Urban Problems Enlargement of Urban Areas

When it comes to discussing the significance of how modern societies develop, one can hardly skip mentioning such important aspects of this development as the ‘urban sprawl’ and ‘motorization’. The first of these terms is being concerned with the process of urban areas growing progressively larger (Gonzalez, 2005). Even though that the earlier mentioned process benefits people in a variety of different ways, there are also a number of drawbacks to it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Urban Problems: Enlargement of Urban Areas specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In my paper, I will aim to identify the apparent problems, associated with an ongoing enlargement of urban areas, and to come up with recommendations, as to how these problems can be addressed. In particular, I will focus on discussing the associated issues of global warming, the acuteness of the related health-problems and the proces s of urban communities growing increasingly secluded, in the social sense of this word. As of today, it became clear to just about anyone that the ‘urban sprawl’ and ‘motorization’ do contribute to global warming rather substantially. This is because one of the foremost aspects of the urban communities’ expansion has always been the ever-increased amount of carbon dioxide, emitted into the atmosphere. The most logical way to tackle this particular problem can be best discussed within the context of what may account for the environmental effects of the invention of qualitatively new energy-technologies. According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), it is specifically the eventual emergence of these technologies, which is being capable of improving the situation, in this respect. In particular, we can well point out at nuclear power-plants, as such that are being capable of supplying large cities with a plenty of power, without contributing excessively to the pollution of the natural environment (Dryzek, 1987 cited in Gonzalez, 2005). Another way of addressing the issue is the deployment of the so-called Environmentally Sensitive Land Management (ESLM), as the instrument of increasing the extent of the urban communities’ energetic sustainability. The integral elements of the ESLM’s discursive paradigm include: improving the efficiency of a land-usage, increasing the proximity between residential and business areas and designing more spatially-efficient living spaces. There is, of course, a number of methodologically different approaches to address the issue of improving the functional sustainability of urban areas, such as the one offered by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. However, given the fact that these approaches are being concerned with the application of rather indirect procedural methodologies towards tackling the issue in question, it is namely the observance of the ESLMà ¢â‚¬â„¢s provisions, which appears to be more discursively appropriate, in this respect.Advertising Looking for essay on ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The segregation of urban communities, which directly derives out of the ‘urban sprawl’ and ‘motorization’, constitutes another major problem. As it was pointed out by Martin (2007), as time goes on, the residents of urban areas are growing increasing stratified along class-lines, which in turn is being reflected by the socially underprivileged people’s inability to afford buying cars. Potentially, this can well lead towards the deterioration of the public transportation system. After all, municipal managers have traditionally considered the cost of ensuring that all the residents (regardless of the specifics of their class-affiliation) are able to commute between their homes and their workplaces, as being particularly high. This proble m, however, can be well managed, if those in charge of planning the stages of an urban development, adopt a qualitatively innovative approach towards addressing the situation. For example, municipal managers can take a practical advantage of the so-called ‘mixed building’ developmental paradigm, which applies certain restrictions to the size of parking lots in residential areas (Portland: A sense of space, 2009). From the perspective of accounts for the present challenges of an urban planning, the deployment of the ‘mixed building’ methodology towards increasing the extent of the urban communities’ functional integrity, appears thoroughly justified. One of the commonly overlooked challenges of an urban living is the fact that, even though people that reside in suburban areas do benefit from their off-work exposure to the comparatively clean natural environment, they usually experience a number of mental anxieties, related to the challenges of having to commute from home to work on a daily basis (Frumkin, 2001). This, of course, is being counterproductive to their physical/mental health. In addition, the earlier mentioned qualitative aspects of the urban areas’ expansion are being potentially capable of causing urban residents to face additional existential hardships, such as their constant exposure to the traffic-noise (Martin, 2007). Hence, the concept of ‘telecommuting’, which is being referred to as such that may well result in the substantial reduction of CO2 emissions, on the one hand, and in reducing the acuteness of stresses, associated with the conventional ways of commuting, on the other (McCartney, 2009). This, of course, implies that there is indeed a good rationale in believing that, while living in efficiently designed cities/suburbias, people will be able to benefit in a variety of different ways. The validity of this statement can be additionally illustrated in regards to the practice of locat ing convenience stores in the near proximity to transit-stops, deployed by the municipal officials in Portland (Oregon), which allowed them to significantly reduce the amount of a ‘grocery-shopping’ traffic in late hours.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Urban Problems: Enlargement of Urban Areas specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, it will be fully appropriate, on my part, to conclude this paper by stressing out once again the importance of observing the principles of a functional efficiency, when it comes to exercising a control over the process of urban areas growing progressively enlarged. In this respect, the practical utilization of the ‘mixed building’ developmental methodology appears to be the most discursively appropriate, because it takes into consideration both: the environmental and functional aspects of the earlier mentioned process. References Frumkin, H. (2001). â€Å" Urban sprawl and public health† In Public Health Reports  Vol. 117. Gonzalez, G. (2005). Urban sprawl, global warming and the limits of ecological modernization. Environmental Politics. 14 (3), 334–362. Martin, G. (2007). Motorization, social ecology and China. Area, 39 (1), 66-73. McCartney, D. (2009). From urban sprawl to sustainable urban village. Public Broadcasting Service. (2009, January 6). Portland: A sense of place  [Television documentary]. USA. This essay on Urban Problems: Enlargement of Urban Areas was written and submitted by user Viviana Ramsey to help you with your own studies. 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