Impact of the Human Activities on the Sustainability of Cities - Essay Example

Impact of the human activities on the sustainability of cities Introduction Human beings are rational beingsand therefore are always striving toward maximizing their utilities (Fogelson, 2009). Stabilization of cities thus can be defined as the process through which human beings strive towards ensuring that cities have the facilities that make live in cities more comfortable. At the onset of the 21st century, urbanization has been on its highest level of growth. Thus, this has been steered by the fact that it is in this century. Well, let us start by defining the term urbanization (Lu, 2012). Urbanization refers to the process by which large numbers of people move or rather migrate from rural areas to towns. This urbanization then results to increasing numbers of people in these particular areas and hence continued and sustainable growth of the towns. This growth or even the sprouting of the new towns can be attributed to the fact that the new populations are always scrambling for the limited facilities. Therefore, the investors on pointing the new market niches ventures to the cities and hence the whole process of urbanization continues. In this essay, we will seek to explore the activities these people carry-out and their effects in these areas before and after inhabiting the cities. Shenzhen city in China will be used as a case study. Human activities in urban areas Human activities in urban areas can be categorized into two main categories: positive and the negative activities. On the positive side, we will seek to elaborate those activities enhance not only the areas that this entire process of urbanization takes place but also the human beings themselves and the entire ecosystem. We will also highlight the merits this process brings about in the long run (Myron, 2001). On the other hand, in the negative side, we will seek to explain the human effects that the urbanization process has brought about to the ecosystem and the possible results of this process to human life and the entire ecosystem. The positive human activities in the urban areas and their effects Effects of human activities in cities are of great concern to everyone who has interests on the sprawling of cities. Investment is one of the major human activities in the process. We are living in a business world whereby everyone aspires to maximize their returns on every single cent they invest in any venture. It is, therefore, true to say that investors deserve the biggest part of the credit for urbanization. Well, how do investors contribute to this? First and foremost it is important to know that the main reason people move from rural areas to urban centers in their endeavor to secure employment and hence better their living standards. The common citizens embark to towns to secure opportunities in the firms and industries that have been set up by the ever-aggressive investors (Davis, 2008). It is, therefore, true to say that investment activities are among the main activities that are carried out by human beings and that have resulted to tremendous growth in urban areas. Governance: Most of the governance activities are carried out in urban areas because urban areas are centrally placed in various nations. The Shenzhen City in China, for instance, harbor most of the government offices in the entire nation of China. Many people, therefore, move to this city in their endeavors to seek very important services from various government ministries. Employees in this government centers also end up making their homes within the cities for convenience hence the entire process of urbanization continues. It is also important to note that these cities also host main offices from many organizations and hence they are the central nerve of many economic and social organizations that help in steering the entire respective nations. More important most of the facilities that various governments of the world offer to their citizens can be easily accessed from the urban areas since they are the various headquarters of the government. Health facilities: Many health centers and referral centers are located in the urban areas. And this is for the obvious reason that it is in these areas where the population is higher than in rural areas where the population; Where else may be dense it is really scattered hence may not be convenient to locate the main hospitals in such areas. Many people, therefore, in their endeavors seek health facilities embark to the urban areas where they also require other facilities such as meals, accommodation and transportation facilities. These in turn offered by investors as we saw earlier, and the entire process of urbanization continues to sprawl in these areas. Transportation services: Shenzhen harbors a total of 17 ports that line this city with the mainland (Johns, 2012). Many investors such as various shipping companies are finding lucrative markets opportunities due to these developments. There are also airports in this city. For instance, Shenzhen international airport is the largest airport in the whole world (Johns, 2012). These transportation services are mandatory for economic prosperity of any nation. Developed countries such as United States of America always trace their economic stabilities to good transportation system. Therefore, it is because of good infrastructure that goods, people and raw materials are transported from remote areas to urban centers (Warren, 1809). Transport system also aids in transporting of products from various towns to their rural areas and even other countries, trade, therefore, is promoted between various regions due to good transport system. Education facilities: This is one of the very many factors to which sustainability of cities can be attributed. Many learning institutions are related with urban areas and mean that many people are, therefore, attracted in this areas in their ambitions to acquired better educational facilities. No wonder that some cities came about because of schools. Thus, it means the origin of some big cities was because of schools. The students from these particular institutions require facilities such as accommodation, health services and even entertainment services; such facilities are, therefore, is likely to crop up and therefore educational institutions complement such. On a different dimension, we can say that education plays an indirect role in promoting urbanization. Because when people get educated mostly they move to towns to seek for jobs. Some also will not wish or rather opt to go back and live in rural areas hence they just migrate to towns to either setup their firms or seek for jobs pertaining their respective careers. Tourism. Most urban areas are as a result of particular attraction points such as game parks/ rivers/ rocks and ocean and other natural resources that are found in different parts of the world. People from other nations of the world are attracted in such areas in their desire to quench their thirst for adventure. In return, they help such cities to grow even bigger since they receive foreign currency from the visitors in exchange with the facilities they offer them. The tourism indirect contribute to the sustainability of cities. Moreover, because different countries can get linked with tourism services and such links develop economic ties among these particular nations hence trading activities comes about as a result of this. People also try to bring sustainability of their cities by recycling the waste products from various industrial activities so as to ensure that such waste still get useful in the future. For instance, the plastic materials such as cans are recycled and used for other purposes hence saving resources that are always very scarce. People of late also exhibited the behavior of energy saving. For instance, some people will prefer to cycle to work places, walk or even use public means of transport. Thus, this not only reduces congestion in the cities but also saves energy that is a very important resource. Use of non-lead fuel is also rising rampantly, and it is a very good practice since it helps in serving the whole environment and also ensures air pollution has reduced at a larger percentage. In the past few years, the catastrophe of global warming has reduced. The negative human activities in the process of ensuring sustainability of cities In the endeavors to bring about sustainability in the cities, human beings have also caused a lot of problems in these particular areas. For instance, as we mentioned earlier many people desire to invest and cultivate or rather maximize their priorities. The hawking is also part and parcel of these activities. The hawkers can cause a lot of congestion in urban areas, and that may result in an accident and poor town management. There are also criminals in urban areas because of high populations in many places and by the fact that not everyone has a job, but everyone needs some income. Most of the towns have sprouted in towns that were formerly agricultural lands. This process has resulted to disruption to ecosystem by causing externalities such as deforestation. The wildlife that had these areas as the habitats also find themselves being displaced due to human activities of ensuring sustainability of the cities. Conclusion From the above illustrations it is clear that human activities towards their endeavors of ensuring sustainability of citizen have succeeded, whereas some have actually resulted to the aspired and anticipated sustainability some have actually resulted to negative effects. References Davis, D. (2008). First stop in the new world. Mexico: Mexican press. Fogelson, R. (2009). Downtown: Its rise and fall. Shenzhen: China publishers press. Johns, D. (2012). Shenzhen: Travelogue from China. Shenzhen: China Insitute of Publishers. Lu, D. (2012). The great urbanization of China. Canada: University of Fraser Valley. Myron, M. M. (2001). The millennial city. California: Amazon publishers. Warren, R. (1809). History of New York. New York: New York Publishers. Read More