Standard Form of Smart Cities - Essay Example

Final Examination Paper s Affiliation Introduction This paper gives summarized answers to certain questions that relate to the following articles: Question 1: Growth management in Florida As argued by Holcombe (2014), all matters regarding growth and city planning in Florida should be done at the local government level as long as they meet the state guidelines. This requirement, in itself, motivates leaders at the local government level since they feel involved in the organizing and controlling the affairs of the people. That act requires that all plans be financially feasible and that the plans include a concurrency management system that ensures that the infrastructure needed to support development is available when the impacts of the development occur. Holcombe claims that the adoption of the comprehensive plans by the local government has, however, undergone reviews and recommendations for changes through a majority of those requirements. These changes have resulted into better legislation, for example, the joint planning for school was amended to allow for school facilities element and for optional school concurrency. This Legislation gave direction that local plans must include a public school facilities element. The growth management Act was based upon the success and failures of the previous year’s planning efforts and therefore factored in quite a number of elements to ensure its reliability and success. For example, this Act is dynamic and constantly evolving and keeping up with new and different issues arising. This Act therefore was perfect for the ever changing systems and needs of the people. Question 2: Principal criticisms of sprawl Critics sometimes argue that sprawl provides benefits that offset costs, but most of the benefits, for example, they say that larger homes and gardens, larger play areas for children and pets, reduced exposure to noise and air pollution are direct benefits to residents; there is no evidence of significant external benefits that would offset external costs. Overall, most sprawl cost study criticism appears to reflect incomplete and outdated information. Bruegmann (2005) writes that few critics claim that the land displaced by the sprawl, when matched with the worldwide supply, is comparatively small. But since agricultural productivity is growing, there is no need to preserve farmland. However, this ignores many justifications for preserving open space. Many cities are surrounded by valuable farmlands and natural lands, Open space provides important ecological services including wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge, esthetic and cultural values. As a result, open space displacement often imposes significant costs. Researchers argue that policies which intend to upsurge population densities appear to lessen the overall use of automobile but, in real sense, they bring parking congestion, increased local traffic as well as noise and air pollution. They therefore submit that planners should avoid false expectations but instead implement policies that harmonize population and reduce local traffic. Although this is sometimes interpreted as a criticism of compact development, it is consistent with smart growth, which involves integrated policies to maximize accessibility, minimize vehicle traffic, and mitigate local impacts. In summary, the critics of city sprawl believe that it undercuts the cost-effective delivery of public services. In the article, the authors inspect whether this is true or not through an empirical analysis of the impact that the different development designs have on the twelve estimates of public expenditure: capital facilities, total direct, sewerage, roadways, other transportation, trash collection, housing, police protection, community development, fire protection, education, parks, and libraries. Question 3: Features of sustainable growth as compared to smart growth Under sustainable growth there’s economic development and industrialization which creates so much demand for energy and this may result into adverse effects to the climate. This development is both in urban, suburban and rural areas. This is not the case with smart growth where there is only urban economic development and therefore characterized by rural to urban migrations and therefore population imbalances. Infrastructure provision is also a feature in smart growth phase. In the fourth wave, incentives are given to encourage developments in both urban and rural locations; these incentives may include tax discounts and exemptions and are meant to stimulate investments. However, these incentives are highly regulated to ensure conformance to certain sets of standards. There are incentives too in the third wave to support desirable development outcomes though not as highly regulated as it is the case in the sustainable growth phase. At the sustainable growth phase there’s an implied motto that growth is inevitable and essential but must be balanced against the long-term goal and sustainability. Growth is viewed as an opportunity for strengthening urban communities in the smart growth phase. The site, form, and density or intensity of growth and the conservation of sensitive or industrious rural lands have always been chief concerns for the city planners from the very beginning. Planners rely on land use, the service provision so as to support these uses as well as the safeguarding of lands deemed inappropriate for development due to topographical, environmental, or other constraints. Within the last numerous decades, swelling numbers of elected personnel and members of community have shown concern with issues related to the auto-oriented growth pattern linked to urban sprawl. Question 4: Features of concepts of resilience Vulnerability analysis matrix: To be vulnerable means to be prone to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects, for example, climate change, including climate variability and extremes, in the context of climate change. Features of vulnerability analysis include; Demography of