Lesson 1 -Sustainable Cities

Slide 2 – Can you define sustainability?

Slide 3 and 4 – What is Urban Sustainability? Make notes
Slide 5 – Make notes on what can make a city sustainable
Slide 6 – complete the diamond 9 with the key ideas on slide 6 –
follow the instructions on the slide. Use the information on slides
7-12 to help you.
Slide 13 – Summary Plenary
 What does the word sustainable mean?

Meeting the needs of today's population without compromising the needs of future
generations. Sustainability is considered to include environmental, social and economic
components.

11/29/2023 TBAT explain how a city can be susta

inable
 What Is Urban Sustainability?

A city organised without over reliance on the surrounding rural

areas and one using renewable energy.
 Cities Require Planning to be Sustainable

• Social Planning – people’s needs. Including people

in decisions about their futures. There is a need to
provide sustainable homes.
• Economic Planning – provides people with
employment.
• Environmental Planning – ensures that resources
are not wasted and the environment is protected
for future generations. Reducing waste and re-use
and recycle as much as possible as well as using
brownfield sites as much as possible.
How can a city be sustainable?

Recycling water Providing green

to conserve spaces.
supplies. Making sinks for
the disposal of
toxic chemicals.
Reducing the
reliance on fossil Sustainable
fuels and re- urban Minimising the use
thinking transport strategies. of greenfield sites
options. by using brownfield
sites.

Reducing city waste so

that local rivers and Conserving cultural,
oceans have the Involving local historic and
capacity to absorb communities. environmental sites
them. and buildings.
How can a city be sustainable?
Anotate your diagram with notes then – Diamond 7
Things to think about in your Diamond 7

Conserving the Historic Environment. Reducing and safely disposing of waste.

HOW are old buildings conserved? Some examples are... HOW: YOU, local and national solutions.

Involving local people. Conserving the natural

HOW do you get local people Sustainable city – an environment.
involved? WHY is it important urban area where local HOW can green spaces be
that they are consulted about people have a way of protected in cities? WHY are they
where they live? life that will last a long important for the city?
time. The environment
is not damaged and the
Providing an efficient public economic and social Using brownfield sites.
fabric are able to stand
HOW are brownfield site used? WHY
transport system. HOW to get people the test of time.
should they be used?
to use the bus’: WHY is it important to
create an efficient transport system?
Providing open spaces.
HOW to do this Green belt; urban
Most Important sprawl; national park; brownfield site.
What are they? How do they provide
urban spaces.
A question could be:
Explain the features of a
You have 7 strategies for making a city Colour the boxes in 3
Levels1 (Basic) 1-3 sustainable city with
sustainable. different colours.
You describe the features One each for; social, examples.
Cut the statements out and create a
of a sustainable city environmental and
diamond 7, ranking them in order or
importance. economic.
Remember to include
Explain your most and least important
Least Important strategy.
a key!
 What impact do cities have on the environment?
Cities put pressure on the environment by using inputs, like food, water and energy and, at the
same time, by producing outputs, like waste and pollution. However, living in the city can
sometimes be more sustainable than living in the countryside. In cities:
 People need to make fewer road journeys because everything they need is closer.
 Careful planning of public transport helps to save resources.
 People work together to generate ideas or produce goods and services that benefit the
economy.
One way to think about cities is through their ecological footprint, this is the area of land or sea
that is needed to produce all the inputs a city uses and to dispose of the outputs.
Describe how a cities impact on the environment with their ecological
footprint. (4 marks) Key ideas
Can you use these key terms:

• Waste
• Food
• Water
• Energy
• Resources
• Pollution
• Sewage
• Sustainable
• Local people
• Community
• Goods and services
• Public transport
• Ecological footprint
• Recycling
 Conserving the historic environment and
natural environment
Old buildings of historic importance have been kept but their use changed.
The historic environment can be conserved in many ways:
 Old industrial buildings like warehouses can be turned into
apartments.
 Run down old houses can be re-developed to provide
housing that will last into the future.
 Canals in the cities can be rebranded and regenerated as London: Royal Albert
leisure facilities. docks; then and now
The natural environment can be conserved by cities in the following ways:
a) Using more electricity generated renewably. For example by wind or solar power.
b) Collecting and recycling water, instead of piping it in from reservoirs in the countryside.
c) Running fuel efficient public transport systems that cause less pollution.
BedZED

The Beddington Zero Energy Development is near Croydon and is the largest
carbon-neutral eco- community in the UK.

