4.2 - What pressures currently confront cities and how are they changing them?

4.2 - What pressures currently confront cities and how are they changing them?

1. Transport and communications

   • Internet accessibility
   • Decentralisation
     • Doughnut effect
     • 'Dead heart'
   • Road degradation
   • Traffic congestion
     • Pollution
       • Enter text here
   • Over dependency on public transport
     • Over-crowding on trains
       • i.e. London underground
   • Case study: Bristol?

2. Disparities in wealth

   • Rising land values
     • Homelessness/ slums
   • Rate of urbanisation
   • Over-population
     • Unemployment
   • Creation of ghettos
   • Poorer areas lack services
   • More violent crimes within cities
     • People are less familiar with each other
   • Asylum seekers
     • Claim benefits
     • Illegal immigration
   • Case study: Plymouth, Devonport

3. Areal extent

   • Urban sprawl
     • Villages + towns swallowed up by growing cities
     • Phoenix, Arizona
       • No planning - constant spreading
       • Located in the desert
         • Water pumped from Colorado River
           • River over-pumped - dries up
   • Environmental restrictions
     • Mexico City
       • Inside an ex-volcano
       • Stops expansion
       • City is sinking as ground is soft
       • Sewage is brought back up - unhygienic
   • Rio De Janeiro
     • Population approx 11.6 milllion
       • 2010 - pop 6 million - massive growth
         • 150% growth sine 1960
     • Urban area covers 720 sq miles
       • Pop density - 16,100 mile sq
     • Inner core only 2% of city's growth last decade
       • Area surrounding that was 3% of growth
     • Biggest growth in suburbanisation - 43%
     • Is spreading over local mountains (Sugar Loaf + Corcovado) - not contained
     • 600 favelas increasing + expanding the city

4. Quality of environment

   • Increasing population
     • Sewage issues
       • London
       • Mexico
     • Social disadvantages
   • Access to open space
     • Lack of green areas
   • Water accessibility
   • Increasing industry
     • Pollution/ enviro degradation
   • Clean environments
     • Pavements, street furniture, lack of graffiti + vandalism
   • Air quality
   • Noise pollution
   • Crime
     • People don't feel safe
   • Chongqing, China
     • Social/ enviro problems
     • Poor people - low paid jobs - 20p per hour
       • In some nightclubs a table costs a minimum of £50 - more than poor make in a month
     • In some cases 4 families live in one home
     • 20 million pop in 2020
     • Appalling air quality even for China's standards
       • EU blames air pollution for premature deaths
     • £10 billion plan to improve quality of live
     • Untreated sewage - main biological pollutant
     • High motocycle industry - wants to move to cars
     • Each year 1/2 million people move into the city
     • Waste landfill sites the size of reservoirs
       • Huge amounts of carbon + methane emissions
         • Worries of toxins reaching water supply
     • Crime increased
       • Since 2002 - Drug cases increased 6x
       • At least 3 violent protests too
     • Far behind on environmental protection

5. Pressures in London

   • Population and domestic demand for energy
     • Projected population/ dwelling increase
       • 460,000 new by 2016
     • 660,000 new homes by 2025
       • In this time: Projected 10% reduction in heat demands
         • Due to improved insulation
     • New homes - demand lower - 3000kWh per annum
     • Electricity demand for lights + appliances 20% less - 2700kWh
   • Non-domestic demand
     • Increase in employment of 845,000 + 24% increase in domestic floor space
     • 25% reduction in annual heat demand
     • 30% reduction in electricity
     • Proportion of electrically heated floor space will fall to 10% in new buildings
     • Proportion of air-conditioned offices remain at 50%
   • Predicted water balance
     • During most summers water from the Thames and Lee meet demand for water
     • Periods of low rainfall threaten security of supply
     • 2 winters of below average rainfall can lead to drought conditions
     • Low rainfall in winter months limits refill of groundwater stores
       • Leads to low river flows following spring/summer
     • Supply across London unbalanced
       • Some areas experience deficit