The Need for a Change of the Structure of Cities - Essay Example

Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all.’ Critically examine the governments definition of a sustainable community and explore the problems associated with applying the concept to poor, inner city area Abstract The continuous development of technology worldwide has led to the need for change of the structure of cities in order to meet the current social and cultural trends; however, the relevant decision should not be taken without a careful examination of the resources available as well as of the potential consequences of these initiatives to the environment. In this context, the appearance of sustainability could be explained at the level that the specific concept could offer the required framework of urban development ensuring the quality of life of people in modern cities. Despite all the measures taken for the application of the principles of sustainability – as they have been developed through the years – in practice it has been proved that in modern urban environment the use of techniques and construction rules that are based on the principles of sustainability is not an easy task; the above phenomenon can explain by the fact that the resources available for the realization of these projects are usually limited, the cost involved is high and the intention of the governments to fully align the urban development of cities with the principles of sustainability is not as strong as required for the promotion of the specific concept in countries around the world – no matter the strength of their economy or their social/ cultural characteristics. The problem seems to be more severe in cases that efforts are made in order to develop relevant projects – based on the principles on sustainability – on areas that are not developed – referring especially to the poor inner city areas. In case that such an initiative is undertaken, the potential risks could be many as it is explained analytically below. The examination of the effectiveness of the governmental plans related with the promotion of sustainability across a country is developed in this paper referring to the case of Britain; the sustainable development of the country’s projects – including the protection of the environment – is achieved through a series of measures undertaken through the years under the impact of the global political and financial turbulences. The response of the British government to the needs of people in poor, inner city areas can be characterized as satisfactory despite the fact that additional measures could be taken for the effective control of the relevant governmental plans in the long term. In order for the potential effectiveness of sustainability in modern cities to be more clearly understood, the practices followed by nations within the international community are also going to be mentioned – referring to the case of sustainability – related projects promoted by the United Nations as well as the European Union. Sustainable Community – description and aspects – critic on the government’s definition In order to understand the problems related with the development of sustainable communities in poor, inner city areas, it is necessary to examine primarily the main aspects/ characteristics of sustainability as a concept that has been rapidly expanded on countries worldwide. At a next level, the characteristics of sustainable community in modern urban environment would be able to be identified and evaluated. In accordance with a definition given by Encyclopedia Britannica online (2007) sustainability could be characterized as ‘an approach to economic planning that attempts to foster economic growth while preserving the quality of the environment for future generations’ (Encyclopedia Britannica online, 2007). In practice, the above definition could be differentiated in order to match the needs of local communities but also the resources available for the realization of the relevant plans – usually developed in the long term after the careful examination of the environmental and social characteristics of a particular region – referring to inner cities regions. In the literature, the characteristics of sustainability have been extensively explored trying to identify the problems related with the application of the rules of this concept on modern cities. In this context, it is noticed that Mcentire et al. (2002, 270) that ‘sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Despite the fact that the above description of sustainable development can help to understand its value for modern cities – the current needs of people in cities could be addressed using the rules of sustainability – still the feasibility of the application of the relevant rules on modern urban environment is not clearly explained. It seems that sustainability is not related only with the material used or the technology available for the development of the relevant projects – it is mainly related with the social characteristics of the region on which these projects are applied. In other words, plans referring to the promotion of sustainability in a specific area could not be promoted without the prior alignment of these plans to the area’s social and cultural characteristics. The specific issue is highlighted in the literature. In accordance with Gunder (2006) ‘sustainability largely has been captured and deployed under a narrative of sustainable development in a manner that stifles the potential for substantive social and environmental change … while potentially sustaining or creating adverse social and environmental injustices’ (Gunder, 2006, 208). In other words, the impact of sustainable practices on the social and environmental characteristics of a specific region can be significant; in order to avoid turbulences in the local communities because of the promotion of specific projects of sustainability it should be preferable for the urban planners to discuss primarily with the representatives of the local community trying to identify the needs and the characteristics of the region but also the resources available. The role of the