CURRENT URBAN PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPING WORLD

It is expected that in next century about 90 % of the human population will resides in the developing countries generally Asia, Africa and South America. The growth is vastly in large cities which are already facing food, jobs, housing, water supply problems to the residents of the city. The unplanned and not controllable growth of the cities causes dangerous environmental problems. The factors that cause problems are described as:

TRAFFIC AND CONGESTION

When anyone visits a large city first time, he observes the great rush on the roads and streets due to the pedestrians and vehicles that block the roads. The noise, congestion and confusion created due to traffic looks like to be killing. Jakarta provides an example that is the most populated city in the world. Traffic almost clog the roads all the time. People have to stay and wait for 3 to 4 hours in congesting traffic. Bangkok faces the massive traffic problems. It is estimated that an average resident spends almost 44 days in traffic jam. When vehicles stand still while in traffic jams, they lost almost 20 % of fuel.  Working hours lost each year that have worth of about $3 million. 

AIR POLLUTION

The heavy traffic (from vehicles), factories, wood or coal burning for food cooking and heating causes the dense air pollution in the megacities of world. The problem of air pollution is enhanced by the indulgent laws, corrupt administrators, non efficient testing equipment, ignoring the sources and effects of pollution and lack of funds. It is estimated that about 60 % of Calcutta people suffer from respiratory diseases from air pollution. In Shanghai the mortality rate was 4 to 7 times higher from lung cancer compared to the rates in countryside. 

SEWER SYSTEMS AND WATER POLLUTION

Only few cities in developing countries can afford the plantation of water treatment systems. It was predicted that only 35 % of people in developing countries have proper and satisfied sanitation conditions. The condition of sewage system is very worse in Latin America that residents hardly 2 % of urban sewage receives the treatment. In Egypt Cario's sewer system was built for about 2 million people. It is now serving more than 10 million people. In Colombia, Bagota River has fecal bacteria count of 7.3 million cells per liter. 

About 400 million people or it can be said about one third of the population in developing countries have no safe drinking water supply.  City dwellers have to clean water and it costs heavier. The people have to purchase water from merchants that costs 100 times more compared to piped city water and is not safe for drinking. 

HOUSING

It is estimated by US that about 1 billion people that accounts 20 % of the world population live in slums, shanty towns, squatter towns that out strikes the developing world cities. 

Slums

Slums are normally legal insufficient multifamily rooming houses that are built either to rent to poor people or are converted from other use. The Chals of Mumbay, India are the high slum built in 1950's. 84 % families live in a single room, Half of the families consist of 6 to 7 members. Only 2 square meter floor is available per person and only one to two beds for whole family is there. For mill workers the condition become more worse. 25 men sleep in a single room and the space of room is only 7 meters.

Shantytowns

These are made when people shift to the areas where the land is undeveloped. People use metal, useless packing crates, brush and plastic sheets as building materials. Some are illegal shantytowns.

Squatter towns

Here people use the land and settle there without owner permission. They are thousand in numbers and they come at night and use that undeveloped land and build there huts, streets, markets and schools before the authority move these people out. 

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CHATTANOOGA, A MODEL SUSTAINABLE CITY, CASE STUDY

Settled in Tennessee River Valley, at the base of Cumberland Plateau, Chattanooga is a industrial city that is an example of a planned model city that is planned to clean urban environment, high economy and a social capital. Twenty years before the city Chattanooga was named as dirtiest city by U.S Department of Health, Education and Welfare The Factory smoke created the air pollution with particulate matter between the mountains. This became the dirtiest city even than Los Angles.

The amount of tuberculosis became much higher with the rate of per capita tuberculosis three times the national average. Chattanooga Creek pollution was so much high with Coke Oven and steel mill toxic waste that EPA fixed the 4 Km of site as Superfund site.

Social conditions and environmental quality were degraded. As the industries moved out and upper class community moved to sub urban areas, the city was left with uncontrolled factories, decreasing tax base, unemployment, crime and misery. Mostly the worst problems were in African American neighborhoods where tackling these problems are difficult due to less resources availability.