Energy consumption was reduced in this settlement by:

1. Using building materials that store heat.
2. Using natural and recycled building materials.
3. Introducing a car sharing club for getting to work.
 Reducing and safely disposing of waste
• FACTS:
• The UK produces 30 million tonnes of household waste a year. 400million if you include
mining and quarrying waste!
• 20% of household waste could be composted.
• 18% of waste is paper and card. This can be recycled.
• In the last ten years recycling has increased from 11% to 40%.
• The UK produces 275kg of waste per person per year.
• YOUR Solutions.
• Buy goods with less packaging e.g. apples do not need to
come in plastic bags!
• Use ‘bag for life’ carrier bags’.
• Council solutions
• Burn (incinerate) waste because landfill sites are running out.
Landfill Advantages = less waste going to landfill and can be used to
make energy: Disadvantages = fears about pollution and
health e.g. in Kings Lynn
• Government solutions
• Make people pay for carrier
Incineration bags e.g. Marks and Spencer
charge 5p
Providing open spaces and using brownfield sites
Open spaces or green spaces are vital to make cities more sustainable. They can act
like ‘green lungs’ for the city, by reducing the impact on the environment and
recycling carbon. Plants take in carbon dioxide and return oxygen back into the
atmosphere, and so help to reduce pollution.

Using brownfield sites (derelict areas of land)

for new buildings is a way of recycling the
land. This avoids using greenfield sites (new
land on the edge of the city), and stops the city
growing in size at the expense of the Epping forest is Greater London’s largest
surrounding countryside. open space. It stretches over 12 miles
from east London to just north of Epping
in Essex. Its almost 600 acres in size.
Using brownfield sites also makes the city
look more appealing for those living in the
areas near the disused sites. It is also cheaper
as much of the infrastructure such as water,
electricity and sewage is already there.
 Providing an efficient public transport system
Encouraging people to use public transport
 New cleaner fuel buses make it more attractive to travel by bus.
 Bus stops have been turned into bus shelters and have electronic signs telling people when the
next buses are due.
 In London children under 16 travel for free – to encourage them to use buses later in life.
 Buses have CCTV to increase the feeling of security.
 Bus lanes have been provided to allow buses to move through traffic jams.
 In London the ‘oyster card’ allows people to prepay for bus tickets so they don’t need to carry
cash.
 There is a single fare of £1.50 one way for central London: clear pricing!

Transport planners surveyed local people to get their ideas. Many

of these ideas where suggested at residents meetings around
London. If people feel involved and in control they are more likely
to respond positively and therefore use the bus and NOT the car..
Cleaner electric hybrid technology
 Involving local people
Involving local people in decisions about their communities means that they are more
likely to accept the decisions that are made, as they feel they have been consulted and
that their views are of value- leading to a more sustainable community.

Local councils consult people about a wide range of things- from where new homes
should be built, to how health and social care services are planned and run.

An important part of the Aston Pride scheme

in Birmingham was involving the local
community. Residents, community and faith
groups have been involved in the decision
making process to help regeneration in the
area and to make the Aston Pride NDC area a
better place to live.
Aston Pride is the 10-year regeneration program that was launched in 2001 to
improve the local area. The scheme focuses on the themes of:
• Health
• Education and Lifelong Learning
• Employment
• Community Safety
• Housing and the Environment
Summary : Using 3 different coloured pens, annotate the photograph
with ways (SEE) in which Freiburg is sustainable
 Frieburg
SEE – Social, Environmental and Economic

Shade the sheet in 3 different colours to show the Social, Environmental and
Economic ways in which Freiburg is Sustainable!
Write 3 bullet
points to summarise
the SEE planning

Choose one from

each category and
explain how it
makes it sustainable
 Sustainable living in Freiburg
Sustainable water supply in Sustainable energy in Green space in Freiburg
Freiburg Freiburg

Extension:
1. In which direction are the roofs with solar panels likely to face? Why?
2. Describe how local people have benefitted from the greening of Freiburg.
3. Suggest reasons why increasing the proportion of energy from renewable
resources could be difficult?
Urban areas can be successfully sustainable. Using a case study,
to what extent do you agree?
(9 +3 SPAG)
How can a city be sustainable?
Conserving the Historic Environment. Reducing and safely disposing of waste.

Sustainable city – an
Involving local people. urban area where Conserving the natural
local people have a
way of life that will
environment.
last a long time. The
environment is not
damaged and the
economic and social
fabric are able to
Providing an efficient public stand the test of Using brownfield sites.
time.
transport system.

Providing open spaces.

Most Important

A question could be:

Explain the features of a
Levels1 (Basic) 1-3 sustainable city with
You have 9 strategies for making a city
You describe the features Colour the boxes in 3 examples.
sustainable.
of a sustainable city different colours.
Cut the statements out and create a One each for; social,
diamond 9, ranking them in order or environmental and
importance. economic.
Least Important Explain your most and least important Remember to include
strategy. a key!
 Homework: Design your own sustainable
city (1hr)
• What features would it have?
• What jobs would people have?
• What energy would it use?
• Where would people live?
• How would people get around?

Draw and annotate what your sustainable city

would look like? (Use the information from the last
two lessons to help you - (lesson 14/15)