urban plans (based on the principles of sustainability) applied on a particular area should be also be examined – if these plans are going to support the needs of the people of the community, which would be the consequences for the local people both in the short and the long term and so on. It should be noticed that the change/ update of these projects is possible if the circumstances lead to such a need. In accordance with the above, sustainability could be characterized as having both strengths and weaknesses; it could help towards the improvement of the conditions of life of people in urban areas but for such a target to be achieved it would be necessary that specific issues are addressed in advance. Towards this direction, it is noticed by Wilkinson et al. (2002, 381) that ‘sustainability is not a fixed ideal, but an evolutionary process of attempting to improve the management of systems, through improved understanding and knowledge; the process is not deterministic: the end-point is not known in advance’. The effects of sustainability – related projects on modern cities cannot be identified – at least precisely – in advance. Only assumptions can be made regarding the potential benefits of these projects for the local communities. If appropriately developed, these projects could support the improvement of the conditions of life of people in the community – the protection of the environment would be also promoted. Because of the importance of these projects for both the community and the environment, governments around the world should consider the promotion of sustainability when having to update/ develop a region’s urban structure. It should be noticed that the benefits of sustainability could be released either in the short or the long term – it depends on the resources available, the time required for the completion of the project but also the participation of the people in the areas under examination. In accordance with Campbell (1996, 301) ‘sustainability can be a helpful concept in that it posits the long-term planning goal of a social-environmental system in balance; it is a unifying concept, enormously appealing to the imagination, that brings together many different environmental concerns under one overarching value’. It is not made clear whether the failure of governments to promote the development of a specific project (based on the principles of sustainability) could harm the regions involved. Such an outcome would be expected only in case that the development of this project has to stop while a significant amount of money has been already spent and while the transformation of the region in case has started – the abandonment of the project then would harm the local community both financially and in terms of urban structure – existence of half-developed buildings and establishments with no prospects for progress of the relevant project. Under these terms, the definition given by the government regarding the sustainable communities could be strongly criticized as of its alignment with the reality. This definition is rather a description of the ideal sustainable communities – where all efforts to promote sustainability are successfully completed and where no failures in developing sustainability-related projects can occur. The above assumption can be also justified using the views of Maclaren on the main characteristics of sustainability – as they can be identified in relevant projects promoted in communities internationally: ‘intergenerational equity, intragenerational equity (including social equity, geographical equity and equity in governance), protection of the natural environment (and living within its carrying capacity), minimal use of non-renewable resources … individual well-being, and satisfaction of basic human needs’ (Maclaren, 1996, 185). It is clear from the above description that sustainability is a concept closely related with the needs of people – especially those living in cities worldwide. However, it is also stated that sustainability is related with a series of issues – mainly the environment but also the geographic region of a particular community. For this reason, it is necessary that before any project related with the promotion of sustainability in a specific region is promoted by the government or the local authorities, a careful examination of the needs and the characteristics (social, geographical) of the region to take place; in any case the resources available (funds, skilled staff) for the realization of this project should be taken into consideration when planning the project but also during its development in practice. The above issue can be more clearly identified when the application of such projects is attempted on poor, inner cities areas; in this case, there are many chances that these projects will be led to a failure – especially if the needs and the characteristics of the region under examination are not carefully examined. The above problem is particularly examined in the section that follows where the potential failures of sustainability-related projects in poor, inner cities areas are explored and evaluated taking into account the social and cultural characteristics of these regions – as they most commonly appear in modern cities around the world. The development of this issue will be examined in relation with a specific geographic area/ country, i.e. Britain based on the plans of sustainability promoted by the government across the country. Sustainable communities and poor inner city areas – Practical aspects – Britain – International Community The promotion of sustainability in poor, inner city areas has been proved to be a challenging task for most governments worldwide (under the influence also of a series of factors, like the political instability and the failure of economy in many countries within the international community). In Britain, the promotion of sustainable development has been achieved through the application of a series of measures. The principles on which these measures are based are presented indicatively in the reports published through the relevant governmental sites. In accordance