Urban Geography

Urban Problems

Urban Problems:

• Problems facing cities in the developed world
• Urban Planning strategies
• Developing world cities

Problems facing cities in the developed world

Typical Questions

Discuss how the growth of urban centres can lead to any two of the following problems, with reference to example(s) that you have studied:

• Traffic Congestion
• Urban Decay
• Urban Sprawl

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Urban Geography

Discussion Topics

Discuss any two of the following issues that may arise from the growth of urban settlements:

• Heritage issues
• Planning issues
• Environmental issues

Discuss two issues facing cities of the future in the developed world.

Problems we will look at

Traffic Congestion

• Case Study: Dublin

Urban Decay

• Case Study: Ballymun, Dublin

Urban Sprawl

• Case Study: Los Angeles

Environmental Quality

• Case Study: Water quality in Galway

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Urban Geography

Traffic Congestion

A large number of vehicles use roads around urban centres. This often leads to traffic congestion, especially around rush hour. Traffic congestion also occurs if there is a poor transport leading to slower speeds, long queues and increased journey times.

Causes

• A large number of people work in the CBD, meaning people need to travel through the city to reach work

• Inadequate and/or expensive public transport means people often drive to work instead of taking a bus or a train, leading to more cars than necessary being on the road

• As car ownership continues to increase, more importance must be placed on ensuring adequate public transport systems are in place to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home

Effects

• Traffic congestion can have social, economic and environmental effects

• Social

  • Slower travel times = increase in journey time
  • Sitting in traffic can increase stress and tiredness which can lead to accidents and loss of life
  • It also means less time at home, impacting on family life

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Urban Geography

Economic

• Extra fuel and driver costs must be added to the price of goods and services as journey time increases

• As the demand for petrol increases, so does the price as it is a finite resource

Environmental

• Increase in vehicles/exhaust fumes leads to air and noise pollution

• This can have an adverse effect on people's health in cities with respiratory diseases such as asthma increasing

Reducing traffic congestion

Helping the flow of traffic

• Restricted on-street parking and more multi-storey car parks reduces cars blocking streets

• One-way traffic and traffic lights helps with the flow of traffic

• Ring roads divert traffic away from busy urban centres e.g. Waterford

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Urban Geography

Public transport

• If people have access to reliable and cheap methods of public transport, they will be less likely to use their car

• Bus lanes make it quicker to travel by bus – more appealing

• Bicycle lanes – 'bike to work' scheme (tax-free purchase of a bike through your employer) encourages more people to cycle to work

• Park and ride facilities

Case Study: Dublin

• Dublin is the most populated county in Ireland – 1.3 million people

• As it is the economic centre of Ireland, people commute to Dublin for work and education from surrounding areas

• According to the National Transport Authority, 38% of all private cars and 30% of commercial vehicles are registered in the GDA, i.e. 'D' licence plate registration

• Population growth and an increase in the number of people owning cars has led to a rise in traffic congestion

• As the city centre is the CBD, many roads converge here. This leads to traffic bottlenecks as traffic merges into and out of the area during rush hour

• Several schemes were introduced to combat this congestion such as improvements to the public transport network (LUAS, Port Tunnel, Bus Corridors), all with the aim of diverting traffic away from the city centre

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Urban Geography

• While these schemes dramatically reduced from 2008 onwards due to the recession, there have been several new schemes introduced lately in an effort to deal with the growing traffic congestion in the region

• LUAS cross city project

  • The LUAS was introduced in 2004, with works to extend it beginning in 2013 – the single biggest transformation of the service since it started
  • The new lines came into operation in 2017 and were an extension of the two existing lines, with the green line now extending from St. Stephens Green to O'Connell street with the opportunity to change to the red line at Abbey street
  • It was the largest government investment in transport at the time – totalling €368 million, with 13 new stops added, 8 of those being in the city centre
  • This was an important development in terms of combating traffic congestion as the LUAS transports 80,000 commuters daily

• Dublin bike rental scheme

  • Introduced in 2009 and had 47,000 users in its first year
  • Now considered as one of the most successful bike rental schemes in Europe
  • It is a self-service bike rental system with over 50 stations around the city centre holding at least 30 bikes each
  • Registered users pay an annual subscription of €25 and then pay for the length of time the bike is used – the first 30 minutes are free

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Urban Geography

• Just Eat pay for the bikes and their upkeep in return for free advertising

• It has been really successful in taking some cars off the road and has now spread to other cities in Ireland such as the Coca-Cola bikes in Cork.

