Urban issues and challenges

• Urbanisation - the increase of people living in a town/city
• Millionaire cities - cities with population over 1 million
• Megacities - cities with population over 10 million
• Changing trends in urban growth

  • forecasted 60% of worlds population to live in urban areas (2030)
  • the rate of urban growth in LICs is higher than HICs (20% compared to 27%)
• Birth rate - the number of live births per 1000 people per year
• Death rate - the number of deaths per 1000 people per year.
• Rural-Urban migration - The movement of people from rural areas to urban areas.
• Push factors - factors that make people want to leave a rural area.
• Pull factors - factors that attract people to a place, such as education, employment, and recreation
• mega cities

  • 28
  • 450,000,000 people
  • 53% of the urban population reside in Asian cities
• Mumbai, India

  • west coast of Central India, in the state of Maharashtra, bordering the Arabian sea.
  • sea connections make it accountable for 60% of India’s sea trade and 6% of GDP
  • most globalised city in S.E. Asia (2014)
  • home to international companies eg Citigroup, GlaxoSmithKline, Volkswagen, Walt Disney, Bollywood
• Opportunities of Urban growth in Mumbai?

  • 1000 primary and secondary schools, free education up to certain ages
  • literacy rates are high 89.7%, even in slums 69%
  • best city transport system in India
  • has a university
  • many TNC’s based here
  • financial capital of India, home of Mumbai stock exchange.
  • most of India’s socialised tech industries e.g aerospace, medical, computing
  • 10% of all factory employment
  • expensive infrastructure
• Challenges of urban growth in Mumbai

  • Water pipes run close to sewer lines, leakages causing waterbourne disease
  • Haphazard set up of water and electricity lines
  • Water is rationed. Standpipes turn on at 5.30 for 2hrs
  • Unskilled, informal workforce e.g street sellers, taxi
  • 650 million litres of water lost per day due to leaky pipes. Slum dwellers spend up to 20% of income on water
  • Levels of PM10 (particulate matter) are over 110mg/m3 more than WHO's recommendation
  • Overcrowding means disease spreads quickly
  • 1 million people live in Dharavi slum, where 1 toilet per 1000, street as toilet, attracting vermin
  • Crime rate is high (1/3 population are victims)
  • Pollution high due to old inefficient technology and untreated sewage waste draining into the sea
• Doctors deal with 4000 cases a day of typhoid
• Dharavi facts

  • home to 1 million people living in Mumbai
  • 16000 small factories employing over 1/4 million people
  • 80% of Mumbai’s waste is recycled here
  • schools and community groups
  • computerised machinery
  • produces billions of dollars for local economy
  • people lived here for 40 years, many have water source
• SLUM RESETTLEMENT SCHEME -

  • what? residents moved to new housing in a different area
  • impacts- no worry about homelessness, safer, sanitary, could alter community dynamics
• SLUM SANITATION PROJECT -

  • what? improve toilet facilities as 1 in 20 use street as a toilet, 1-1000 toilet
  • impacts - over 300 community toilet blocks have been built, separate for men and women, less disease risk
• INCREMENTAL HOUSING STRATEGIES -

  • what? develop informal slums into permanent areas, work with families to design, build house
  • impacts - coaxes families into safer, permanent housing, community spirit remains, pride into homes.
• MUMBAI SLUM ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT -

  • why? many slums have no access, rely on bottled gas for cooking and heating, which is dangerous.
  • impacts - Global Partnership Output Based Aid (GPOBA) provided slums with 10,000 upgraded, safe connections
• Why cities exist in UK

  • Liverpool and Bristol - mouth of rivers as sea ports
  • Glasgow and Sheffield - manufacturing goods
  • London, Cardiff, Edinburgh -government administration
  • portsmouth - ships, military, exports
• Urban sprawl - the unplanned spread of urban area into the surrounding countryside
• environmental opportunity - urban sprawl

  • more people using public transport
  • urban greening opportunities
  • large parks found in cities
• Environmental challenges - urban sprawl

  • limited greenery due to high building density
  • Building on greenfield land - trees and farmland destroyed to create more buildings
• Major housing problem in London

  20k new homes built per year however population is growing by 100k. Many properties bought as investment so vacant
• Greenbelts - Areas of green land that are protected from development to prevent urban sprawl
• Urban greening

  • Wildflower Growth - ‘No Mow May’ 70% of councils stopped mowing to allow wildflowers to flourish. Deliberate planting in roundabouts
  • Community Gardens
  • Bee Bus stops - green roofed, attract pollinating insects whose numbers have declined in recent years
  • Parklets - old parking spaces transformed into mini green spaces, planters, potted trees.
• Urban regeneration - The process of improving an area of a city or town by redeveloping or renewing it
• Why did the London Docklands decline?

  Ports were heavily bombarded in WW2, ships could no longer fit due to containerisation, new deep water ports closer to sea, goods increasingly by air, Margaret Thatcher’s national shift to thirtiary sector.
• The decline of the docks -

  20k jobs lost

  population decreased by 20%

  60% of the area was derelict in 1980
• Dereliction - The state of being abandoned or left in a ruined or neglected state.
• Regeneration of London Docklands

  1981 - London Docklands Development Corporation forms

  1987 - Railway and jubilee extension connects Docklands to rest of London, London city airport opens

  1988 - Canadian private investment regenerates, builds skyscrapers

  1991- financial firms (HSBC, Morgan Stanley) relocate here, increasing the areas rep.

  1994- disused warehouses turned into services for employees
• London Docklands now-

  • working population of 120k set to double by the late 2020s
  • average salary £100k
• Why is urban greening important?

  reduces heat in summer, reduce flood risks via interception, increase biodiversity, imorove health, creates social areas, tourism, attractive areas
• Example of urban sustainability - Tianjio Eco City, China

  • regenerated from derelict industrial areas
  • tree lined streets
  • solar panels
  • wind turbines
  • energy saving technology eg motion sensing lights
• Urban transport strategies

  • public transport - park and ride, Manchester metro link Tram, London Underground and TFL
  • Low emission areas, pay to drive in areas
  • Bike lanes and pay to ride Santander Bikes
• Social deprivation - the degree to which an area is lacking in services, housing, adequate income and local employment
• Causes of social deprivation - lack of jobs, low wages, poor education, crime, drugs, poor housing, poor healthcare, poverty, ethnic minorities, ageing populations
• Effects of social deprivation - high levels of unemployment, low educational attainment, poorer physical and mental health, higher rates of crime, drug abuse, lower life expectancy, poorer housing conditions, more likely to live in overcrowded homes, less access to healthy food, less disposable income
• Commuter settlement - A settlement that is located near a town or city but is not part of it, the working population travels into city to work.