Sustainable development in the context of Globalization

The impact of ecosystems in developing countries

MA Urban Design - Cardiff University

Welsh School of Architecture/ School of Geography and Planning

19/20-CPT853 - Research Methods and Techniques

Student Name: Zhujia Shen

Student Number: C1861885

Core word count: 2000

Abstract
The waste of resources has always been adverse problems in the development of the city. Although
Koolhaas (2007) and others discuss the impact of globalization in the human world, there has been
relatively little analysis of ecosystem impacts. The primary purpose of this paper is to study how
globalization affects the sustainable development, sustainable development includes many aspects,
and this paper focuses on how to reconstruct the ecological system to achieve the purpose of
sustainable development. Under the stimulation of globalization, there is a dramatic rise in the
development speed of urbanization, and people's sensitivity to nature is affected in this rapid
development. People pay more attention to the changes in cities than to the natural environment
around them, and this situation is more obvious in non-developed countries. Beijing, which is the
capital of China, has completed urbanization in terms of economic growth and public
appearance. Olympic Games as an opportunity for the development of the park to direct the water
from the northern river into the park and planed a reasonable cycle system to complete ecological
system. It not only improves the diversity of local species but also saves a large of later maintenance
costs. The effect of the ecosystem on the health of the surrounding residents is a long-term
process. Thus, this research needs to explore how much impact of ecosystem on medical resources
in the further.

Key Words
Globalization Sustainable development Ecosystem Conservation Developing country

Potential Supervisor:

1. Usman Awan

2. Ewan Smith

3. Noah Akhimien
Introduction (143)
The waste of resources has always been adverse problems in the development of the city (Axel 2012).
The concept of sustainable development first appeared in 1987, the United Nations world commission
on environment and development in the Brundtland Report; the vocabulary is then extended to
economic, social development. Resource conservation has always been one of the main methods of
sustainable development. Although Koolhaas (2007) and others discuss the impact of globalization in
the human world, there has been relatively little analysis of ecosystem impacts, and this kind of
influence also has the different appearance form in a different area. Such as the Olympic forest park
in Beijing, an excellent ecosystem can save significant resources and promote the sustainable
development of the city. This paper will discuss how to rebuild the ecosystem and effectively save
resources in urban development in the context of globalization.

Research Questions (228)

The primary purpose of this paper is to study how globalization affects the sustainable development,
sustainable development includes many aspects, and this paper focuses on how to reconstruct the
ecological system to achieve the purpose of sustainable development. The environmental system can
be divided into the urban ecological system of human life and the natural ecological system of non-
human biological life, and there are significant different influences of globalization on the aspect of
the ecological system in different countries or cities. However, the priority of sustainable development
has always been a contradictory issue. The following questions will help explore a solution.
1. What is the impact of globalization on the natural ecosystem?
2. How to save resources effectively in developing countries?
3. What is the priority of sustainable development?
Sustainable development has always been one of the main principles of urban development in the
whole world. Under the stimulation of globalization, there is a dramatic rise in the development speed
of urbanization, and people's sensitivity to nature is affected in this rapid development. People pay
more attention to the changes in cities than to the natural environment around them, and this
situation is more obvious in non-developed countries. The concept of sustainable development
should be given a higher priority in these countries, but the reality is the opposite, and it has been a
significant problem for developing countries.

Literature Review (1331)

The impact of globalization on ecosystems
Koolhaas (2007) discuss the concept of generic cities in the trend of globalization and explain that the
globalization movement is more likely to homogenization. This sense of homogenization is a
spontaneous process of human longing for beautiful things, but this kind of spontaneous process can
reduce the individual's sensitivity and observation of surrounding (Kathryn 2016). Addition,
globalization is more concerned with the impact of resources and environment on the human world.
However, the effects of these resources and environments on other elements have not been
adequately reflected. For example, green roofs, which are used frequently in globalization, consume
more water source in the equatorial regions (Richard 2015). Although roof greening can solve the
constriction of greening in high-density areas, people tend to ignore imbalance between
consumption and benefits due to the sense of homogenization. Natural climate and geographical
elements may cause some limitations and difference in the spirit of homogenization. Although the
generic city emphasizes the influence of variations on the human world, this difference is more about
human history and culture than about natural systems. Moreover, the transparency of natural systems
in globalization has led humans to pay less attention to environmental differences to some extent
(Ernstson and Sörlin 2013). There is a significant challenge to some of the inherently disadvantaged
non-generic cities such as environment, climate and geography because these regions could
undertake enormous pressure on its ecosystem to achieve the conditions of the generic city. However,
this pressure will generate massive internal friction on the natural ecosystem. By relying on this
substantial internal friction, inherently disadvantaged ports can connect with the vast networks of
globalization. Therefore, the adverse effects of globalization on the ecosystem are reflected in the
universal homogenization of human and the insufficient establishment of natural systems.

