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Chapter 7: How can we build sustainable cities? Urban areas: Includes cities and towns Large population size compared to other locations in the country High population density compared to other locations in the country Built-up areas, mostly covered by build...

Chapter 7: How can we build sustainable cities? Urban areas: Includes cities and towns Large population size compared to other locations in the country High population density compared to other locations in the country Built-up areas, mostly covered by buildings Extensive infrastructure Cities: A defined urban area within a country Percentage of world’s population living in cities could rise from 50% in 2007 to 60% in 2030 Large population size compared to other locations in the country High population density compared to other locations in the country Built-up areas, mostly covered by buildings Extensive infrastructure Serves a range of functions o Administrative functions ▪ In Jakarta, the office of the President and the highest court of law is located there o Economic function ▪ Industries o Commercial functions Rural areas: Lower population size compared to cities Lower population density Fewer functions Less built-up Relationship between cities and rural areas: Rural-urban migration o When people move from rural areas to urban areas o Push factors ▪ Wars ▪ Lack of services ▪ Poor transportation ▪ Lack of job opportunities o Pull factors  ▪ Access to services ▪ Better transportation ▪ Better job opportunities ▪ Better living conditions Provision of goods and services o Cities rely on rural areas for food due to lack of space for agricultural activities o Rural areas benefit from amenities from cities such as medical service How cities affect inhabitants and the environment: Opportunities for people o Education and employment o Technological innovation ▪ Smart cities Solar panels to reduce energy consumption Smart streetlights that turn off when not in use Challenges for people o Environmental pollution ▪ Water pollution Caused by poor sewage systems Contaminates water supply required for survival o Harm human health ▪ Air pollution Caused by emissions mainly from burning of fossil fuels Causes health problems: o Respiration infections o Lung cancer o Heart disease o Death o Competition for natural resources ▪ Land resource Parts of the cities might be rebuilt to be used more extensively o May cause unhappiness ▪ Water resources Limits of land causes less reservoirs Essential for survival o Used in everyday life o Essential for life Sustainably managing cities:  Environmental management o Reduce environmental impact ▪ Reduce the use of natural resources ▪ Reduce pollution Burning of less fossil fuels o Laws to regulate o Managing of hazards ▪ Human-induced hazards Fires Oil spills Industrial accidents ▪ Use of better quality buildings materials Able to withstand hazards o Earthquakes Oil dampers and brake dampers ▪ Land use planning Making decisions in how land resources will be used. o This allows planning agencies to restrict development at zones where it is unsafe o Improve quality of life ▪ Provide safe housing Good quality housing ▪ Provide a variety of transportation modes Easier to travel Traffic congestion reduced Environmental pollution lowered ▪ Consider needs of different groups People with disabilities might require special needs o Make it wheelchair accessible Chapter 8: Housing and its spatial distribution Housing: Structure or buildings to shelter people from the elements Basic need Can be built in planned or unplanned fashions Built using variety of materials Come in all different shapes and sizes High-rise if more than 6 stories o High-density living  o Found closer to the city centre o Mostly apartments and shared facilities such as playgrounds, exercise equipment Low-rise o Compromise detached houses o Semi-detached houses (two houses that shares a common wall) o Terrance (rows of houses with shared walls) o Shophouses Formal housing o Built by government or private developers o Legal right to occupy land o Access to basic services o High-quality building materials o Found on desirable land within a city ▪ Near greenery ▪ Near amenities ▪ Away from pollution Informal housing o Self-built squatter settlement o No legal right to occupy land o Lack of access to basic services o Found in areas of locally unwanted land-use ▪ Near landfills ▪ Near sewage treatment plants ▪ Near large, polluting industries What affects its location o Land use planning ▪ Developers have to abide by the guidelines set by the authorities o Developers ▪ Developers tend to pick sites that are more commercially available o Land prices o The presence of housing financial support ▪ Places with no housing financial support will have less housing ▪ Places with higher housing financial support will have more housing Chapter 9: Sustainable development of housing o How housing affect natural environment ▪ Use of natural resources Clearing of land Wood  Water Gases ▪ Environmental pollution o How access to housing affect people ▪ Provision of basic needs Housing provides shelter Formal housing provides access to sanitation Water Electricity ▪ Presence of amenities Grocery shops Medical services ▪ Presence of communities Meets residents’ social needs o How housing can be sustainably managed ▪ Integrated land use planning Different stakeholders come together to make decisions about the city o Resolves the needs of different groups Challenges o Requires coordination of many stakeholders o Different groups might have different views ▪ Provision of inclusive public housing Ensuring that all of the urban population can have access to housing that meets their various needs Housing caters to people of different ages and physical conditions ▪ Environmental features in buildings Solar panels Recycling bins ▪ Improvements to conditions of slums (unlikely to be tested) Improvements to living conditions o Sanitation o Access to clean water Challenges o Land not intended to be used for housing ▪ Lead to problems in future city development plans Chapter 10: Transport systems and their special distribution Transport Connects people between different locations Transport systems o Moves people ▪ Enable people to commute to work ▪ Helps connect residential areas and employment ▪ Access to amenities ▪ Access to social activities o Moves goods and services ▪ Door-to-door delivery o Connection between cities ▪ Point-to-Point More direct Faster travel times Less destinations Less overcrowding ▪ Hub-and-Spoke Requires transfer at a hub Slower travel times More destinations Potential overcrowding at hubs Changi Airport o Contains: ▪ Network Nodes o A location that provides entry to the transport network o Linked by routes o Can be represented at different scales ▪ Global Ports ▪ Regional Inter-city interchange ▪ Local Bus stop o Terminals ▪ Facility where passengers and freight either originate or terminate the transport process o Location ▪ Areas of high concentration of activities  Central Business District o Provides commercial services o Provides employment opportunities Tourist attractions o Little India o Chinatown o Botanic Gardens ▪ Areas with high accessibility Accessibility is the ease of reaching destinations or activities High accessibility is where different destinations can be reached with relative ease within a given time frame or cost Can be indicated by low travel time and cost Routes o Represent path for travel between nodes Network density o Number of nodes and routes in an area ▪ Infrastructure Roads Railways Walkways Bridges Quality is indicated by: o Coverage o Capacity o Frequency o Convenience o Environmental sustainability ▪ Modes The way of transport o Land transport ▪ Cars ▪ Buses ▪ Cycling ▪ Walking o Air transport  ▪ Planes o Water transport ▪ Bloat Unimodal o Only one mode o Faster as it allows destinations to be reached directly o Less destinations can be reached Intermodal o More than one mode o Slower as transfers are required to reach destinations o More destinations can be reached Chapter 11: Sustainable management of transport systems o How transport systems impact the environment in cities ▪ Changes to the physical environment Clearing of natural vegetation o Loss of animal habitats o Roadkill if used to build roads Modifying of terrains ▪ Increased carbon footprint Burning of fossil fuels as fuel and for electricity o How do transport systems impact people in the city ▪ Improved mobility for elderly and persons with disabilities Barrier-free transport systems Silver zones to improve mobility of elderly ▪ Traffic congestion Occurs when road usage approaches or exceeds road capacity During peak hours Usually occur on roads leading to and from the Central Business District Affects physical and emotional well-being of those in traffic o Driver might be frustrated, display aggressive behaviour or lose concentration ▪ Increase risk of accidents Longer travelling times for drivers and passengers Burn fossil fuels when it is stuck in traffic o Increase carbon footprint o Worsen air quality  ▪ Health risks Air pollution when burning fuel o Respiration problems ▪ Breathing difficulty ▪ Asthma ▪ Eye irritation ▪ Lung infection ▪ Higher risk of lung caner Noise pollution o Disturb sleep o Reduce work performance o Provoke annoyance o Cause mental stress o Hearing impairment o Heat-related illness ▪ Safety risks Road accidents High crime rates in areas with large crowds o Solve with gender-segregated transportation Terminals are targets of many terrorist attacks due to visibility and significance o How transport systems can be managed sustainably ▪ Laws and policies Road safety laws o Traffic lights Car-lite laws o Road pricing ▪ Allows government to control