ct2 geography cards

• how can cities be sustainably built and managed

  1. environmental management

  • to regulate the use of natural resources and minimise the negative impact from human activities

  2) improving quality of life

  • to improve the residents' well-being
• management of physical environment


  cities have large environmental footprints and contribute a lot to pollution, which reduces the quality of the physical environment and its sustainability.

  cities can manage this by reducing water and air pollution
• reducing water pollution through water treatment ponds

  problem: rainwater may mix with chemical nutrients (from the nearby farms) and flow into the reservoir, which reduces water quality

  solution:

  • Singapore set up drains around farm plots + water treatment ponds to channel and collect rainwater and excess nutrients
  • setting up plants that purify the water (e.g. Cattails and Fragrant Pandan)
• reducing air pollution through laws 


  examples of laws in China:

  1. Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APP CAP) since 2013, to regulate people's actions and industrial activities
  2. license plate lottery policy (LPLP) to limit the number of new vehicles that can be registered
  3. vehicle restriction rule to limit the use of cars to selected days according to the last number of the license plates
• management of hazards 


  two types of hazards:

  • human-induced hazard = negative impact caused by human actions, like fire, oil spills etc.
  • natural hazards = natural occurring events like earthquakes, tsunamis etc.

  hazards can turn into disasters and cause damage
• management of hazards #1: use of better quality building materials

  • to withstand the threats of hazards
  • immediate effects of bad quality building materials: collapse of buildings, infrastructure damage, injuries, and death
  • Countries prone to earthquakes/hazards should invest in good quality materials for their infrastructure (E.g. Japan, Mori Tower uses dampening devices)
• management of hazards #2: land use planning

  • involves making decision on how land resources will be used for various purposes and distributed (eg. housing, recreation and transport)
  • to determine the possible hazard potential and the least impacted land use
  • governments and planning agencies will decide if unsafe or not
• improve quality of life #1: providing safe housing

  • a basic human need
  • housing issues' causes: high rates of migration and overpopulation
  • when housing supply is insufficient/too expensive: people resort to building their homes at unsafe locations without permission (eg. railway tracks)
• improve quality of life #2: providing a variety of transportation modes

  • many ways in which people and goods move from one location to another
  • traffic congestion and environmental pollution will be reduced
• improve quality of life #3: considering the need of different groups

  • cities need to be designed with the citizens' needs
  • Singapore uses 'Universal Design' to create a built environment that was safe and accessible for everyone
  • examples:

  1. pedestrian paths: cleared routes
  2. traffic crossings: tactile warning on the ground for blind people, and warning indicators are provided
• what is housing?


  structures/buildings developed to shelter people from the elements

  • a basic human need
  • built in a planned/unplanned manner
  • can come up in all shapes and sizes
  • can be permanent or temporarily
• characteristics of housing

  • housing is classified according to height and density
• characteristics of high-rise buildings:

  • 6 stories or more
  • use of lifts
  • associated with high-density living (many people living in an area)
  • found near the city
  • usually apartments
  • shared facilities (eg. playgrounds, exercise equipments)
• characteristics of low-rise buildings:

  • associated with low-density living
  • found towards the fringe of the city (eg. villages and towns)
  • examples are detached houses, terraces, shophouses
  • lack of shared facilities
• housing shortage meaning


  cities/urban population often grow faster than the pace of housing development, resulting in housing shortage
• the features of formal housing/legal built housing

  1. built by government/private developers
  2. legal rights to occupy land
  3. access to basic services
  4. high-quality buildling materials
• formal housing characteristic #1: Built by government or private developers

  • formal housing developments are part of urban processing methods
  • in SG, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in charge of public housing
  • supporting facilities are also built near (eg. hawker centres, roads)
• formal housing characteristic #2: legal right to occupy land

  • land rights ensures that humans feel secure about their home
  • also allow homeowners that own the land to live on/sell/lease to others
• formal housing characteristic #3: access to basic services

  • a service provided by the government that is needed to be planned and is often built together
  • improves the quality of life for residents
  • examples are clean drinking water, basic healthcare like clinics
• formal housing characteristic #4: high quality building materials

  • formal housing must conform to the planning authorities guidelines and use of high quality materials (eg. metal, hard wood)
  • in SG, all housing construction must conform to BCA specifications for quality and safety
• the features of informal housing

  1. self-built squatter settlements
  2. no legal rights to occupy land
  3. lack of access to basic services
• informal housing characteristic #1: self-built squatter settlements