Globalization has greater impact on the natural systems of developing countries

James (2015) discussed that there are increasing similarities between different cities in the context of
globalization. Moreover, he emphasized that the generic city which as an urban ecological system has
positive significance in the development of globalization. For example, people can strike a chord who
come from different country and city due to similar urban ecosystems; this kind of resonance could
reduce estrangement and misunderstanding of communication. Addition, sometimes, the gap of
communication does not come from different language or culture; for example, it is easier between
cities to empathize each other than between the city and the countryside. The condition of
urbanization may happen mostly in developing countries because the background of globalization
amplifies the sense of homogenization. Furthermore, the visual design which is a catalyst accelerates
to produce this kind of resonance. People can see that there are more skyscrapers and abnormity
building which are established in the developing countries and it is similar to their road and greening
to metropolia such as London or New York. Furthermore, globalization is more like a vast network
rather than an integral whole, cities and countries which outside the system are performing their most
significant effort to connect this massive network so as not to be abandoned by The Times (Arjun
2001). However, people are likely to be more focus on the appearance of the city rather than the
needs of the local people and the constraints of the environment. Addition, visual design results in
people would design the city by referring to the picture of the metropolis. Not only will this kind of
design lose the critical thinking in the design processing, but also it will increase the pressure of the
natural ecosystem in the metabolism of cities (Ghertner 2015). For example, the heat island effect in
cities is a common issue in the rapid development of cities due to losing the balance between the
natural system and the urban system. Therefore, people who live in the developing country can tend
to be less sensitive to the environment and globalization may cause an even more significant threat
to these region's ecosystems.
Sustainable development in developing countries
There is a constant rising concern about the concept of sustainable development in the whole world.
Addition, people have realized that it is the importance of protecting natural ecosystems for
sustainable development. However, there has always been much argument about the priority of
sustainable development in an economically driven world. The generation of privatization established
the unique position of the economy, which is ingrained and unshakeable in urban development, and
the emergence of liberalism causes this situation is further reinforced. The theme of economic ascent
is prevalent in some developed countries, and this theme is more evident in most of developing
countries such as China. Moreover, the booming economy has become the primary evaluation
standard of urban development in these developing countries (Thompson 2015). The concept of
sustainable development has been proposed for 30 years, and there has been an extension
encompasses aspects which range from economy to society. However, the priority of sustainable
development is not as high as the economy which appears in the lexicon of economic sustainability.
Furthermore, the reason is that the continuity and obscurity of environmental advantages make it
difficult to compete with the short-term and distinct economic benefits. Addition, People can establish
a short-term project to obtain huge profits and employment, these employments can further provide
a large number of labour and advantages, the benefits can be transformed into equivalent goods to
satisfy people's vanity and desire. These are obvious in the short term. However, it is not easy to
produce these effects of the excellent ecological system in a short time. For example, bee ecosystem,
flower pollination is a relatively visible manifestation; it can reduce the waste of artificial resource
cultivation. Moreover, in the long term, bees can improve the diversity of plant species, and the variety
of plants could increase the range of microbes and bacteria, these microbes and bacteria can
strengthen the human immune system (Biani 2009). Not only can bee ecosystem improve human
health in the long term, but also reduce the pressure on medical resources, as well as further resource
conservation. Thus, it is essential to raise awareness in developing countries about rebuilding
ecosystems, especially under the temptation of today's rapid urbanization because thoughtful
planning in the early stage can effectively save more resources than the cost of maintenance.

