Geography Unit 2 Changing Urban Environments

The inner city in many areas is being redeveloped. Young adults are moving back to the inner city as they are close to work places and places of entertainment. The areas are being smartened up and redeveloped with upmarket apartments for young professionals. In 1999 the labour government launched NEW DEAL FOR COMMUNITIES to help inner city areas that were stuggling. it identified 39 of the most run down areas in the country. Local communities were then involved in helping find the solutions for those areas. Hulme in inner city Manchester were part of this as the local community was invlolved in deciding what they wanted for the area. 

Aston in inner city Birmingham was one of the 39 areas. The scheme that was set up was called Aston Pride. This scheme covered 3 areas: Health and regeneration - £400,000 was spent setting up the Aston Pride Community health Centre (more people fell mentally ill because of the lack of jobs, and leaflets were printed in different languages). Employment and business - local young people were given help to find work through work experience and a guidance team. Lifelong learning - broadband centre was set up to give local people internet access.

Rebranding took placeof parts of Birmingham that have a bad image. People don't want to live in these areas and companies don't want to move there. Rebranding gives places a new image so that it attracts development and employment, therefore it leads to success. An example of this is Eastside in Birmingham. The area is being rebranded as a Learning and Technology Quarter. This is because colleges and universities are located there. New leisure and cultural attractions such as new parks were bullt as well as a revitilised canal side areas including new housing. This is to attract new businesses and promote employment. 

Birmingham was a major maunfacturing centre in the UK. The factories are now shut down as they could not complete the competition form abroad with cheaper goods from abroad and online shopping. This had a big effect on the CBD and the local economy. The CBD went into decline as people had less money to spend.

The Bullring is a building in the CBD of Birmingham that stands out. It was decided that this would be regenerated as it was a vital part of improving the CBD. The Bullring was redeveloped and reopened in 2003. When redesigning the building consideration went into attracting people to the centre.

Brindley Place is an area of old warehouses. £400 million has turned it into an area of apartments, offices, hotels, restaurants and cafes. There are visitor attractions close by including a sea life centre. Traditional shopping areas have been pedestrianised and buildings have been restored. The CBD has been brought back to life. The Physical environment has been improved so people want to live there and businessess want to go there. This means money is being made and continues to be invested in further improvements including regeneration of New Street Railway Station.

People want to live in the areas that have been regenrated. These are people who work in the CBD. This saves them time travelling and is more environmentally friendly. There are students there as well as these areas are the areas where there are colleges and universities.

They need to build the right sort of housing - thisis seen in Hulme in Manchester as well - young professional couples might want a flat close to amenities of the CBD. Families would prefer a quieter area with schools and gardens. Students and lower paid workers need cheaper housing.

Lozells and Birchfield are areas to the north west of Birmingham. Housing is beign redeveloped as part of the government funded URBAN LIVING SCHEME. This is to improve the quality of life in these areas. Some buildings have been demolished and replaced. Other buildings have been redeveloped. The image of the areas has been improved and people have been encouraged to live there.

People tend to live in areas where they share similar language and cultures. This leads to ethnic segregation and this is a problem that needs addressing. Councils support people. They print information in different languages and community leaders work together to discuss issues in the areas.

In the Aston area of Birmingham they have family outreach services to help people access things like health care. Health workers are based in community centres, mosques and schools so peope can easily reach them. This works with local people to create services that people need.

You should have also looked at Hulme in Manchester in class!!

Modern Mumbai is a lively, busy, Indian city. Its rapid growth has brought money and power for some people. 60% of Mumbai's population live in poverty in places like Dharavi. Dharavi is one of the worlds biggest shanty towns/squatter settlements. Over 1 million peoplelive there which is about the same amount of people who live in the entire city of Birmigham! There are millions of people all over the world that live in shanty towns.

Squatter settlements develop because of rural-urban migration. The speed of urbanisation in many poorer countries means that governments don't have the time or money to provide houses, drainage, clean water, schools etc. The settlements develop before such services can be installed. They usually develop in areas of a city that are not used by others - such as steep hillsides and swampy areas. They are found in many poor countries such as Nairobi in Kenya and Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The shelters are built from materials that can be found anywhere - wood, cardboard, metal, plastic sheeting. The squatter settlements are usually overcrowded with little or no proper sanitation. There are problems with pollution, disease and a lack of clean water.

People work in squatter settlements from an early age. Many people work for themselves in the informal sector. In this sector, people don't do a job that earns a regular wage. They make and sell goods and services often on cash in hand basis. They don't have a contract so there is no job security. There is no health and safety protection, health insurance or pension scheme. If they don't work, they earn no money, but they don't pay taxes either.

Dharavi lies between two railway lines in Mumbai. A lot of homes are made from brick, wood and steel. A lot of them have electricity. Although people live there illegally, Dharavi has well-established communities that provide self-help clinics, food halls and meeting places. There are also lots of small wokshops producing things like pots and recycling soap.

Average incomes are low. On average they earn £40, and a room can be rented for about £12 a month. Gradually families can improve their homes, but few of them can afford to move out of Dharavi as the rest of Mumbai is too expensive.