with a statement included in the official website of the UK Government referring to the sustainable development of the country one of the main priorities of the British government is to help ‘local authorities - and regions, sub-regions and cities too - to respond to the needs of local people and to the economic, social and environmental circumstances of a rapidly changing world’ (UK Government, [1]). The above statement defines the general framework in which the governmental plans related with the promotion of sustainability across the country are going to be developed; however, a reference to the practical needs of the above scope should be also made. At the level of the community, the governmental support to the people needs remains strong. In accordance with a relevant statement published in the official website of the UK government, the priority of the British government regarding its community – related projects is ‘to ensure that they are given all the support they need to make the best of their communities and overcome their own difficulties; these are problems like community conflict, extremism, deprivation and disadvantage’ (Communities and Local Government, [2]). In the above statements it is made clear that the promotion of sustainability is among the most important factors influencing the development of British governmental plans; the effectiveness of these plans is not clearly mentioned. Perhaps, it is assumed that since the support of the British government to the promotion of sustainability projects is such, the success of these projects would be strongly expected. Indeed, in accordance with a report of the Urban Task Force in 2005, in Britain the performance of the country’s sustainability-related projects is significant. More specifically, it is noticed that ‘for the first time in 50 years there has been a measurable change of culture in favour of towns and cities, reflecting a nationwide commitment to the Urban Renaissance’ (Urban Task Force, 2005, online report). In practice the study made by researchers that participated in the development of this report revealed that ‘people have started to move back into city centres; in 1990 there were 90 people living in the heart of Manchester, today there are 25,000 residents’ (Urban Task Force, 2005, online report). The above statistics are important at the level that they can be used in order to prove the effectiveness of the governmental plans regarding the country’s sustainable development. On the other hand, the practical implications of these projects – the problems resulted, the delays caused or any unexpected outcomes are not clearly described. It can be assumed that these are limited and that they are effectively handled by the governmental authorities through the application of the relevant rules. The above fact is verified by the results revealed through a report published by the Greater London Authority a few days ago. The release of these statistics has been made in order to show the effectiveness of the measures taken by the Mayor of London towards the increase of sustainability of the Greater London Area. In accordance with these statistics the overall crime in three specific areas of London (Canning Town, West Croydon and Wood Green) has been decreased by 16 per cent since the introduction of the new measures of safety applied by the local authorities across London (referring especially to the increase of the presence of police within buses across London). The measures taken for the achievement of the above target are really significant: it is estimated that ‘street briefings have been held with more than 3,000 people; surgeries and leaflet campaigns have also been carried out, with positive feedback from the public; proactive policing has resulted in more than 6,000 stop and search/stop and accounts; there have been 38 knife arch operations’ (Greater London Authority, Press Release of 8/10/2008, [3a]). It seems that the cooperation among London’s local communities has been carefully planned targeting primarily the improvement of the quality of life of people living across London – the increase of their safety was also a significant criterion for the development of the above plans. Apart from the measures taken in relation with the safety of people in all British communities (the example of the measures taken by the London communities is indicative), other areas that are related with sustainability have been also appropriately supported by relevant governmental plans. In this context, we should refer to the construction industry which is extremely important for the promotion of sustainability in a specific region. Indeed, in a report published by the relevant governmental department it is made clear that ‘the output of the construction industry, be it public buildings, commercial buildings, homes or infrastructure such as our roads, harbours and sea defences, has a major impact on our ability to maintain a sustainable economy overall and has a major impact on our environment’ (UK Government Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for sustainable construction policy, 2008, [4]). Because of the importance of the construction industry for the development of sustainability in a particular region, it is necessary that relevant rules are established in order for the stability of this sector to be ensured (referring to the feasibility – viability of the construction projects with the support of the government when these projects are quite important for the local communities). In the European and the International community, the importance of sustainability has been highlighted through the introduction of a series of rules and principles but also the establishment of bodies that deal with the active support of sustainability within their area of interest. An indicative example is the UN Commission on Sustainable Development – established in 1992 – having power over issues related with the promotion of sustainability in all countries around the world. Of particular interest for the above Body is the application of the rules of ‘Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development’ (UN Division for Sustainable Development, 2008, [5]). In the European Union, the support of projects that promote the sustainability in various fields of interest is achieved through a series of rules appropriately customized by the European Commission (see the Commission’s reports in [8] and [9]). Moreover, a specific project referring to the Urban Development of member states has been developed by the Union’s bodies (see strategy established by the European Commission, [10]). Conclusion In the literature, the efforts made governments worldwide regarding the promotion of sustainability have been strongly criticized as of their effectiveness. In this context, it is supported that ‘there has been a massive increase in published and online material dealing with sustainability and sustainable development leading to competing and conflicting views over what the terms mean’ (Agyeman et al., 2004, 156). However, the results of the projects that promote the sustainability in modern cities are rather encouraging (as indicated through the statistics released by the UK government; the specific country has been chosen as a key example of the intervention of government in the development of sustainability). On the other hand, because sustainability is depended on a series of factors (including the construction industry, Reed, 2007 but also the personal safety) – as explained throughout the paper it is necessary to identify the variables that would be most appropriate in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the relevant projects in the long term. Through another point of view, sustainability would be promoted if the governmental projects that are related with the above concept become independent from the ‘personal insticts’ (an issue highlighted by Barton, 2000. In any case, sustainability cannot be promoted across a community if the inequalities within the specific area are not eliminated (Reid, 1995). The products/ services offered to people living in a community have to be approachable (in terms of their cost) to all these people (or to the majority of them). Otherwise, any plan for the promotion of sustainability in a community would be led to a failure. Under these terms, the most important part of the governmental definition on sustainable community would be that of ‘equality of opportunity’ among all people living in the community. References Books Barton, H. 2000. Sustainable Communities: The Potential for Eco-Neighbourhoods. Earthscan. Reid, David. 1995. Sustainable development: an introductory guide. London: Earthscan. Urban Task Force. 1999. Towards an Urban Renaissance, London: Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions. Journals Agyeman, J., Evans, B. (2004) Just Sustainability: The Emerging Discourse of Environmental Justice in Britain? The Geographical Journal, 170(2): 155-169 Campbell, S. (1996) Green Cities, Growing Cities Just Cities? Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development. Journal of the American Planning Association, 62(3): 296-314 Gunder, M. (2006) Sustainability: Planning’s Saving Grace or Road to Perdition? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 26(2): 208-221 Ho, D.W.S., Mak, S.L. & Sagoe–Crentsil, K.K. (2000) Clean concrete construction: an Australian perspective, Proc. Int. Workshop on Concrete Technology for a Sustainable Development in the 21st Century, Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway, 24–27 June 1998, eds O.E. Gjorv & K. Sakai, pp. 236–245 Maclaren, v. (1996) Urban Sustainability Reporting. Journal of the American Planning Association, 62(2): 184-200 Mcentire, D., Fuller, C., Johnston, C., Weber, R. (2002) A Comparison of Disaster Paradigms: The Search for a Holistic Policy Guide. Public Administration Review, 62(3): 267-285 Reed, B. (2007) Shifting from sustainability to regeneration. Building Research and Information, 35(6): 674-680 Urban Task Force (2005) Towards a Strong Urban Renaissance, available at http://www.urbantaskforce.org/UTF_final_report.pdf Wilkinson, R., Cary, J. (2002) Sustainability as an evolutionary process. International Journal of Sustainable Development, 5(4): 381-391 Websites Encyclopedia Britannica online (2007) http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-224618 http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/gov/department/index.htm [1] The Governments main sustainable development website including up-to-date information about the Governments sustainable development policies, headline indicators of sustainable development http://www.communities.gov.uk [2] UK Government Department for Communities and Local Government (‘Planning, building and the environment’) – see in particular ‘Planning’ and ‘Communities and neighbourhoods’ under ‘What we do’ for key policy statements, planning guidance, notes on environmental impact assessments and research reports www.london.gov.uk [3] http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=19157 [3a] Greater London Authority http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/construction/sustainability/page13691.html [4] UK Government Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for sustainable construction policy. http://www.un.org/ United Nations – portal site gives access to UN agencies, including: www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/CSD9.htm [5] United Nations Division on Sustainable Development: Commission for Sustainable Development http://www.unep.org/ [6] United Nations Environmental Programme http://www.unhabitat.org [7] United Nations Human Settlements Programme http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/newprg/index.htm [8] European Commission: Sixth Environmental Action Programme http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/urban/thematic_strategy.htm [9] European Commission: Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/urban/preparatory_work.htm [10] European Commission: Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment: Reports on Sustainable Urban Transport, Sustainable Urban Management, Sustainable Urban Construction and Sustainable Urban Design Read More