Sustainable Urban Transportation - Assignment Example

Sustainable Urban Transportation Introduction Sustainable development is a comprehensive framework. In this framework, economic growth, ecological care and social and infrastructural development have received central importance in the recent years. Due to its growing recognition in the world, it has received considerable attention from the academicians, economic managers, and urban developers as well. For example, World Bank has described this concept as a way to satisfy the needs of current generation without compromising on the requirements of the future generations. In other words, it has reflected that the individual and collective actions must not be done to harm the needs of the coming generations. Simultaneously, the concept of sustainable urban transportation has also considered within the same context as it also requires individuals to live in a way to ensure the attainment of objectives of sustainability. In the following parts of this paper, first sustainable development has defined in which definition and explanation of sustainable development has been provided. It is followed by the discussion on unsustainable urban transportation, focusing on the causes and effects of unsustainable transportation. Subsequently, some methods for reducing unsustainable urban transportation have been included before the case study of Shenzhen transportation. Sustainable Development Sustainable development is a comprehensive concept. The term ‘development’ is wider and substantial in their scope and theoretical and practical application as well. Thereby, it is highly essential to understand it separately before elaborating them collectively. “Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”(World Commission on Economic and Development, 1987, p. 43). This definition is composed of three broad terms: current generation, future generation and needs. Similarly, the last term “sustainability” can be further explained through the understanding and information provided by the World Bank. International Institute of Sustainable Development (2014) states that the base of sustainability is that it takes into account the expectations and requirements of future generations while living with the understanding that today’s generation’s activities do have some sort of effect on others as well. As a result, sustainable development has been developed and defined by keeping in view its extent to the following three pillars: economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion (World Bank, n.d.). In these pillars, economic growth is more related to the personal and national aspect in which individuals; families earn money and satisfy their basic human needs. In this pillar, more personal contribution and participation are involved whereas the environmental sustainability is a subject that is directly related to the social and environmental policies and guidelines developed and provided by the respective local, provincial, state and national governments. On the other hand, social inclusion is a process in which collective efforts from the society members whether they are individuals, families, government organizations, non-government organizations or any private institutions. In the third pillar, it is highly essential that each participant should understand and perform their role by keeping in view the individual and collective social and environmental responsibilities highlighted by the process of sustainable development. In other words, the objectives of sustainable development can only be achieved through both individual and collective efforts in which understanding and sense of realization should be visible from the individual and collectives actions of global community. Discussion: Unsustainable Urban Transportation Urban transport mainly increases and contributes substantially to unsustainable socio economic trends in the process of urban development (Azapagic and Perdan, 2011). Recently, urbanization has been increased considerably in which every aspect human life has found its place and contribution to the process of urban development. And in this process, the development process, the role and contribution of urban transport cannot be undermined as it directly and indirectly improves the life structure and living standard of people living in the urban parts of the world. Due to this substantial increase in the urbanized life structure, the progress of economic development in which living standard, access to the basic human needs, such as healthy food, medical assistance, employment and other aspects of human life have substantially enhanced and improved as well. However, despite this substantial increase in the quality of urban life, the problems have also increased and have also appeared. For example, the major effects of unsustainable urban transport is the rise of environmental issue, in which increase of water and air pollution, rise of carbon dioxide in gas, and harmful greenhouse gases are some of the major environmental challenges that are being faced by urban dwellers (Jonson and Tengstrom,2005). Due to the poor air quality, people living in urban areas face numerous health related issues including allergy, asthma and other water and air-borne diseases as well. As a result, urban life is being threatened by the unsustainable urban transport. At the same time, the urban transportation system increases social exclusion process ((Jonson and Tengstrom, 2005). The social exclusion process means class based society in which the rich have all access to luxurious cars, home, urban facilities in the shape of medical and educational assistance. On the other hand, the poor face the problem in the shape of having no or limited access to the basic urban necessities. For example, the poor cannot afford private cars for travelling in the urbanized areas simultaneously they do not have enough full understanding and knowledge about their rights and privileges while driving on the urban roads and highways. Additionally, governments and politicians prefer to retain their political interests at the cost of equitable and sustainable development of urban transport (Dimitriou and Gakenheimer, 2011). in the urban areas, local and provincial governments do not consider sustainable development as their main priority while designing and developing short and long term urban development projects instead they prefer to serve their political interests and carry out those projects which benefit their political agendas rather than sustaining the urban development and urban transportation in a way to improve the quality of urban life. As a result, when the priority is not to provide sustainable transportation to the urbanized areas, it will certainly affect the life of current generation and the next generations as well. At the same time, the rapid development of urban transport has not allowed many countries to understand the dynamics of the sustainable transportation policy. In the recent years, many countries, including China, India, Brazil and Pakistan, have undergone the process of urbanized life structure in which migration from the rural areas has been observed. In these countries, the pace of urban development along with urban transportation infrastructure has not been very compatible with other paces of growth. For example, if a road is under the process of construction in an urban area, and the sewerage department does not coordinate with the related department constructing that road. After the