Urban and Environmental Issue: Development Planning of a Region - Essay Example

Task: Urban and Environmental Planning Issue Urbanization Retaining and fostering living standards in cities through bringing together physical planning and environmental organization is a latest upcoming focus of governments all over the world. For instance, local governments aim to lag sensitive land uses like residential areas from environmentally invasive action such as manufacturing and main transport facilities. This is what entails the process of urbanization (Forstall 44). Local governments guide the quality of water and natural habit through implementing pollution measures and controlling the area of growth. An urban and environmental issue that is related to urban economics and spatial structure is urbanization, which involves critical planning and structuring of buildings and other developmental resources. The main cause of urbanization is social and economic development of a region caused by growth in technology. The issue of globalization has proved to be very important to the world today in the sense that it inflicts massive changes and modification of life from the ancient way of living to modern lifestyle. In fact, without globalization process, the world could be stagnant in terms of modification of lifestyle of people as well as development (Goran 56). The research question in this case is how the problem of urbanization occurs and how it can be prevented from causing harm to the citizens of a country. The issue here includes understanding environmental planning and its effect in reduction of problems of urbanization. Literature Review on Urbanization For more than the past half century, there was a massive rural-urban migration process which lead to the process of globalization. In other words, globalization is the settling of people and developmental activities into regions well known as urban centers. This process has also continued and increased massively in the 21st century where urban areas have been reported to be congested while rural areas remain sparsely populated (Dubester 73). Several local governments have come in and are now shifting development to rural areas to prevent further shift of people from rural to urban areas. Several main demographic statistics have indicated that already the United States, Europe and the Asia-pacific regions have well developed in the transition process from predominantly rural to predominantly urban areas. Though the transition process is on-going in several parts of the globe, statistics still shows that 62 percent of the population in the world still lives in urban areas. Therefore, the urbanization process has great effect in regulation of population in a nation especially if the development in the region is equitable in the sense that rural areas undergo transition process to become predominantly urban areas (Dahmann 23). A suitable environmental planning brings up effective transition process in any nation particularly if the nation’s local government values equitability in development and resource distribution. Analytical Framework The problem of globalization Just as mentioned, globalization has massive effect in the world today thus causing many problems despite being a vital factor for growth, development and modification of the entire world (Robert 171). Some of the major problems of globalization are as observed below. Urbanization causes unfairness in the world  To begin with, many civic contests are very questionable particularly from the prospect of performers and the conduits of actions. Actually, the difficulties faced through globalization to the surviving, non-global models of civic rights and group deeds differ extensively alongside two alliances with considerations to the social construction and with place located within the topography of globalization. The location of individual on the globe and what he or she does makes great difference and provides very distinct position probabilities of actions (Goran 65). For example, an individual located in Africa say Somalia and carrying out fishing activities to earn a living is most likely to be different from another person who is in America say New York persuading a degree in science and technology. The position that the person in America possesses or will posses after acquiring the degree will be very different from the position of the poor person in Africa who can only acquire a meal or two in a single day. Therefore, there is massive difference in terms of social life, exposure and position among people from different continents and regions on the globe thus proving that there is no equitable global world yet (Forstall 58). The globalization processes clearly associates with distinct sub-global propensity in distinct parts of the globe and thus comes across distinct reactions as well as distinct types of oppositions. In the ordinary social life, people usually ask who wins and who losses from what type of globalization (Dahmann 56). Globalization has many forms since it is not just a mono-element of economic phenomenon.       