How Policies of Sustainable Development Can Meet the Problems of Urbanization - Essay Example

The extent at which policies of sustainable development can meet the problems of urbanization Introduction Following the alarming rate of the world’s population, the resulting trend is that people are shifting from rural areas to urban centers. With reference to Lowe (22), this global trend of people’s movement to wards city centers refers to urbanization. Therefore, urbanization is a phenomenon whereby people change their position, culture, and migrate to urban areas. However, with urbanization came major problems such as traffic congestion, housing shortages, unemployment, and environmental problems. By 1990, researchers revealed the sustainability concept, which aims at balancing societal and economical concerns with sustainable policies that has no negative environmental effects. Newman (67) defines sustainable development as a method of bringing growth to people’s lives without causing any environmental problems. This paper will examine major problems of urbanization, which are traffic congestion and housing shortages, and provide some solutions by use of sustainable development policies. Additionally, it will argue that the evaluation of solutions to problems of urbanization have a limited extent of implementation. Problem 1: Traffic congestion Arguably, urbanization led to problems like traffic congestion. Many cities globally are today battling with the problem traffic congestion due to inadequate roads. In addition to that, there is the issue of inadequate parking grounds and as such, car owners face many difficulties since they have to cope up with high parking rates and wastage of large amounts if fuel while stuck in traffic jams (Lowe, p. 23). For instance, as of today, the city of Los Angeles is battling with the problem of car habits considered a product of urbanization since 1925 where every resident prefers having and using private cars instead of public transport (Thisdell, p. 24). Solution The policy of sustainable development offers can solve this problem of urbanization by setting out measures in which the government can construct alternative passageways such as underground tunnels, sub ways, and/or flyovers. Having numbers of roads can ease or relinquish the problem of cars using only one road. Construction of underground labyrinthine tunnels can result to designation of stations patrolled by armed guards who can maintain steady flow of traffic with the help of surveillance cameras in every major gateway. Improved security and increased number of roads can have tremendous results towards ending traffic congestion as a major issue of urbanization (Lowe, p. 24). Besides that, establishing a sub way culture in all major cities experiencing human congestion at its peak can ease congestion of people. Therefore, sustainable development policies provides for solutions such as government intervention that leads to alternatives like construction of pedestrian ways or side lines aimed at reducing congestion of motorists. Evaluation Agreeably, people move to towns in search of jobs and other related essentials. However, if sustainable development sought to provide city merits within rural areas, it is believable that people would not migrate to towns. Since the policies of sustainable development attempt to solve people’s problems without causing problems in their environment, it, therefore, has the ability to improve people’s lives in rural areas (Newman, p. 72). Improving people’s lives in the rural areas can solve the problem of urbanization, as people will resolve to work within their rural areas. Additionally, decentralization as a policy of sustainable development can heed to solving the problem of traffic congestion in major cities such as Los Angeles. Hence, setting up long-term funding programs through sustainable development policies can curb the problem of traffic congestion through allocating enough funds for enabling construction of alternative subways, flyovers, sidelines, and underground tunnels as well as pedestrians walk ways (Thisdell, p. 26). Problem 2: Research findings point out that the other major problem caused by urbanization is poor housing. This problem traces its roots from inadequate housing since people in need of houses exceed the number of available houses (Adams, p. 125). In less developed countries, the problems of urbanization started many years ago due to increased birth rates, less mortality, and reliance on white color jobs which in turn led to over populated cities. As people migrated to cities, there emerged cases of advent poverty because of high number of unemployment. Due to increased population in towns, most people are falling short of houses and resulting to setting up small house ordinarily built with scraps (Thisdell, p. 30). These people establish these scrap houses illegally on public lands and in farmers’ estates and found in the city edges. They result to houses found in one place commonly referred to as shantytowns. This indicates that problems of urbanization include inadequate housing. Solution City planners and engineers make a point that the way forward as regards housing problem is to discourage urbanization (Billam-Boult, p. 41). In order to achieve this, sustainable development policies must incorporate provision of employment in other areas as well as improving educational services. Another way that can solve the problem of inadequate housing in towns is through building satellite new towns in order to disperse settlement within towns. In cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong, there are high-density houses that have helped reduce their issues of housing shortages. Moreover, obtaining international support in order to construct new homes and repair the existing houses can aid at solving the problem of inadequate houses. Consequently, providing educational services to street children and homeless adults can solve aid to solving the problem of housing shortages through equipping these people with knowledge and skills essential for securing employment, which in turn can help them earn a decent amount for securing a decent home (Adams, p. 126-127). Evaluation Looking at the scope of the housing problem, the major issues resulting to it are unemployment, lack of education, and over population. Offering solutions to the housing problems will require the so-called sustainable development policies to do more than just setting of strategies (Newman, p. 78). It will require enactment, formulation, and implementation of the set policies given the fact that failure to curb this issue presently will amount to paramount disasters in the future (Adams, p. 128). Implementing and monitoring improvement of rural areas with developed infrastructure and employment opportunities as well as quality social amenities can also aid to urbanization decrease. According to Bilham-Boult et al, (1999, p. 129) formulation of all these sustainable development policies is a factor that can lead to solution of shortage of housing problem in cities. Thus, establishing the main causes of people’s migration to towns and coming up with strategies that can stop the trend should be a priority (Thisdell, 1993, p. 129). Conclusion and recommendation In conclusion, the extent to which the policy of sustainable development can solve the problems of urbanization is large. Evidently, sustainable policies include all issues aimed at solving urbanization problems such as traffic congestion and housing shortage (Newman 92). As elaborated, solving the problem of traffic and human congestion in cities like Los Angeles and London is attainable through construction of sub centers in major cities. Therefore, it is recommendable that sustainable development policies should employ structural development structures that can legitimize economic success in every aspect of most people’s lives such that people will not resolve to migrate to towns as they have almost everything they need at their respective rural areas. Works Cited Adams, Wendy. Sustainability. In P. Cloke, P. Crang & M. Goodwin (Eds), Introduction to human geographic. London: Amald, 1999. Print. Billam-Boult, Alan et al. People, places, and themes. Oxford: Heinemann, 1999. Print. Elliot, Jenny. An introduction to sustainable development. London: Routledge, 1999. Print. Lowe, Ian. Survive and thrive. Sustainable Nation: Managing Australia’s future. Artamon, NSW: Design Masters Press, 2007. Print. Newman, Pedro. Transport: reducing automobile dependence. In D. Satterthwaite (Ed), The Earthscan reader in sustainable cities. London: Earthscan Publications, 1999. Print. Thisdell, Dan. “Can LA kick the car habit?” New scientist, 138 (1877), 24-29. Print. Read More