vulnerability: socio-economic, demographic, and health variables affect peoples` and urban communities` ability to face and handle environmental risk and prospective uncertainties. It explores the socio-economic and demographic aspects of urban susceptibility. It undertakes that there are folks and groups in every society who are very vulnerable compared to others and they are short of the capacity to adjust to climate change. Uncertainty: this is the perception of lack of knowledge about something. Apparently, vulnerability assessments often ignore the non-climatic drivers of future risk and uncertainties. Therefore, this component has a critical impact on urban vulnerability and requires the assessment of environmental hazards as well as environmental risks. Jabareen (2013) reminds us that we must acknowledge that assessing such risks and hazards is very problematic since it is difficult to foresee them. However, we need to put such assessments into consideration when executing risk management plan and smart city planning. Urban governance: A highly resilient town is one that is able to rapidly restore elementary services and recommence social, economic and institutional activity after a calamitous events. Components of this concept include; Equity: This component includes environmental and social issues such as poverty, inequality and public participation in decision-making and space production. Ecological economics: This element contributes to the valuation of the economic features of urban resilience. It is the economic engines that cities have in place so as to achieve climate change aims and mitigate environmental hazard. Question 5: How LEED could be useful to green urbanism It provides a guideline and assessment mechanism for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance, green buildings and neighborhoods. LEED system relies heavily on standards derived from other organizations like the American Society of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Engineers sometimes offering choices among methods and standards, or simply awarding points according to compliance with appropriate industry standards. The swelling demand for sustainability has been complemented by the proliferation of some other codes and standards for green urbanization. This is particularly true in the real estate market where the involvedness of LEED for buildings, alongside the extra cost of an accredited provider, has stimulated numerous self-rating standards. It is evident that LEED enhance energy-efficiency aside from offering healthy buildings. It also provides a sustainable environment where safety of people living and working inside the buildings or the community is paramount. The LEED structure is organized by classifications that define the process of building construction from selecting the site to the performance after the completion. LEED for structure design and construction – that has become the rudimentary standard and the rating classifications – include water efficiency, sustainable sites, energy and atmosphere, resources and materials, as well as indoor environmental quality. A classification for innovation in plan, intended to encourage innovation in green constructions by awarding extra points for innovative systems not enclosed by the other classifications is also included in the LEED for structure design and construction. Each classification has prerequisite requirements which gives performance or a threshold; no points are given for meeting the needed prerequisites. Question 6: Aspects of a smart city An article: smart cities by Townsend (2013) was written partly to establish a tangible definition for smart cities that can be adopted worldwide. Even though there is plentiful literature on smart cities, no standardized and ordinarily accepted set of terms that would help to appropriately describe the "Smart City" exists. Such a standardized meaning will help generate a more distinct structure with regard to communication and/or information technology infrastructure, metrics and plans for smart cities and key performance indicators. Smart economy: this has been associated with presence of industries in the field of ICT or employing ICT processes. Smart mobility: implies the use of ICT in modern transport technologies to improve urban traffic. Smart governance: this is the process of practicing e- democracy and using ICT in all arms of the government. Smart people: this refers to an educated people who are diverse and creative. Smart living: good living encompasses security, hygiene better infrastructures and other social amenities. Smart environment: a smart environment is one that has better systems which are reliable and sustainable. According to Townsend (2013), people are making technological bandages in an effort to fix errors in inferior designs of mass-produced metropolises. Consider the distribution of commerce and industry. Townsend asserts that we must not clear-cut our current city to pave way for new one. This is the selling point of smart technologies. We should treat smart environment as the upgrade, the add-on, and not as an end itself. In summary, the following common criteria can be used as a standard form of smart cities: sustainability, urban aspects, quality of life, and smartness or intelligence. Core themes for smart cities include the economy, environment, society and governance. References Bruegmann, R. (2005). Sprawl: A compact history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Jabareen, Y. (2013). Planning the resilient city: Concepts and strategies for coping with climate change and environmental risk. Holcombe, R. G. (2014). The rise and fall of growth management in Florida: Planning for paradise. Slavin, M. I. (2011). Sustainability in Americas cities: Creating the green metropolis. Washington: Island Press. Timothy S. Chapin . (2012). Introduction, Journal of the American Planning Association, 78:1, 5-15, DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2011.645273 Townsend, A. M. (2013). Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. Read More