The process of globalization can distress the social surrounding of actors from two points of view: by unswervingly altering their social environment and by widening up opportunities to the rest of the world (McKenzie 167). Therefore, it can be said that the winners of global equity are those whom the world has opened to in terms of either a link to resourceful pals or an opportunity of pursuing an action. It is therefore clear that the process of globalization to civil people in societies differs in terms of size of unswerving gains and deficits or dangers to the civil individuals in their circumstances and with the effects of connections and mobility. Opportunities may occur in terms of being resourceful, rich and being able to change positions in the world or just being successful in other things (Robert 187). Such an individual is much different from a social actor who has no opportunities of mobility or becoming resourceful and thus making the difference between the two actors proving that the globe is indeed not yet equitable. Besides, child labor has risen in the recent past despite the efforts of local governments to fight it. The fact that children are bullied and denied there human rights proves that the world is not equitable due to the globalization process. Possible Solutions to Urbanization Problems Several alternatives in terms of policy retort and tools to manage the urbanization transition effectively has been suggested and argued for numerous decades. These alternatives are categorized into the following four strategic strides (Goran 93). a) National Planning to manage urbanization to controllable levels In order to make sure there is an effective management of urbanization, regional governments have assumed macro-economic principles made to alleviate the scale of urbanization to manageable degrees or to retain people in rural regions. As a main equipment, a National Physical (Spatial) Development Plan can be developed to tackle the moderate- and long-term national trends on population distribution. National planning is much effective because it leads to development of new land, utilization of land, water and energy; stipulation of infrastructure, transportation and housing that enhance spread out economic development (Forstall 77). b) Regional/Urban planning to control Urbanization to manageable levels The land-use planning, national development plan and tools management both at sub-national and urban regional levels play vital role in preventing and alleviating the unfavorable outcomes of rapid unplanned urbanization (Dubester 90). Local planning equipments for the activity encompass the planned intermediate development of urban centers, fostering of polycentric local network to urban areas and smaller towns and cities economic development especially in rural provinces. Urban planning also includes action planning and strategic planning. c) Intra-Urban management to control Urbanization Problems Intra-urban management involves projecting and constructing necessary infrastructure and services, which include public transport, housing, water supply, sewage channels and waste management systems (McKenzie 201). If such developments are extended to rural areas, then the problem of urbanization reduces extensively. In this way, the rural-urban migrants cannot suffocate the available urban agglomerations. d) Participation, Partnerships and Governance Modification of the urban governance especially through hiking transparency and liability of policy preparation and process of decision-making is the root for success in implementation of any urban policies and plans (Robert 241). Involvement of all the shareholders who benefit from pertinent verdicts and actions need to be ensure at all planning activities levels, in permutation with larger access to applicable information and fostering of public consciousness of public aspects. Effective combination of partnership, participation and governance in minimization of globalization is the best idea that can enhance transition process. Effective modification of urban governance involve functions like fostering participatory process as well as developing influential partnerships with all participants of civil society. Conclusion Urban and environmental issue that affects the economical functioning and development planning of a region is urbanization. Urbanization is the process through which people migrate from rural areas to urban areas to look for greener pastures thus making urban areas densely populated. The main positive effect of urbanization is the fact that it leads to development and proper planning due to enormous pressure from the increasing population in urban areas. However, globalization also makes it difficult for environmental planning since many people concentrate in a single region as other rural areas remain sparsely populated. Urbanization also fosters misuse of resources such as electricity, water, houses among others. Therefore, there is the need to control and manage urbanization to reduce population congestion in urban areas. Works Cited Dahmann, Donald C. "Accounting for the Geography of Population: 200 Years of Census Bureau Practice with Macro-Scale Sub-National Regions." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, San Diego, CA, 2009. Print. Dubester, Henry J. Catalog of United States Census Publications: 1790-1945. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 20005 (Reprinted in U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1974.) Fay, Robert E. et al. "The Coverage of Population in the 1980 Census." Bureau of the Census, Evaluation and Research Reports, PHC80-E4. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2000. Print. Forstall, Richard L. Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990. Bureau of the Census. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2001. Print. McKenzie, R. D. The Metropolitan Community. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. 2000 (Reissued in 1967. New York, NY: Russell and Russell.) Therborn Goran. Globalization: Dimensions, Historical Waves, Regional Effects, Normative Governance. International Sociology, Sweden. 2000. Print. Read More