  • built by individuals on unoccupied land in an unplanned manner
  • constructed from salvaged/stolen/recycled materials (eg. zinc sheets, recycled lumber)
  • risk of collapsing, being flooded, or catching fire easily
• informal housing characteristic #2: no legal rights to occupy land

  • informal housing is built on any available, accessible plot of land by residents desperate for shelter
  • may occupy government land/private property that is usually undeveloped/unsecured
  • residents will become illegal occupants, and may be under risk of eviction at any point (unpredicatable)
• informal housing characteristic #3: lack of access to basic services

  • residents lack the necessary access to basic services
  • resort to illegally tapping/siphoning of electricity and water + mismanagement of sanitation (pollution)
  • increase the risk of injury and ill-health
• why do people still live in informal housing?

  1. affordability
  2. existing infrastructure (housing)
  3. convenience (especially city centre)
  4. government does not help
• why is living in informal housing usafe?

  1. outbreak of diseases: germs/viruses spread, poor sanitation/disposal of waste, resulting in more illnesses
  2. outbreak of fires: informal housing are usually flammable, and are often packed closely to one another, resulting in fire spreading fast
  3. collapse of houses: not durable/good quality, resulting in injury/death
• where is formal housing found within a city?

  • typically found on desirable land within a city
  • governments and private developers are able to situate near greenery and amenities and away from pollution
  • also supported with quality infrastructure eg. (roads,pipes)
• where is informal housing found within a city?

  • typically found in areas of locally unwanted land-use
  • usually near landfills, sewage treatment plants etc.
  • often neglected and lack infrastructure developments


  why are there here?

  • they are the only spaces left available
  • slums are sometimes found near industrial sites as the dwellers want to save on travelling time and cost by living near their workplace
• what factors affect the location of housing??

  1. land-use planning
  2. developers
  3. land prices
  4. housing financial support
• Factor #1 that affect the location: land-use planning

  • land-use planning includes guidelines drawn up by planning authorities
  • typically practise zoning as a planning control tool for ensuring that the built environment is well developed
  • In SG, some areas have more 5 rooms + flats, like Punggol, while others have 1 room flats, like Bukit Merah, due to some areas being reserved for private developers and government
• factor #2 that affect the location: developers

  • affected by whether housing is built by private or public developers
  • private developers tend to pick sites that are most commercially viable, as they develop a property for profit
  • public developers (government) tends to consider people's needs more than profits
• factor #3 that affect the location: land prices

  • if land prices are too high, houses will be sold at higher prices, people will no longer be able to afford, and informal housing is likely to spring up
  • important that governments regulate land prices to prevent more informal housing
• factor #4 that affect the location: housing financial support

  • Housing financial support can lower the cost of building houses, to encourage developers to consider building more houses and prevent housing shortages
  • without this, formal housing may be out of reach for many
  • reduces informal settlements and making formal housing more affordable and accessible
• how does housing affect the natural resources?

  • cause: people living in these places need food to eat, water for sanitation, space for waste disposal etc.
  • natural resources will be needed to be extracted and used in order to meet these needs, like clearing forest for land, leading to negative environmental impacts
• how does housing affect the natural environment:

  1. Using the natural resources and extracting them

  2. environmental pollution
• Natural resources being extracted #1: land resources

  • land needs to be cleared in order to make space for the building of houses
  • cleared to make space for the urban population as cities grow, resulting in the depletion of forests
  • Evidence: World Wildlife Fund: about 18.7 M acres of forests are cleared per year, equivalent to 27 soccer fields per minute
• natural resources being extracted #2: other resources

  • as cities grow, more resources like food, water, electricity, building materials are needed
  • resources are used to build homes, tools, used as fuel for cooking and warmth, and these resources are extracted from the environment
  • Example: electricity = burning natural gases = extracted
• natural resources being extracted #3: water resources

  • large cities obtain about 80% of their water from surfaces sources
  • evidence #1: large cities use about 504 B litres of water per day
  • evidence #2: one in four cities is water stressed
• the extraction of natural resources does not only occur in the areas surrounding the cities

  • evidence #1: water is obtained from as far as 30,000 km away
  • evidence #2: food can come from sources halfway around the globe
• how does housing affect the natural environment: Environmental pollution


  cities also pollute the environment, introducing the unfamiliar substances and have harmful effects on living things

  examples of pollution are land pollution, water pollution, air pollution and urbanization