Urban Sustainable Development - Research Paper Example

Urban sustainable development A large proportion of the world population now resides within cities. This presents great challenges, but also many opportunities when it comes to confronting issues of resource depletion, climate change, and environmental degradation. In the light of this, policy makers have increased concentrated on how to develop and sustain successful models of sustainable urban development initiatives. Furthermore, several theoretical conceptualizations of urban sustainability have been formulated with the aim of enhancing people’s understanding and thinking of sustainable development. Many major cities across the world are undergoing immense struggle in their efforts to accommodate the ever-rising populations and tackle the multi-dimensional challenges of urban development (Haughton, 1994). If the present inclinations continue into the near future, only a few states are likely to reap from the numerous aids of sustainable urban development (Sustainable Development Solution Network, 2013). Thus, there is an urgent need for cities to develop and integrate succinct models of sustainable development so that they can become better placed in confronting the challenges of the new century. The major aim of this paper is to discuss and analyze the concept of sustainable development with special attention to sustainable development in an urban context. The discussion begins with a precise definition of sustainable development before proceeding to an analysis of the incentives that led to the development of the concept of sustainable development over time. Finally, the paper discusses the effect of sustainable development on the planning of maintainable cities in the 21st century. This discussion is made clear by using the case study of Hong Kong city as one of the cities whose developments have been greatly influenced by the concept of sustainable development. Definition Sustainable development can be perceived as a kind of development that addresses the needs of the current population without undue compromise to the capability of the future populations in fulfilling their needs (Rogers, 2008). To a larger extent, sustainable development encapsulates three different aspects of sustainability. These are economic, social, and environmental sustainability. It is important to note that these aspects form the basic premises of sustainable development. There is a consensus that a sustainable development entails an integrated and comprehensive approach to social, economic, and environmental aspects and processes. Several initiatives on sustainable development initially dwelled on the economic and environmental elements. However, the current discourses have encompassed the political, social, and cultural factors. This integration is critical for purposes of articulating development trajectories that can be sustained, including addressing the dilemma of climate change (Newman, 2008). Motivations that led to the evolution of the conception of sustainable development The idea of sustainable development emerged from two major sources. Firstly, the worrisome proof of ecological degradation, and secondly, the emerging evidence of biophysical damage resulting from the increasing strain on the available resources. It is important to note that these two factors arose due to the larger wherewithal offered by economic growth, as well as the greatly disappointing record of the post-Second World War development initiatives. The United Nations and other related agencies became concerned about these matters for some time before eventually appointing the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) to find means of addressing these problems. The Commission concluded that the social and ecological disappointments had similar reasons and thus, required a shared response mechanism. Through its final report in 1987, indicated a flood of interest in the experimentation with sustainable development. The interest was renewed following the publication and adoption of Agenda 21 by an overwhelming majority of states at the UN conference in Brazil in the year 1992 (United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 2009). For more than twenty years after the publication of Our Common Future, the concept of sustainable development has been embraced by a large variety of institutions and associations on a global level. There has a lot of controversies concerning the meaning and consequences of the concept. Moreover, there have been a lot of criticism regarding the actual behavior of institutions that have demonstrated support for the idea of sustainable development (Pugh, 2000). However, as the challenges of the 21st century become even more apparent the basics of sustainable development have become clearer. In addition, the debate has shifted on the ways through which the concept can be adopted on a global scale. In fact, since the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. There is a common agreement that sustainable development calls for the implementation of concrete and integrated approach to social, economic and environmental practices (Foo, 1999). Impact on the planning sustainable cities: Case Study of Hong Kong The issues of rising skyrocketing population, acute overcrowding, land scarcity, scarcity of raw materials and natural resources all present Hong Kong with a magnanimous challenge in sustainable development efforts. However, as a case study of urban resource management, the city serves as a great success story. In this regard, the case of Hong Kong’s success offers a succinct roadmap for other major cities across the region, especially the more than 600 urban centers across China and the neighboring European countries. Towards the end of the last century, the authorities in Hong Kong embarked on an inquiry into the real meaning of the concept of urban sustainable development. The study conducted over a period of three years made several recommendations on how to incorporate considerations of sustainable development within the core decision-making process by the government. The study was inaugurated with a series of public forums that influenced the design of a technology-assisted decision-making model. The major purpose of the model was to assist policy makers in taking consideration for sustainability factors while undertaking daily duties of planning and management for Hong Kong city (Tonkiss, 2013). On an official