In 1984 David Crockett, nephew of famous frontiersman held a city council. There he gathered the many city residents and asked them for the future planning of the city. Many meetings one after other was held gathered more than 1,700 people breakthrough the ideas for city planning that how their city should look like? The suggestion given in meetings were clean air, water, personal safety, jobs, place for fishing, affordable housing, and place to walk near rivers. By providing everyone right to speak and give suggestions community people made a support. Through this other people from other sides of country involved and presented their ideas.

The investments of $800 million were done by public private partnerships and 8000 new jobs were created for the people. The Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise Corporation made the investment of $60 million in affordable housing. About 1,000 new buyers of homes who were buying homes first time got the loans with low interests and others were provided the help to improve their homes. By 1990 Chattanooga achieved the compliance with air quality standards. The city promoted the public transport and built parking lots at the out strikes of the city and give free bus service in city center. Now the electric buses are made in this city and they are sold to other cities to create the revenue for the city. 

The riverfront was cleaned Public fishing pier was built. The warehouses that cause a problem in the access for river were removed. Long river front park was built for walking and biking. Property values have been increased. An attracting freshwater aquarium was built. 

It is said that Chattanooga is considered as granddaddy of sustainable cities movement. A livable environment, strong community and excellent economy was made in the city by adopting the principles of ecology. 

David Crockett said that: 

"IT IS A CITY THAT IS CLEANER, GREENER, AND SAFER.; THAT VALUES HUMANS AND NATURAL RESOURCES; AND THAT PROVIDES AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM THAT WILL KEEP OUR CHILDREN HERE". 

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CAUSES OF URBAN GROWTH

The growth of urban population occurs in two ways. One is natural increase (more births than deaths) and the other is increase by immigration. Natural increase in population is supported by supply of good food, proper sanitation, advancement in medical system in rural and urban areas. In Latin America and East Asia population growth by natural increase is about two third of population growth there. In Africa and West Asia the major source of population increase is immigration. Immigration can also be caused by two factors. One is push factors that push the people out of the country and other are pull factors that pull the people in the country or city.

IMMIGRATION PUSH FACTORS 

There are many reasons behind the migration of people into the cities. Some areas of the country are overpopulated and they cannot support the more people with facilities for their survival. The huge population is forced to migrate from their native cities or countries to the other cities or nations in search of food, jobs and housing facilities. The migration from rural to urban areas is not just due to overcrowding in nation but it can be due to the political, economic, racial or religious clashes that force the people to leave their own homes. Through these immigration push factors the country population is decreased. The US predicted that in 2002 about 19.8 million people escaped their inherent countries and 20 million were internal immigrants who moved from their cities with social, political and social instability. Many of these immigrants settled in already overcrowded megacities. 

The other push factors are land tenure patterns and agricultural changes. The patterns of agricultural mechanization in that are out of date in US now are spreading in developing countries. And where land ownership was in the hands of rich group, subsistence farmers are forced to move from there so that they made grazing land there and grow monoculture cash crops there. 

IMMIGRATION PULL FACTORS

In large and complex cities many people are attracted there by excitement, liveliness, communication with other people, jobs, housing, entertainment and freedom from difficulties of village life. In cities there are the possibilities for status, high social mobility and power. There are many other opportunities in cities such as specialization in arts, crafts and professions whose market is not available anywhere else. 

Modern cities attract the people from images of opportunities and luxuries on the social media such as in Egypt 90 % of people have availability of television set. Television makes the life more known and famous. Even the beggars and homeless people have the choice to live in cities. 

GOVERNMENT POLICIES 

Government policies provide benefit more to urban as compared to rural people because both push and pull people are in cities. Most of the budget in developing countries is spent on areas of capital city where leaders live and only small number of people live there. The benefit goes to leaders. 

