With reference to either Waste management in urban areas or Transport management in urban areas, discuss the extent to which sustainability can be achieved.
Answer 1 (Transport) Sustainable management in urban areas is a constant theme for urban areas in both LEDCs and MEDCs. This essay will be based on whether transport management can be achieved sustainably and whether or not it is only transport management that can achieve sustainability or other aspects such as improved housing, preventing urban sprawl and protecting the environment also add to the possibility of achieving sustainability. Transport management in urban areas is approached differently in both LEDCs and MEDCs. However the problems as a result of increased congestion in cities are similar. Some of those problems include deliveries being late, causing businesses to slow down and therefore the economy of the area; increased car ownership and therefore congestion releases a lot of pollutants such as carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. These cause problems such as acid rain when sulphur dioxide combines with water vapour forming sulphuric acid and carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas so increased levels add to the greenhouse effect and therefore global warming. Increased car ownership also lacks sustainability in terms of natural resource use so managing this transport in cities is important. In MEDCs the problem of obesity is rife with one in four adults in the UK that are obese and 10% of children so increased car ownership because it is convenient has resulted in a health problem in MEDCs such as the USA and UK. Increased congestion in LEDCs has also been negative. There are four million cars in Sao Paulo and the number is increasing by 10% every year and there are approximately 6000 injuries or deaths as a result of road accidents. The approach of LEDCs to manage transport is different to MEDCs as it involves a huge number of people due to the rate of urbanisation being much more rapid than in MEDCs (urbanisation is an increase in the proportion of a country’s population living in towns and cities). The population in Mexico City in 2005 was at an estimated 19.4 million and steps have been taken to try to manage transport and reduce congestion. These include mandatory school bussing, the rise of low sulphur fuels in all public transport as of 2008/09 and cars with certain number plates being only able to travel on certain weekdays. Overall these have been sustainable management methods as they have not only reduced congestion levels and increased the use of public transport, they have also reduced the level of pollution in the atmosphere which makes it cleaner for the future and present generations. The air in Mexico city was 15% less polluted. The use of low sulphur fuel may lack sustainability in terms of how expensive the fuel is for an LEDC to deal with and also in terms of the fact that it is still using non-recyclable resources but overall the advantages of the management methods appear to outweigh the disadvantages showing that it does achieve sustainability to a certain extent. Managing transport in MEDC cities has a different approach due to access to capital in MEDCs. It does tackle two objectives, that is, reducing congestion so that cities can run efficiently and protecting the environment in the fact that it attempts to reduce pollution such as carbon emissions for future generations. The UK has to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by the year 2050 in order to meet its commitment to the Climate Change bill. This involves managing transport in urban areas as the increased car ownership is also partly accountable for the high levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. In 2005 the UK government introduced the congestion charge in London. People are charged £8 when they enter central London. It was successful in the sense that bus passengers increased by 6% during charging hours in the first year and a lot of revenue was created for the UK government to reinvest back into improving public transport so people are encouraged to to use that rather than driving. However in the first year congestion did decrease in London by 18% but eventually rose again as people could just afford to pay the charge. If people were affluent enough to be able to afford to commute into London then they had no problem paying the charge. In this sense sustainability has not been achieved as the results of the congestion charge haven’t had the desired effects at all. It brings forward the question of as people continue to become more affluent what can be done to discourage them from using cars and in turn damaging the environment for future generations? In Manchester other approaches have been taken as a carrot method to try and encourage people away from their cars and towards public transport or cycling. In Rusholme there has been an improved cycle lane that doesn’t allow cars in as it is separate from the road, not an ‘add-on’. People are more inclined to use these cycle lanes as they are much safer. There is also a proposed traffic free route through Rusholme and Fallowfield in Manchester and during a survey 88% of people said they would want to use it. This shows that sustainability can be achieved as more people cycling may reduce congestion and also the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere. Manchester has also made huge improvements to its Metrolink service and bus services and there are areas in Manchester that are completely pedestrianised with no cars allowed; again discouraging people to use public transport and cycle or walk. That also implies that sustainability can be achieved. Sustainability in urban areas however cannot only be achieved through transport management where transport management draws on two objectives environmental quality and reducing congestion, it has to be part of an integrated programme of management methods to ensure that development meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future. This can be achieved in LEDCs and MEDCs. Sustainable communities such as Holly Street in London include all aspects such as energy efficient housing, crime designed layout, work nearby so that the community itself is sustainable. The Thames Gateway also achieves sustainability by including transport management and access to adequate jobs. 12000 jobs have been created since it was formed. Green belt land in the UK is a broad ring of land within which development is restricted or permitted under certain conditions established to prevent urban sprawl. Due to the constant need for housing in MEDCs (200000 houses are needed each year in the UK), there is constant pressure on green belt land. A lot of green belt land begins with a road running through it which stimulates development so the pressure to build in the natural environment lack sustainability but it is clear that housing management and transport management have to be used in conjunction with each other in order to achieve sustainability. Equally in LEDCs shortage of housing is major problem and low cost initiatives have to be used, such as self help schemes which are designed to consolidate the shanty towns which arise around the outskirts of LEDC cities such as Sao Paulo, Brazil. Efforts to eradicate squatter settlements haven’t all been sustainable such as the Gingapura project in Sao Paulo as the government invested too much money in building ‘superblocks’ that were not successful. The USA loaned $520 million dollars to the project. The low cost initiative of self help schemes was overall more sustainable as people were established security of tenure so wanted to improve their homes and work together as a community. Overall transport management can achieve sustainability to a certain extent as shown above but involving other aspects such as preventing urban sprawl with green belt land and providing adequate housing for the urban poor in LEDCs and MEDCs appears to be how sustainability can be achieved in urban areas as a whole. (1305 words) K – 3 (down); U – 3; CS – 3 (down); Syn – 3; Q – 3. Overall Level 3 (down) 24 marks