The Problem of Overcrowded Cities, Effectiveness of Public Transport Laws and Pollution Policies of Saudi Arabia and Australia Governments - Case Study Example

Overcrowded Cities Abstract The issue of overcrowded cities is reaching some alarming states in various countries across the globe. It has enabled governments reconsider policies and laws aimed at curbing congestion in urban cities by reducing rural-urban migration and providing effective policies for efficient transport systems. This is because of the negative implications of overcrowding such as pollution, traffic congestion, poor housing, increased rates of crime, poor sanitation, and increased rates of disease infections. The only way to reduce overcrowding in urban areas is to ensure that measures that discourage rural-urban migration are effective and providing effective transport systems in the urban areas to avoid congestion (Bauder, 2006). Introduction With economic challenges that rural dwellers face, poor decentralization of school and hospital facilities, rural urban migration becomes a trend. Undoubtedly, economy and socio-cultural factors are the most primary reason for overcrowding in urban areas. This results from rural-urban migration as rural dwellers migrate to urban areas for employment opportunities and educational purposes. As the urban population continues to grow at a faster rate, the demand for social services such as transportation, sewage and drainage, health services, and proper sanitation among other social amenities becomes an issue of concern(Bauder, 2006). The most devastating effects of overcrowding in urban areas are traffic congestions and increased rates of pollution. This research paper compares and contrasts laws and policies that regulate urban transportation and pollution in Saudi Arabia and Australia and then compares and contrasts their effectiveness. Explain the problem of overcrowded cities globally It is evident that overcrowding in most urban cities has far-reaching implications on social, economic, and environmental aspects. The most recognized issues of urban overcrowding in almost all countries across the globe include environmental pollution, poor sanitation, and congestion in transport, insufficient housing, and increased rates of crime. However, most nations develop laws and policies that help reduce the causes of overcrowding and hence reduce its effects. Such policies include developing good strategies for effective urban transport system and reducing the causes of rural-urban migration. Furthermore, pollution is another major effect of overcrowded cities globally. Governments and municipalities also strive to introduce effective policies and laws to curb excessive pollution in major urban cities. To control overcrowding in cities, many global agencies signed some conventions and standards meant at regulating the effects of overcrowding. Such agencies include World Health Organization and United Nations Environment Program. Environmental pollution in overcrowded urban areas is quite rampant and extensive compared to areas with low population. This is because, in most cases, an area with high population translates to increased amounts of waste from increased population, deforestation in search for settlement areas, and pressure on drainage and sewerage systems. This will result in increased anthropogenic activities that lead to emission of greenhouse gases and eventually global warming. It is for this very reason that every major city has a special department on urban planning judged with the responsibility of planning town appropriately to avoid unnecessary congestion. Furthermore, industrial areas will emit high amounts of greenhouse gases that will speed up the effects of global warming. Therefore, it is quite necessary for governments and other authorities to ensure that laws and policies to combat rural urban migration are effective. This will in turn reduce the rate of overcrowding and hence reduced pollution. This has become a matter of urgency since summing up pollution in various urban areas will sum up to catastrophic environmental impacts. Comparison and contrast between laws and policies of public transport system and urban pollution in Saudi Arabia and Australia There are several laws and policies adopted by the Australian government to reduce overcrowding in its major cities. Such policies aim at making public transport very effective, reduce the rates of rural-urban migration, and ensure reduction of pollution in urban areas. For instance, the policies fully support the use of public transportation system and discourage the use of private cars for transportation.This aims at reducing congestion in urban areas created by many vehicles. To achieve the objectives of the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP)of 2006, the Australian government ensures that motorists experience very high parking fees for private vehicles, establishing the best possible route system, guaranteeing the public of constant bus frequency, increasing the cost of fuels, and ensuring that vehicle registration becomes expensive and rigorous.The government also understands that drought in some rural areas is a factor for rural-urban migration and provides irrigation services in those areas to prevent the trend.On the contrary, Saudi Arabia has no strong policies to support the use of public transportation systems or curb rural-urban migration. Among its policies on transportation such as National Transportation Strategy, the government does not levy high taxes on vehicle registration and provides subsidies on fuel prices. Parking fees are also very low, thus encouraging accessibility of many vehicles to city centers. This makes purchase of vehicles and fuel very affordable that anyone can own a vehicle and fail to see the cost of using it for transport purposes. The National Urban Policy (NUP) released by the Australia’s Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) in 2011 highlights measures such as, reducing pollution and creating job opportunities in the rural areas to prevent migration of people from rural areas to urban areas in search of employment opportunities. This policy works in collaboration with the Suburban Jobs Initiative Policy of 2011. This rural job initiative seeks to create job opportunities within rural Australia to prevent rural-urban migration.Still on the NUP, the government has put in place measures to ban the use of leaded petroleum products deemed environmentally harmful. Motorists found guilty of using such fuels faces severe punishments in terms of fines (Wiseman, 2005). On the contrary, Saudi Arabian government does not have concrete policies on urban pollution. In fact, the major cause of excessive pollution in its overcrowded urban towns is the lack of enough water. This jeopardizes sewerage and drainage systems within the towns. However, the