All good opportunities are given in cities such as education, housing and jobs which the rural people are searching. Government sometimes manipulate the exchange rates and food prices of politically powerful urban people at the expense of rural people. The import of low price food provides benefit to urban people but it is uneconomical for local farmers to grow crops. Through this the rural people leave the villages and migrate towards cities for their convenience. 

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URBANIZATION AND CITIES CONCEPT

URBANIZATION

From the earliest origins cities have become the centers of education, commerce, religion, record keeping, communication and political power. Cities have affected the society and culture of entire population. Up till now low percentage of world'people lived in urban areas on permanent basis. The majority of population lived in rural areas which are the source of farming, fishing, hunting, animal herding, mining, natural resource based livelihood and timber harvesting for providing support to people. 

Since the start of Industrial Revolution since 300 years ago, the growth in size and power has been seen of cities. When agricultural society is changed into industrial society then urbanization, population increase, changing land use pattern and society into urban pattern of organization. Industrialization have benefits to upper society but it also has disadvantages. Almost half of the people in the world lives in the urban areas. Demographers depicted that at the end of 21 century 80-90 % of humans will live in cities.

What is a City?

The definitions of an urban area or city differs.

According to US Census Bureau a city is any incorporated community not depending upon size. It is defined as more than 2500 residents make a city. The definitions of city depend upon functions. In rural areas the dependence of people for their livelihood is on the agriculture and harvesting of natural resources. While in urban areas the dependency of majority of people is not on the livelihood based on natural resources. 

A village is defined as the collection of rural households associated with culture, custom, family bonding and land association. In City different communities live with cooperation. They built the facilities by their own such as arts, crafts, services, profession for their convenience and do not depend on natural resources for their occupation. 

An urban area with more than 10 million residents is known as supercity or megacity. Chongqing, China are  the large part of Sichuan province. The predictions show that it has more than 30 million people that make it the largest city of the world.  

In US between Boston and Washington urban areas combined to form a big megacity known as Bos-Wash having 35 million people. The Tokyo-Yokohama-Osaka-Kobe corridor has 50 million people. Geographers suggested the urban core areas that promote social, economic and political life of many countries. 

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WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE?

Humans have two worlds. One is the natural world that consist of plants, animals, air, water and soils that surrounds us for billions of years and we are part of it. The other world is social institutions and aircraft that humans made for their convenience. Both worlds are necessary for our survival. But their integration causes many tensions. 

The earlier people were not able much to alter their surroundings. But now a days we are able to change our environment and consume the resources, produce waste and modify our world in a way we want. For sustainable future we have to understand about what is in our surroundings?, how this world works?,  what are we doing in it?, and how can we protect it? 

The word Environment comes from a french word environner that means to encircle or surround. 

Environment is defined as conditions or circumstances that surrounds an organism. OR

It is defined as Complex social and cultural conditions affecting any individual or community.

What is System?

In technical terms system is defined as set of components gathered to function together. Most systems are hierarchical where smaller interacting parts made smaller sets of systems.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

It is the systematic study of environment and our proper place in it. It is a new field and integrates the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities in broad. 

TRAITS FOR ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM

Global environment is seen in three traits: openness, integration and complexity.

1) OPENNESS

Openness defines whether a system is isolated from the other system. An open system is not isolated from the other systems and it shares the energy and matter with other systems. A closed system is rather isolated and no exchanges takes place there.

Law of entropy is defined as energy cannot be recycled rather the high quality energy is degraded into low quality energy such as waste heat. Earth is an open system in terms of energy. Earth is a closed system in terms of matter.

2) INTEGRATION

It is the strength of interactions taking place n parts of systems. For example human body systems are interdependent to each other. If any cells of body such as those making the brain or heart loss from body than the human die because all the cells in body integrates.

Gaia Hypothesis describes that earth works just like human body. Earth components that are integrated aaare like human body cells integration. 

3) COMPLEXITY

It define that how many parts of systems are integrated. E.g. An insect looks more complex than a large rock because it contains many parts (cells). The insect has more complex molecules. These molecules combined to make an organ. This example  describes that complexity is hierarchical . Some components made larger ones.  

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