vehicle population effectively ▪ Revenue collected to be used for other purposes Useful because of large scale implementation Challenges: o Huge amount of money needed o Negatively impact people who needs to drive ▪ Integrated land use and transport planning Government adopts integrated land use in urban planning o Locate buildings and commercial centres which offer employment opportunities near resident buildings  Government plan and build effective and quality transport systems o City is better planned as land will be allocated for transport services How it is effective: o Government can plan for the long term, which will improve the quality of the transport o Green and sustainable transport ▪ Lower carbon footprint Challenges: o Requires coordination with different stakeholders o Takes time o Requires huge investments Improve mobility for different groups of commuters o Effectiveness: ▪ Barrier-free transportation ▪ Cost effective ▪ Reduce obstacles ▪ Support development of inclusive transport system o Challenges: ▪ Wasteful if small groups actual requires it ▪ Hard to ensure everyone’s needs Research and development in transport o Invest in research and development ▪ Improve mobility and safety ▪ Improve commuter experience ▪ Adopt environmentally friendly transport modes ▪ EVs o Use greener building materials and techniques to build transport infrastructure o Challenges: ▪ High cost ▪ Need to partner with private stakeholders Geographical investigations: Field work: Process of observing and collecting data about people, cultures, and natural environments  Conducted in everyday surroundings instead of semi-controlled environments like a lab Allows researchers to collect data about the dynamic places, people and the species around them. Planning research question or hypothesis -> Collection of data -> Analysis of data -> Presentation of findings -> Conclusion and evaluation Pre-fieldwork Fieldwork Post-fieldwork Planning research question or hypothesis: Hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. Research question o Is your neighbourhood doing enough to decrease its environmental impacts? Data types o Primary data ▪ Data collected first handed o Secondary data ▪ Data collected by someone else o Quantitative data ▪ Data that can be measured ▪ It includes the number of people who responded o Qualitative data ▪ Data that are not easily measured Collection of data: Data collection methods o Sampling methods ▪ Probability sampling Simple random sampling o Each member if the population has an equal chance of being selected Systematic sampling o Selecting participants at regular intervals Stratified random sampling o The total population is divided into groups based on characteristics ▪ Non-probability sampling Convenience sampling  o Using respondents who are convenient to the researcher, easy to access by the researcher Quota sampling o Recruit sample units until the groups based on characteristics is reached o Different from stratified random sampling ▪ Stratified random sampling divides the already chosen respondents into groups while quota sampling is where the researchers choose the respondents based on groups o Primary data collection methods ▪ Questionnaire surveys ▪ Interviews ▪ Mental maps o Scale of the fieldwork ▪ Defined physical boundary where the fieldwork can happen Makes the data collection manageable o Stretch map ▪ Drawn from observation rather than to exact scale measurements and which shows the main features of an area Helps complement the survey/interview Provides a visual and spatial representation of how people experience and perceive their surrounding environment Analysis of data: Processing quantitative data o Measuring frequency ▪ Counting of occurrences ▪ Percentage Processing qualitative data o Spatial analysis ▪ Distribution of features ▪ Identify patterns o Photo annotations ▪ Step 1: What do we see? Space – Where this place is located? Place – What do you notice about the characteristics of the estate? Environment – What are the natural and human features?  Scale – How big is the geographical phenomenon or problem? ▪ Step 2: What does it show or tell us? How does the feature impact humans or the natural environment? What and why is this happening? Presentation of findings: Maps o Show spatial information o Show location of and distances between places/features o Characteristics of landscape – Rural vs urban, natural vs built environment Bar graphs and pie charts o Show frequency distribution o Show relationship between two variables o Requirements: ▪ Title ▪ Legend ▪ Axis labels ▪ Accuracy ▪ Appropriate scales Line graphs o Shows trends and relationships between two variables Photographs o Display spatial information, characteristics and features of spaces Texts o Represent qualitative analyses from interviews or surveys o Show common ideas or popular viewpoints Conclusion and evaluation