SaudiArabia's Ministerial Committee on Environment has in its National Agenda 21 some policies to curb pollution but crippled by the high rates of carbon emissions from petroleum refinery. Although dust contributes close to 90% of the air pollution in Saudi Arabia, there are no proper strategies to curb human induced air pollution. The authorities are quite reluctant in expecting vehicles that use leaded petroleum products. Analyses and evaluation the effectiveness of public transport laws and pollution policies of Saudi Arabia and Australia governments Between the two countries, effectiveness of laws and policies on reducing pollution and effecting public transport fail to achieve fully the desired goals and objectives though at different levels. However, the effectiveness of Australia’s policies seems more appealing than Saudi Arabia’s. For instance, up to date, Australia’s migration to urban areas has since fallen from 83% to 53% according to the 2006 national census.By comparison, the Australian NUTP goes closer to ensuring a total support of sustainable and efficient public transport as opposed rural-urban migration as its migrants to urban areas increased from four to seven million in 2009 and 2011 (NUTP, 2011). Despite Saudi Arabia paying more salaries for workers in rural areas, its immigration trends still go up by day. On the other hand, Australia fairs on well in maintaining relatively low levels of rural-urban migration. The technique behind this is Australia’s strategies for regional balance. This seeks to ensure that all regions have equal access to opportunities that would otherwise be accessible in urban cities alone. Likewise, Australia’s policies on urban pollution and sustainability are far much efficient than the Saudi’s with Australia’s emissions increasing from 1.37% to 1.48 between 2008 and 2011 with Saudi Arabia’s emissions increasing from 1.45% to 5.23% within the same period. This is because Australia has plenty of water to aid its sanitation purposes while Saudi Arabia has insufficient water sources for effecting sewerage and drainage purposes (Janet et al, 2007). Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s main economic activities revolve around petroleum refinery, which increases pollution in its urban areas.Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s Urban Transport Policy (SAUTP) supports private transport systems by large extend and paying more salaries for people working in the rural areas does not seem more effective (Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, 2010). In conclusion, Australian laws and policies on overcrowded urban areas are more effective and efficient than those policies formulated by Saudi Arabia government. Planning urban areas is even more sophisticated in Australia than in Saudi Arabia since exploration of technology. Application of technology in Saudi Arabia is still very low and that may be one major reason why overcrowding of urban areas and policies formulated are ineffective (RESA, 2010). Glossary DIT- Department of Infrastructure and Transport NUP- National Urban Policy NUTP- National Urban Transport Policy RESA- Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia SUJIP- Suburban Jobs Initiative Policy SAUTP- Saudi Arabia Urban Transport Policy Annotated Bibliography Bauder, Harald. (2006). Labor Movement: How Migration Regulates Labor Markets, New York: Oxford University Press This article was useful in offering information regarding causes of rural-urban migration and its impact on overcrowding urban areas. It also has information on labor movements, laws, and regulations. Harris, A. (2005). Transport and mobility: Challenges, innovations and improvement. Seminar presented at the Department for Victorian Communities, 27 May 2005; Australia. This article highlights the challenges, innovations, and improvement in transport industry in Victoria region of Australia, which is a sample representative of other territories and states in Australia. It is a seminar report that became useful in citing the traffic congestion menace in Australia for the purposes of this research paper. Janet; Stanley, John.(2007). Social policy and public transport. In No way to go: Transport and social disadvantage in Australian communities, Melbourne: Monash University ePress. pp. 13.1–13.17 available at http://books.publishing.monash.edu/apps/bookworm/view/No+Way+To+Go%3A+Transport+and+Social+Disadvantage+in+Australian+Communities/133/xhtml/chapter13.html This is a public article edited by Jane, Stanley, and John and presented the Department of Transport and Infrastructure to bring forward recommendations on proper town planning to reduce congestion and accommodate the rapidly increasing population in urban areas. For the purpose of this research, the article was useful in giving insights to urban congestion in Australia alongside regulations aimed at reducing congestion in urban cities. NUTP (2011).Policies on Transport and Infrastructure in Australia. From http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/mcu/urbanpolicy/index.aspx(21/11/2012) This public article is useful in highlighting all the policies and laws for reducing urban congestion in Australia. Since the department of Infrastructure and transport in Australia prepared the article, it is a vital tool and resource for understanding policies and laws in Australia for reducing congestion. Most importantly, the article explores measures stipulated under the National Urban Transport Policy. Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC.( 2010). About Saudi Arabia. Retrieved From Royal Embassy website: http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country (21/11/2012) This article was useful in offering general information on Saudi Arabia. The most useful information to this research was the information on rural-urban migration, pollution, and congestion in its urban centers. Tarabulsi, Mohammed Yosuf. (2006). Jeddah: A Story of a City. Riyadh: King Fahd National Library, This book authored by Tarabulsi and Mohammed Yosuf is usefulf in offering information about Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia. Among the issues crippling the growth of the city is congestion resulting from rural-urban migration and pollution from dust and scarce water. Wiseman, J. (2005).Designing public policy after neo-liberalism? In Community and local Governance in Australia. Sydney: University of NSW Press. Wiseman J provides clear measures to designing a public policy that is effective and efficient in reducing levels of congestion and pollution in major towns of Australia. The article describes that, after neo-colonialism, urban population grew at an alarming rate as rural-urban migration intensified. Published by the University of NSW Press, the article is available as a source of reference to causes of urban congestion and urban pollution. Read More