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A Route To Urban Sustainability
A Route To Urban Sustainability
A Route To Urban Sustainability
Urbanization is certainly the future but a question mark hangs over what kind of future the city can look forward to. Despite technological advances and an explosion in wealth, human societies are becoming increasingly divided, socially and economically. Urbanized humanity is also placing increasing burdens on the planetary ecological support systems and without marked changes in patterns of consumption many ecosystems will not survive. This paper has argued that cities can provide a rich and varied quality of life for all of its citizens, but that this depends upon changes being made to the ways in which cities are funded and governed. Technological advances may assist in solving some of the challenges for cities, but they are not a panacea. What is needed is a new debate on the future of cities that will challenge many of the present political and economic norms. The possibility of a continuation of present trends of unsustainable economic growth, increased social fragmentation and environmental degradation is neither an acceptable nor sustainable option. Without change, human societies will find themselves having to survive in a polluted world where social relations are severely damaged and economies have collapsed.. The adaptability of the city is unquestioned. It is the adaptability of its citizens, decision-makers and urban policy within that city that will be put to the test in the pursuit of sustainability. If citizens can collectively recover the character of cities as a source of democratic reinvigoration and creative energy, solutions to the challenges of sustainability may well emerge.
Name of the Author : Nandini S Kulkarni Designation studies. Address E mail ID :Lecturer, (PIADS) Priyadarshini Institute of Architecture and Design :191, Gandhinagar, NAGPUR. (M.S.) :nandini.kulkarni191@gmail.com
Historically, cities have had complex spatial layouts reflecting the multiplicity of human exchanges. They have been alive with the richness of patterns and symbols that fulfil many psychological and spiritual needs. For example, the sense of enclosure and spatial definition provided by medieval walls satisfied more than just a need for defensive protection; they also provided psychological stimulation and physical comfort. The need to pattern human surroundings is as valid today as it was in medieval times. The layouts, landmarks and public spaces all contribute to each citys distinctive sense of identity (Figures 1.2 and 1.3)
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The city as a myriad of diverse and intense activities - the driving force for cultural activity:
destroyed the fabric of streets, buildings and spaces, often replacing diversity with large single-use structures which can have a hostile or imposing presence. In the process of modernization, urban communities have lost the richness of patterns and symbols that made each city distinct.
Suburban sprawl has meant that the edge of cities is often blurred with miles of semisuburban semi-rural hinterland of shopping malls, office parks and housing developments that constitutes neither city nor countryside. The traditional connection of the exchange of goods between cities and their neighbouring countryside is also lost with resources being shipped from all parts of the world to urbanized communities.
Commodifying cities
Todays modern landmarks reflect the values of commercialism, where offices and retail units have replaced the library and the town hall, often in physical stature as well as importance to the city (nowadays expressed in terms of financial returns).. Active citizenship is discouraged and replaced by the role of consumer or, at best, passive voter. Power is concentrated in the hands of large companies, and government largely acts in their favour. Recent trends in global economics and telecommunications, place no longer matters. With no apparent need for a physical focal point for activities, it would seem that cities could suffer dramatically. The possibilities of teleworking and Internet-based consuming would appear to make it possible to return to a more rural lifestyle. However, this runs counter to the international trend of increased urban living.
The pace and scope of development has often been driven by property developers, with no interests within the city.( Dynamic peri-urban development of Nagpur Because of MIHAN Project) Privatization and budget cuts have limited the role for public planning and construction leaving the private sector as the main initiator and producer thereby determining the character and priorities of developments. The role of city authorities is mainly in support of the private sector, striving to attract investors, to support property development and increasingly to encourage the private provision of services. Almost universally, the policy aim of cities is to attract international capital to invest, higher-paid executives and professionals to settle and tourists to visit. The main benefit for some city authorities has been an increase in property tax income (Hackworth and Smith, 2001). Cities are now being sold as a commodity to be consumed, rather than a place where production, living and consumption take place. Where art and culture was primarily to decide the quality of life, there in these cities we have cars and privatization of services . It is claimed that such developments will strengthen the local economy and make it more attractive to visitors. The architecture of such buildings is often grandiose and disrupts the existing urban fabric (Figure 1.5).. Economically they usually do not develop the local economy. They may draw in visitors; however, they often only pass through local neighbourhoods that have been blighted or socially changed (Gratz and Mintz, 1998). Often the new housing is not part of the wider community but is exclusive, in gated developments, which cut existing connections and restrict access to residents (Figure 1.6). City-centre housing should be neither a dormitory for the rich nor an isolated enclave for the privileged. Successful cities should provide a diversity of housing, all with good quality surroundings, including homes for families, affordable properties to rent and buy.
The distinction between city and countryside needs to be redefined without returning to the simplicities of medieval walls. While the countryside should be accessible to city residents, the countryside should primarily be a place of work and life which are connected to the landscape. If rural dwellers are oriented to a city lifestyle based on car commuting, the land becomes merely an object of consumption and the attractive nature of the land is compromised with traffic, pollution and increased road infrastructure
Sustainable cities need active involvement of the people; they need active citizens .Policymaking and decision-taking need to be focused at the local level. Active citizen involvement implies a fundamental change to politics and political structures. Local government needs to be more than modernized; it needs to be transformed into a vibrant dynamic and challenging forum of debate, based on public involvement.
tion and environmental degradation is neither an acceptable nor sustainable option. Without change, human societies will find themselves having to survive in a polluted world where social relations are severely damaged and economies have collapsed. The adaptability of the city is unquestioned. It is the adaptability of its citizens, decision-makers and urban policy within that city that will be put to the test in the pursuit of sustainability.