The importance of diversity to cities

Cazalis et al. (2018) conceptualized the relationship between global natural ecosystems and
population through four dynamic models, and they find that the limits of population growth depend
heavily on natural ecosystems. The reason is that environmental degradation which due to population
growth threatens the people’s future welfare and living environment, thus in the future, there will be
a severe decline in population in the degraded natural ecosystem. Moreover, Shahid (2009) believes
that the urban system is embedded in the natural system, it means that urban systems and natural
ecosystems are not symbiotic but dependent. It is difficult for urban ecosystems to survive
independently. Therefore, natural ecosystems are significant to urban ecosystems. UNU-IAS (2010)
discussed the importance of the natural ecosystem to cities from the perspective of species diversity
and supported the disadvantages of the urban ecosystem. For example, the homogeneity of cities
leads to the oneness of species. Biodiversity is the basis of stable ecosystems in nature, and more
complex ecosystems can withstand the greater unpredictability of the future such as climate
catastrophe and the invasion of alien species. However, urban ecosystem shows unprecedented
homogeneity due to the process of globalization, and this situation results in the excessive
consumption of resources within the city, which is used to fill the gap created by the loss of biodiversity.
Furthermore, this kind of waste is not easily perceived by residents who have been insensitive to
nature, for example, from using extra water and nutrients to grow flowers to using a large of resources
to provide additional cooling and heating. However, the rising bill shows that resources are being
wasted. Therefore, rebuilding ecosystems can help humans re-examine the relationship between the
city and surrounding natural ecosystem, it can help to increase the diversity of species in the non-
human world within the city and achieve the sustainable development of the city.

Case Study (163)

China is a developing country which has unbalanced development, and there are some of the cities
that have reached the level of developed countries. Beijing, which is the capital of China, has
completed urbanization in terms of economic growth and public appearance. The predecessor of the
Beijing Olympic forest park was a semi-enclosed natural system which does not have a water system,
and it caused high maintenance costs and wasted water resources in the later years. Olympic Games
as an opportunity for the development of the park to direct the water from the northern river into the
park and planed a reasonable cycle system to complete ecological system (Xie et al. 2012). It not only
improves the diversity of local species but also saves a large of later maintenance costs. The effect of
the ecosystem on the health of the surrounding residents is a long-term process. Thus, this research
needs to explore how much impact of ecosystem on medical resources in the further.

Methodology & Research Design (135)

This study will use qualitative research to explore the impact of globalization on natural ecosystems
and distinguish the effect of globalization on different regions. Quantitative analysis can examine the
beneficial effects of species diversity in the aspect of resource conservation, recording data about the
species on the official website and the government's annual expenditure on the maintenance of the
Olympic park, but be aware of the impact of non-forest park data on the results such as venues and
squares. The data which collect from the website and questionnaires are used to investigate the
surrounding health indicators and compare them with other regions. Due to the inaccuracy of the
data, the contrasting case needs to be selected in a remote area. However, due to the limitations of
the data, the results of the survey may fluctuate.
Reference:
Arjun, A. 2001. Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Axel, B. 2012. Sustainable low-carbon city development in China. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Biani, N. B. 2009. Cleaner mites: Sanitary mutualism in the miniature ecosystem of Neotropical bee nests. The
American Naturalist 173(6), pp. 841-847.

Cazalis, V et al. 2018. Do we have to choose between feeding the human population and conserving nature?
Modelling the global dependence of people on ecosystem services. Science of the Total Environment 634, pp. 1463-
1474.

Ernstson, H and Sörlin, S. 2013. Ecosystem services as technology of globalization: On articulating values in
urban nature. Ecological Economics 86, pp. 274-284.

Ghertner, D. A. 2015. Rule by Aesthetics: World-class City Making in Delhi. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

James, H. S. 2015. Globalization and urbanization: the global urban ecosystem. Lanham, Maryland; London, England:
Rowman & Littlefield.

Kathryn, H. 01 November 2016. Convergence. Transnational Literature 9(1).

Koolhaas, R. 2007. ‘The Generic city’ and ‘Whatever Happened to Urbanism?’ in Larice, M. and Macdonald, E. (eds). The
Urban Design Reader. London: Routledge, pp. 358-372.

Macdonald, E. (eds). The Urban Design Reader. London: Routledge, pp. 358-372.

Richard, K. 2015. Green roof ecosystems. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Shahid, N. 2009. Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human wellbeing an ecological and economic perspective.
Oxford: Oxford University.

Thompson, M. 2015. Between Boundaries: From Commoning and Guerrilla Gardening to Community Land Trust
Development in Liverpool. Antipode 47(4), pp. 1021-1042.

UNU-IAS. 2010. Cities, Biodiversity and Governance: Perspectives and Challenges of the Implementation of the
Convention on Biological Diversity at the City Level. Available at: https://i.unu.edu/media/ourworld.unu.edu-
jp/article/1965/UNU-IAS-Cities-and-Bio-e-ver.pdf [Accessed: 18 May 2020].

Xie, X. L. et al. 2012. Application of large‐scale integrated vertical flow constructed wetland in Beijing Olympic forest
park: design, operation and performance. Water and Environment Journal 26(1), pp. 100-107.