note, the concept of sustainable development finally arrived in Hong Kong with the commissioning of a study referred to as Sustainable Development for the 21stCentury in Hong Kong (SUSDEV 21). The study, together with other associated activities, initiated the city’s participation in a world-wide sustainable development initiative, which had also caught the interest of Hong Kong inhabitants. The SUSDEV 21 initiative propelled the city and its citizens through a global tour of other studies on sustainable development, starting from an international to the regional perspective, and finally settling on a local frontier. It is notable that the study served as the pioneer of efforts aimed at sustainable development across the region, both in its spirit, as well as momentum. One most important aspects of SUSDEV 21 was the active participation of all stakeholders in public debates about the best definition of sustainable development. The participants here included representatives of the business, industry, transport, education, legal, and local government sectors. After a deliberative process, the city adopted sustainable development as a quest for future development aimed at balancing the concern for economic, social, and environmental aspects. A total of eight guiding principles and more than 35 sustainable indicators were adopted to guide that endeavor. Beneath these concepts, the local sustainable development initiatives in Hong Kong were intended to link with the global community in obtaining a perpetual harmonious existence of both mankind and nature. The major aim of the Hong Kong study was to formulate a local framework that would enable policy-makers to integrate sustainable considerations within the project proposals and policymaking processes. The establishment of a sustainable development framework was thus perceived as a key result of the study. Thus, the expectation that the framework would make reference to the criteria developed with the city of Hong Kong in mind. The city of Hong Kong has a distinct social-economic outlook. More than 90% of the inhabitants are Chinese descendants, although Hong Kong Chinese and other Mainlanders harbor somewhat different behavior, mentality, and work attitudes. The city’s more than 100 years of colonial authority by the British resulted in a rather westernized society. The most common feature of the city is its unique state as a compact city. The population is densely settled within the limited geographic boundary of the island. The statistical records for the city, including the density of 50,000 people per square kilometer, the average number of storied buildings, and the extensive mixed land-use demonstrate the nature of the city’s compactness. These urban limitations and attributes require that the available resources must be utilized in a way that ensures efficiency, convenience, and profitability. All these factors are geared towards sustainability, and hence the need for the city to adopt and implement the concept of sustainable development that best suits its current needs and the needs of its future inhabitants. Researchers working on the model of sustainable development in Hong Kong have observed that for the urban segments that occupy both sides of the city, segregation between work and life bars become significantly blurred. This is mainly because the physical distance between the two is quite short and within convenient access by several forms of public transport. As a result, one has rapidly to make the mental and physical shift between work and home, and vice versa. A large portion of Hong Kong’s urban structure does not portray deliberate urban planning, though it has evolved into a pattern of mixed-use. It is not unusual to come across a conglomerate of offices or residential facilities in the near vicinity of industrial buildings, with some neighboring elevated highways. When it comes to the residential buildings, the homes have been carved out of huge apartment blocks, equipped with restaurant standard lobbies and some high-speed elevators. Furthermore, there is some excellent landscaping characterized by luxury amenities such as social clubs, health clubs, parking lots, and magnificent transportation interchanges. The typical residents here are small-sized families who have a preference for safety, comfort, and security found in self-contained housing within the super-towers. The result of this solid social planning that creates considerable interdependence amongst the residents is to aggravate and distillate the effects of different features or needs of the populace (Kemp, Parto, & Gibson, 2005). The arrangement also aims at concentrating the changes in the social system. Given the pressures of such a context, a well-formulated process of sustainable development has become paramount in anticipating and accommodating dynamic shifts in population needs, expectations, and social patterns. The region around Hong Kong is still feeling the effects of the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997 that diminished economic productivity, increased unemployment levels, and accentuated the difference between high-income earners and their low-income counterparts. These effects significantly lowered the city’s position in the region’s ranking of the most favorable business and investment environments. It is plausible that these economic indicators are crucial considerations of any sustainable development process. Focusing on a sustainable development initiative that weathers a weak economic climate is a great challenge for policy-makers, but economic robustness is a rather unreliable assumption. While in an unstable environment of adverse influences by external and internal economic factors, the administrators in Hong Kong have redefined objectives and goals for economic sustainability. It is apparent that the seriousness of this situation would be hard to overstate at a time when basic parameters appear so volatile. Thus, it is quite difficult to link planning strategies to fluctuating principles, policies, and priorities. Environmental Baseline Increasing concern regarding the global climate also poses the policy-makers in Hong Kong with the idea and agenda of the ‘green’ movement that has spread across international borders (Wilson, 2010). The global weather alteration characterized by rising average global temperatures and diminution of the ozone layer are all comprehended in Hong Kong as clear indications of substandard