Around the world people are trying to improve the quality of life. This starts with improving their homes. This can be done involving the local authorites and/or themselves. This city authorities in Mumbai have a big plan called VISION MUMBAI. Part of this plan is to tackle the poor quality of life of many Mumbai residents. Over the years the slums have multiplied and grown out of control. There are massive problems such as pollution and water. The buildings in Dharavi might be of poor quality, but the land that they stand on is worth a fortune! Part of the plan is to demolish the buildings and sell the land to property developers. As part of the deal the developers will have to use some of the cleared land to build better homes for the residents. 1.1 million homes could be built. This should cut the number of Dharavi resdent living in slums by 90%! The watter supply, sanitation, education and healthcare would be improved too. As well as providing housing for poorer reidents, developers can also build profitable shopping malls, officeblocks and upmarket apartments for the richer residents of Mumbai. Not all are winners. Some have already been forced out of their homes. In 2009 the plan was put on hold because of the global recession. Remember self help schemes in Brazil, the work done on Cairo in Egypt and the work done on Kiberia (things you should have done in class)

Sustainability means meeting the needs of people today, while not putting the needs of future generations at risk.

One of the main ways of making cities more sustainable is by reducing the amount of waste being produced in the first place, and by reusing and recylcling as much as possible of the waste that is produced.

Brownfield sites are disused and derelict plots of land in urban areas that used to have buildings on them. Using them for new building is a way of recycling land. This avoids using greenfield sites (new land on the edge of a city), and stops the city growing in size at the expense of the surrounding countryside. 

Sustainable strategies include: Providing green spaces, recycling water to conserve supplies, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels - and rethinking transport options, keeping city wastes within the capacity of local rivers and oceans to absorb them, and making 'sinks' for the disposalof toxic chemicals, involving local communities and providing a range of employment, conserving cultural, historical and environmental sites and buildings and minimising the use of greenfield sites by using brownfield sites instead.

In order to be more sustainable, cities need to conserve their histoic environment (e.g. the buildings they already have), as well as the natural environment.

The historic environment can be conserved in many different ways: Old industrial buildings, like warehouses, can be turned into apartments, rundown old houses can be redeveloped to provide housing that will last into the future and canals in cities can be rebranded and regenerated as leisure facilities.

The natural environment can be conserved by cities: Using more electricity generated renewably (e.g. by solar and wind power), collecting and recycling water, instead of piping it in from reservoirs in the countryside and running fuel-efficient public transport systems that cause less pollution.

Open spaces, or green spaces are vital to make cities more sustainable. The can act like 'green lungs' for the city, reducing its impact on the environment and recycling carbon. Plants take in carbon dioxide and return oxygen to the atmosphere, and so help reduce pollution.

Involving local people in decisions about their communities means that they are more likely to accept the decisions that are made, as they feel they have been consulted and that their views are of value - leading to a more sustainable community. Local councils consult people about a wide range of things - from where new homes should be built, to how local health and social care services are planned and run.

An important part of the Aston Pride scheme in Birmingham was involving the local community. Residents, community groups and faith groups have been involved in the decision-making process to help regeneration in the area, and to make the Aston Pride NDC area a better place to live. 

Living sustainably is another matter. It depends on individual people doing things like recycling their waste and using resources like water and energy as little as possible. And perhaps even generating their own electricity, using solar panels or mini wind turbines.

There are a variety of ways to manage transport, and your probably aware of the types of schemes in the checklist below.

One way systems that manage traffic flow, restricted parking that prevents streets from becoming clogged, traffic calming measures and speed restrictions that aim to keep traffic moving at a steady pace and reduce accidents, red routes that restrict roadside stopping, park and ride and multi-storey car parks to divert traffic to manageable locations and free town city centres from traffic, ring roads that keep traffic out of urban centres, cycle lanes and footpaths, cheap public transport and dedicated bus lanes and clean transport using alternative fuels.

Each of the schemes in the checklist could be applied successfully on its own. But the aim is to link them together into an INTERGRATED TRANSPORT POLICY - providing a 'door to door' service that rivals the use of the car. However, truly sustainable transport systems involve: reducing the number of heavy goods vehicles, encouraging low-emission vehicles (electric cars and LPG buses) and reducing the need for long journeys. Land use planning that puts homes close to places of work, shops and services, or around major public transport hubs is needed.

The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) near Croyden in Greater London is the largest carbon-neutral eco-community in the UK. It was built on reclaimed land and focuses on social and environental sustainability, while promoting energy conservation. BedZED's homes use 81% less energy for heating, 45% less electricity, and 58% less water than an average British home. The also recycled 60% of their waste. ALL THIS BY: using building materials that store heat in warm weather and release it at cooler times, using natural recycled or reclaimed building materials, building the homes - facing south - to maximise 'passive solar gain', backing the offices onto the homes - facing north - so there's less solar gain and no need for air conditioning , using 300mm insulation jackets on all buildings, producing at least as much renewable energy as that consumed, using heat from cooking and everyday activities for space heating, using low-energy lighting and appliances throughout, using energy tracking meters in kitchens, providing a combined heat and energy power plant using urban tree waste/off-cuts, providing homes with roof gardens, rainwater harvesting and wastewater recycling, providing a green transport plan - th community layout promotes walking, cycling and public transport with bus, rail and tram links and introducing the ZEDcars car sharing club and local free electric charging points