Urban Decay

Urban decay occurs when parts of a city become rundown. It happens when once vibrant and populated parts of a city experience decline as people move to more attractive locations such as the suburbs, and businesses locate to new economic centres.

Urban decay results in high unemployment as the area falls into disrepair. Key problems associated with urban decay include:

• Derelict buildings that are boarded up and eventually vandalised
• High unemployment rates as new businesses are not attracted to the area
• Low education levels with early school leaving being a major issue
• Increase in crime and drug use, resulting from low education level and unemployment
• Absence of community as residents are left feeling isolated as people they know leave the area. People feel excluded and abandoned as a result

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Urban Geography

Case Study: Ballymun

• Ballymun is located close to Dublin Airport on the north side of the city

• In the 1960's, a number of local authority flats were built to rehouse residents of the inner city

• When they were constructed, they were considered one of the best examples of social housing in Europe with 36 high-storey apartment blocks (some over 15 storeys high) creating over 3,000 dwellings

• However, a number of problems led to the decay of Ballymun, with the towers becoming a symbol of poverty and low social standing:

  • There was a lack of amenities in the area with few shops, recreational activities and a severe lack of green spaces

  • The flats were poorly maintained – the lifts often broke down and the buildings were poorly insulated meaning they were cold and hard to heat

  • People were displaced from the city centre and moved to Ballymun – they felt isolated from family and friends which resulted in an absence of community for many who were relocated to the Ballymun flats

  • The level of education was low, due to children leaving school at a young age. This led to high unemployment rates

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Urban Geography

• Levels of crime, drug use and alcohol abuse rose dramatically in the area and within a short space of time, Ballymun became neglected, rundown and had a poor image which it still has today

**We will also look at a case study of Ballymun for Urban renewal

Urban Sprawl

• The uncontrolled growth of urban areas is known as urban sprawl
• As cities spread out into the countryside, rural land is rezoned for residential use and become suburbs
• This uncontrolled expansion is assisted by increased car ownership as people now live in the suburbs and commute to the CBD for work

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Urban Geography

• Suburbs have a low population density with houses tending to be isolated with gardens – this means there is a need for continued urban sprawl as the city is expanding outwards instead of upwards (high rise apartment blocks)

• Urban sprawl means that cities can often take on the shape of a doughnut with the middle (city centre) empty as the majority of people live in the suburbs/satellite towns

Issues

Environmental

• Air and noise pollution as more people use cars to commute from the suburbs to the CBD of cities, e.g. LA

• The building of new developments in rural areas can damage wildlife as their habitats are removed

• Construction of housing on river floodplains can lead to flooding

Cultural

• New developments are given names that are not linked to the local area which has a cultural impact as traditional place names are lost

• Ancient monuments and historic sites can be damaged or destroyed, e.g. the remains of Carrickmines Castle were destroyed during the construction of the M50 motorway in Dublin

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Urban Geography

Case Study: Urban Sprawl – Los Angeles

• LA is the second largest urban area in the USA, with 15 million people living here

• Downtown LA is the CBD with main roadways and the Metro all converging on this location

• This area is a large retail area with many skyscrapers where MNC's have offices

• LA expanded rapidly in the 1900's and this continued in the 1950's as the post-war boom meant more people owned cars, enabling them to live in the suburbs and commute to work

• As a result, the city began to expand into the once rural countryside of San Fernando valley

• Today, the city is divided into over 80 districts and neighbourhoods, many of which were towns and cities themselves, before they were absorbed by Los Angeles

• Urban sprawl is evident in LA as many people now use the well-developed road network to commute from the suburbs into the city for work

• LA could be described as taking the shape of a doughnut with the majority of people living in suburbs and satellite towns, with the inner city left behind suffering from urban decay

Issues

• LA has been ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world

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Urban Geography

• If people have the money, but are not allowed to use their cars

• People commute up to 4 hours a day to and from the CBD

• Millions of vehicles use the roads every day, leading to severe air pollution, noise pollution and traffic congestion

Solutions

• Introduction of electric and hybrid cars, and the facilities required for these

