county programs
›  Characterized by active
and passive open space
areas with preserved
agricultural land
surrounding the planned
village
Criticisms of smart growth
› Implies
that other forms of urban planning
are not ‘smart’

› Blamed
for disfavoring minority groups
and the poor by shooting up housing
prices

› Limited
in terms of its impact, mostly
practiced in certain areas in MEDCs; most
urban growth is happening in LEDCs
GEOG2131: URBAN GEOGRAPHIES
Thursday October 22, 2015

Sustainable Urban
Development

Dr. Kevon Rhiney,

Department of Geography & Geology,
University of the West Indies.
Kevon.rhiney@uwimona.edu.jm