completion of that road by the construction department, the sewerage department completes its feasibility report and starts deconstructing the road, making the entire road a health threat to nearby residents, commuters and all those businesses and offices which rely on the smooth basic urban infrastructure, such as roads, pedestrian bridges and flyovers. Due to this lack of coordination between urban administrative departments, the local residents also find it hard to reach their homes on time; they face parking problems and the dacoits and other criminals use these hurdles to snatch cars, vehicles and other belongings of locals. Methods for Sustainable Urban Transportation Education of sustainable life is a pre-requisite for having a sustainable urban transportation (Corcoran et al., 2009). Sustainable life has been identified as a lifestyle that is fully compatible with environmental ecology through the support and use of modern means of technology, infrastructural development along with individual and collective actions (Corcoran et al., ). In other words, sustainable transportation cannot be considered in isolation but it should be a part of a comprehensive sustainability encompassing all aspects of urban human life. At the same time, people living in urban cities and areas are also required to understand their part for contributing to the concept of sustainability in which every aspect of urban activity must be considered within this paradigm. Green Transportation Policy Green transportation policy will improve the sustainable transportation in the urban areas. The main objectives of this policy should focus on the use and encouragement for using green methods and technology for using the modern and cost effective and fuel efficient transportation. Through this policy, the concept of collective responsibility will be displayed by the urban residents by contributing minimum use of harmful methods of fuel energy. In addition, if the urban residents properly maintain their vehicles by tuning their engines and other parts, this step will also decrease the level of pollution as it the better maintained vehicles spread lesser amount of pollution. Environmental Guidelines This policy should be developed. The green transportation policy should be developed by the urban administration in which the input of local ecologists should be included. The green transportation policy should encourage urban drivers to consider and use green energy and fuel for their transport. Through this use, the major use of urban pollution will be considerably diminished and better and improved air will be able to residents. In addition, the green transportation policy will also be beneficial for the ecology and local weather as it will reduce the carbon footprint which has been identified as the main source of pollution. Consequently, the concept of sustainable urban transportation will practically deliver benefits to the urban residents. Transportation: Shenzhen in the South of China Shenzhen has state of the art urban transportation. This transportation system can be divided into air, trains and buses. Each system is constructed with a wide range of facilities. For example, Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, three terminal buildings (Terminal A, Terminal B and Terminal D) and each has its own infrastructural facilities to its operations; more than 40 coaches run through the districts of Shenzhen; similarly, travel through these source of transportation is considerably affordable for ordinary Chinese as bus fare ranges from 1 Yuan to 3 Yuan (Ye, 2014). In addition, Shenzhen has three railway stations: Shenzhen Railway Station, Shenzhen North Railway Station, and Shenzhen West Railway Station (Ye, 2014). Similarly, Moore and Foster (2014) have highlighted that China is going to improve urban transportation infrastructure in which it plans to a substantial part of china’s manufacturing provinces from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and encompassing zhuhai, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Huizhou; and they collectively constitute a tenth of the whole economy of China. As a result, it can be highlighted that the current pace of sustainable development has been the biggest and largest one in the whole of China as this single project is connecting 8 provinces of China and that are considered as the back bone of Chinese industrial activity. In this regard, it is important to mention Shenzhen has not left any transportation means and have made each part to urban transportation. Through this comprehensive transportation policy, the administration of Shenzhen has also tried to encourage public transport travel as well in which it has attracted travelers through affordable fares. Through this affordability, they have attempted to reduce the presence of private vehicles and this reduction will decrease pollution which will certainly improve the urban life and also it will reduce traffic jams as well. As a result, it can be extracted that the example of Shenzhen clearly demonstrates that the sustainable transportation is only beneficial for residents when government and residents understand their role and cooperate for the mutual benefit which will increase sustainability for the coming generations as well. Conclusion Sustainable development includes economic growth, ecological stability and social inclusion as well. Pollution, carbon dioxide, green house gases, unclean water and air problems are some of the main problems caused by the unsustainable urban transportation. At the same time, rising gap between the rich and the poor has also highlighted the dark side of unsustainable urban transportation. In order to reduce unsustainable urban transportation and improve sustainable development in urban life, it is highly encouraged that green transportation policy, environmental guidelines should be introduced as these policies will enable drivers to understand their role and responsibility relating to the framework of sustainable development. References Azapagic, A., & Perdan, S. (2011). Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists. New York, NY: Wiley & Sons. Corcoran, P.B., Osano, P.M., Weakland, J.P., & Hollingshead, B. P. (2009). Young People, Education, and Sustainable Development: Exploring Principles, Perspectives, and Praxis. The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers. Dimitriou, H.T., & Gakenheimer, R. (Eds.). (2011). Urban Transport in the Developing World: A Handbook of Policy and Practice. Glasgow: Edward Elgar Publishing. International Institute of Sustainable Development, (2014). What is Sustainable Development? International Institute of Sustainable Development . Retrieved: https://www.iisd.org/sd/ Jonson, G., & Tengstrom, E. (Eds.) (2005). Urban Transport Development: A Complex Issue. New York, NY: Springer. Moore, M., & Foster, P. (2011, January 24). China to create largest mega city in the world with 42 million people. The Telegraph. Retrieved: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8278315/China-to-create-largest-mega-city-in-the-world-with-42-million-people.html World Bank, (n.d.). Sustainable Development Overview. World Bank. Retrieved: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sustainabledevelopment/overview World Commission on Environment and Development, (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ye, L. (2014). Shenzhen Transportation. China Highlights. Retrieved: http://www.chinahighlights.com/shenzhen/transportation.htm Read More