• Development of more efficient public transport systems

• New towns are created to prevent urban sprawl – these towns are self-contained with their own community and services, rather than just forming another section of the expanding city

• Green belts are areas of open, green spaces/parkland, that limits urban sprawl as building is restricted on these areas

• Urban infill could also be introduced. This is when developers are encouraged to revitalise the inner city by renovating old buildings or building new ones rather than continuing to develop on the urban fringe/suburbs

Figure 2: Los Angeles CBD

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Urban Geography

Environmental quality

The environmental quality of urban areas refers to the quality of air, water and climate in towns and cities. We have already seen examples of how air quality can be affected: burning of fossil fuels = acid rain, traffic congestion = harmful emissions from vehicles. We will focus on water quality.

Water Quality

• Our water comes from a variety of sources including rivers, lakes, springs and streams

• Water is taken from these sources and passed through treatment plants prior to consumption, however, in order to have a good quality supply of water, the original source must be good

• A number of factors can influence the quality of water from its source including:

  • Contaminated by overflow liquids from slurry tanks/septic tanks
  • Flooding caused by high rainfall can discolour/contaminate water
  • Lack of proper treatment equipment or equipment that has not been cleaned properly

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Urban Geography

Case Study: Water Quality – Galway

In 2007, Galway city and some surrounding towns suffered a domestic water crisis when the water supply became contaminated by cryptosporidium, a parasitic bug which caused an outbreak of stomach illness among residents.

Why?

• Water source was Lough Corrib, Irelands second largest lake

• The lake had become contaminated by the cryptosporidium parasite which comes from animal and human waste

• Raw sewage from nearby towns and overflow liquid from slurry pits and septic tanks had made there way into the water when the River Clare had flooded earlier in the year

• There was also a breakdown in one of the treatment plants that serviced this supply of water. The plant in Terryland was built in the 1940's and did not have the filtering technology needed to remove the parasite

• As a result, people had to boil tap water before cooking and cleaning and buy bottled water for drinking. This went on for 5 months, causing huge added expense and inconvenience for locals

• The estimated overall cost of this was €19 million

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Urban Geography

Measures

• Sewage treatment facilities in the affected areas where updated to ensure that untreated sewage would not enter the water source

• Water treatment plants were also updated and fitted with new equipment and modern filtration systems

This example highlights the impact that poor water quality can have on human health.

Urban Planning Strategies

Urban decay and urban sprawl are two challenges facing urban planners. Planning strategies can be used to combat these. Urban redevelopment and urban renewal combat urban decay while new towns are created to reduce urban sprawl.

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Urban Geography

Urban Development

• This involves changing the land use of an area, most common change is residential to commercial
• Derelict buildings are demolished, and new buildings constructed for office or retail uses with local residents being relocated to suburbs or new towns
• Dublin docklands is an example

Urban Renewal

• Involves updating an area without changing its land use
• Derelict buildings are refurbished or replaced by new houses
• Services and facilities are provided, ensuring public transport is adequate and there are enough schools, shops and childcare services
• Ballymun is an example

New Towns

• New towns are sometimes developed to reduce urban sprawl
• They are usually developed on the outskirts of large urban areas and take the 'overspill' of population from the city
• They are carefully planned so as to have good transport links to the nearby city

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Urban Geography

• However, they also have industrial areas and services such as parks and shopping centres in order to limit the amount of people that need to travel into the city on a daily basis

• Tallaght is an example

Case Study: Urban Renewal – Ballymun

We have already looked at the urban decay that took place in Ballymun during the 1960's-1970's. Following this, Ballymun had a poor image, was run down and neglected. This led to many social and environmental problems. Following this, efforts were made to improve the area.

Renewal Strategy

• Ballymun Regeneration Limited (BRL) was established in 1997 to plan and implement a regeneration programme for Ballymun

• The programme focused on the demolition of the Ballymun flats and the construction of 5,000 new homes

• A town centre with retail/commercial services and sport and civic centres were also a focus of BRL

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Urban Geography

Key aims of the renewal:

• Provision of well-built homes with a good social mix
• Creation of neighbourhoods with community buildings and childcare services
• Town centre with commercial and leisure facilities
• Creation of jobs to support a vibrant local economy
• Development of transport services

The Ballymun Regeneration Project was completed in 2014. Only time will tell if this was successful in improving the area for residents.