conservational quality (Siu). As a result, the concepts have been integrated into the mainstream curriculum in schools around the city. With such kind of local awareness, environmental sensitivity in Hong Kong has gone from government-led initiative to an individual commitment by the citizenry. The campaign that started as a legislature-dependent movement has grown into a way of life for the many Hong Kong households. The city’s high degree of community awareness can be easily explained by the efforts of two major civil sectors, schools, and the media, both of which have expressed commitment to the environmental cause. However, the environmental consciousness in Hong Kong may still be perceived as ‘awakening’ because the policy-makers have not yet pinpointed the special benefits of environmentalism. Beyond the sense that many have not yet identified the ‘good cause,’ another major hindrance is the economic downturn and evolving market conditions. These two factors have shifted the attention of business leaders away from the matters of environmental sustainability. Hong Kong can be hailed for its excellent performance on energy consumption per capita. This is because the limited land area, hence small urban footprint, makes it possible to implement efficient energy consumption. The apparently low rate of direct energy expenditure, in comparison with other heavy energy consumers, also adds to the better-than-average performance. On the negative aspect, conservational quality of life due to water, noise, and waste contamination are conspicuous disparagements for the local population and the visitors (Siu). The linkage between the economy and environmental quality is perceived as a crucial indicator for process of sustainable development within the city. Certainly, the environmental starting point is thoroughly associated with the socio-economic baseline. In this regard, the critical lesson of the SUSDEV 21 study is a resolution that the two concepts are inter-related and indispensable. Thus, any sustainable development initiatives should not address the two concepts differently as they are mutually related to one another. Conclusion It is plausible that a sustainable development for the city of Hong Kong focuses mainly with the social, economic, and environmental sustainability for both the current and the future generations. As shown in the case of Hong Kong, it is apparent that the urban sustainability will be the defining trend in the near future, especially in the world regions where extreme poverty is mainly concentrated. Cities in these regions will act a fundamental role in the capability of governments to achieve meaningful urban sustainable development. Currently, more than half of the total world population resides within cities. By the year 2030, it is expected that there more the population in the cities will increase by a whopping one billion residents and the number of rural residents will decline significantly. These trends highlight the critical importance of initiating precise sustainable development initiatives for dealing with these challenges. It is notable that the development has the potential of transforming the commercial and social fabric of many countries. In fact, cities are responsible for the bigger portion of production and consumption globally, and serve as the main engines of economic growth and social sustenance (Boone, 2014). The right to development for the low-income and middle-income economies across the world can only be achieved through processes of sustainable urban development that captures the needs of both the urban and the rural (Dixon, 2014). It should also be noted that cities are the major embodiment of environmental degradation and extreme deprivation of resources. This explains why more than one billion people in the world dwell within slums. In most countries, the number of people living within the slums has risen tremendously, and urban inequality has become a glaring concern. Thus, must sustainable development efforts that address these issues. Indeed, the dynamism of the world’s cities provides a major sustainable development opportunity. Therefore, cities can provide jobs and improved livings, advance economic growth, enhance social presence and lower poverty by integrating the right sustainable development strategies. Furthermore, cities can protect regional and local ecosystems and significantly reduce pollution levels. Comprehensive urban sustainable development efforts will hasten the advancement towards the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially the reduction of life-threatening poverty (Sustainable Development Solution Network, 2013). On the other hand, any mistakes made during sustainable development efforts can be very hard to reverse. Thus, infrastructure investments and urban land-use systems are accompanied by impacts that may be hard to change for many years. Without effective organization and investments, cities may fail to create the jobs and opportunities that are pivotal for the improvement of people’s livelihoods (Sustainable Development Solution Network, 2013). The bottom-line is that urban sustainable development should be guided by a management vision and sustainable planning strategy that advocates interlinked green space, mixed-use development, and a multi-dimensional transport system. References Boone, G. (2014). Urbanization and sustainability: linking urban ecology, environmental justice and global environmental change. New York: Spinger. Dixon, T. (2014). Urban retrofitting for sustainability: mapping the transition to 205. Abingdon: Rutledge. Foo, A. (1999). Sustainable cities in the 21st century. Singapore: Singapore University Press Haughton, G. (1994). Sustainable cities. London: Rouledge. Newman, P. (2008). Cities as sustainable ecosystems: principles and practice. New York: Island Press. Pugh, C. (2000). Sustainable cities in developing countries: theory and practice at the millennium. London: Sterling Publishers. Rogers, P., (2008). An introduction to sustainable development. London: Rouledge. Tonkiss, F. (2013). Cities by design: the social life of urban form. New York: Polity Press. United Nations Human Settlements Programme, (2009). Planning sustainable cities: global report on human settlements 2009. New York: UN-HABITAT Wilson, G. (2010). Environment, development, and sustainability: perspectives and cases from around the world. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More