Urban Ecologies: The Need For Sustainable Design

URBAN ECOLOGIES
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Urban Ecologies
Sustainable urban development is a concept that has drawn a lot of interest from national and international bodies regarding the growth of cities. Many see the need of creating urban environments that will cater for the needs of the population in the future. Having proper management of resources, provision of services and developing a sustainable urban ecosystem is imperative in making cities sustain quality lives for long. Identifying the needs for sustainable development is important in laying out strategies for creating sustainable cities, with a look at the Geelong Regional Planning Authority’s projects for application of sustainability principles.
The Need for Sustainable Design
The faulty design systems that urban developers adopt are facing bigger problems daily. The inability of these design strategies to support human activities and sustain quality living makes the unsustainable, as they cannot keep up with solving the problems that dot them. Most urban centers are facing a massive stretch on resources as they grapple with the high population in the world, 50% of which lives in the urban centers (Wu 2014). Cities are the greatest consumers of resources, accounting for 60% of water use in residential places, 80% of greenhouse emissions, use up to 75% of energy and 80% of wood in industrial processes (Picket, Cadenasso, & McGrath 2013, pp. 233). The environmental problem has been a matter of contentions for many cities especially with poor garbage collection systems, traffic congestions causing heavy fumes and smog. Inadequate use of ecological laws and lack of understanding of the working of nature makes it difficult to implement ecological sustainability. Without proper planning by cities now, there shall be bigger problems to face in the future.
Sustainable urban design should result in a compact form that brings intrinsic economic, environmental and social benefits of lower energy consumption, driving less, living smaller, fostering economic independence and strengthening social connections. Problematic urban conditions arise from situations such as disconnected apartments, parking lots surrounding malls, low density houses, poor road access to city centers and narrow allies (Pacione 2014). However, urban design and development is still dynamic and requires considering several environmental, aesthetical, mental, political and socio-economical ecologies. It requires deep understanding of limiting carbon emission using clean transport, local food production, green infrastructure, supporting socio-economic diversity through mixed land use and housing types, lowering the magnitude of impervious services, compact development, mitigating urban heat island, management of storm water, and having a passive solar design among others (Wu 2014).
Mahdavinejad and Amini (2011) posits that s...