Case Study: New towns – Tallaght

• Developed to reduce urban sprawl in Dublin
• One of three towns recommended by the 1967 Wright Report for development in Western Dublin – other two were Lucan and Blanchardstown
• Until the 1960's, Tallaght was a small rural village, however it has since grown rapidly and now has a population of nearly 80,000 people

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Urban Geography

Tallaght lacked services and a town centre however due to investment and a focus on the area it now has:

• Institute of technology
• Hospital
• Theatre
• Industrial estate, which provides employment for local people

The town also has excellent transport links with a LUAS line extending out into the area and easy access to the M50 which provides direct links with the whole GDA

This means that less people have to commute to Dublin city centre

Developing world cities

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Urban Geography

Case Study: Developing world city – Sao Paulo, Brazil

Urbanisation is happening very quickly in developing world cities due to high levels of rural to urban migration. The way in which these cities grow and the problems they face are different to that of a developed world city. The problems we will look at are:

1. Air pollution
2. Traffic congestion
3. Shanty towns/favelas

• Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America, has one of the highest levels of air pollution of any city in the world

• 6 million cars, 1 million motorbikes and over 2,000 industrial plants combine to drastically reduce air quality in the city

• It has become known as 'cough city' with 43% of 'Paulistas' (residents of Sao Paulo) describing the air quality as very bad

• Air pollution can occur in the form of Particle Matter (PM) in the air such as dust, smoke and poisonous gas pollutants such as ozone, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide

• Motor vehicles are the biggest cause of these pollutants in mega-cities such as Sao Paulo

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Urban Geography

• A PM of 2.5 is most dangerous as PM of 2.5 micrometers in diameter can enter the body's blood system and lungs

• In Sao Paulo, hospitals face daily admissions of children suffering from pneumonia and respiratory diseases, which shows a direct link between rising levels of air pollution and the effect this has on quality of life

Solutions

• Sao Paulo has focused on reducing emissions created by vehicles by implementing transport policies that restrict driving and alter fuel content

• A programme called 'Promo' was implemented which required motorbikes to reach the same emission standards as cars – previously motorbikes released 7 times the PM that cars do

• Ethanol derived from sugar cane is used to create low-sulfur diesel which is now available in Sao Paulo

• These policies reduced PM10 by 21% in 4 years

Traffic congestion

• In 2009, the longest recorded traffic jam ever occurred in the city – 293km of traffic jams

• This is a result of increasing car ownership with 1,000 new cars bought in the city on a daily basis

• Several state roads converge on the city, meaning large quantities of people and cargo pass through the city on route to other destinations. As a result, the average speed in the city is 17km/h- this also increases air pollution

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Urban Geography

Geography

Solutions

• Operation Rota was implemented, whereby drivers are banned from using their vehicles one day a week, based on their licence plate numbers

• This scheme has cut traffic by 20% with some help from improved public transport such as the metro system and extensive bus routes

• Generally, 90% of drivers abide by the rules of this scheme and it has reduced air pollution in the city by 15%

• A motorway bypass of the city was completed in 2015 – the 177km long Mario Covas beltway, reducing the number of trucks driving through the city by 40% which has greatly improved air quality

Shanty towns/favelas

• 20% of the population live in favelas where crime, lack of sewage systems, water and health services are common issues

• People move to favelas to escape the poverty-stricken interior of Brazil, however they move before services have been provided and they expand rapidly with no services put in place

• Favelas are dangerous due to health issues from lack of water/sewage, accidental fire and landslides

• Diseases can spread rapidly – due to the narrow streets, waste collection is not possible, leading to rat infestation

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Urban Geography

• However, while favelas are generally thought of as places where people live because they have no choice, an increasing number of people are buying homes in favelas because they are cheaper and closer to work

Solutions

'Site and service' schemes

• Government provides a site and small concrete hut with basic amenities such as water and sewerage

• The migrant has ownership of the hut and is expected to finish the building at their own expense

Self-help schemes

• Residents of favelas are given materials by the local council to improve their existing shelter

• Residents set up community schemes to improve education and medical services

• They may also be given ownership of their shelter whilst local authorities continue to provide electricity, water and sewerage disposal

• This is happening in the Monte Azul favela in Sao Paulo