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Globally
About half of the world’s population (47 per
cent) now lives in urban areas, compared to little more than
one-third
in 1972. The accumulation of people, their consumption patterns,
travel behaviour and their urban economic activities impact
the environment in terms of resource consumption and waste
discharges. Some 70 per cent of the world’s urban population
live in Africa, Asia or Latin America. The urban population
is expected to grow by 2 per cent per year during 2000–15,
and to reach an overall 65 per cent by 2050.
The implications
of rapid urban growth include increasing unemployment and
poverty, inadequate urban services, overburdening
of existing infrastructure, lack of access to land, finance
and adequate shelter, and environmental degradation. Managing
the urban environment sustainably will therefore become one
of the major challenges for the future.
Poverty is among the
major drivers of urban environmental degradation. The urban
poor, who are unable to compete for
scarce resources or protect themselves from harmful environmental
conditions, are most affected by the negative impacts of
urbanization. It is estimated that one-quarter of the urban
population lives below the poverty line and that female-headed
households are disproportionately affected.
Inadequate waste
collection and waste management systems are the cause of
serious urban pollution and health hazards,
especially in cities in developing countries. Cities in industrialized
countries also face the consequences of past environmentally
damaging production techniques and inadequate waste disposal.
Well planned, densely populated settlements can reduce the
need for land conversion, provide opportunities for energy
savings and make recycling more cost-effective.
Locally - Australia
Eighty five per cent of Australians live
in cities and major towns and car dependency has grown to
the point where the
use of cars in Australian cities for commuter and other private
travel is second only to their use in American cities. On
average, over 80 percent of Australians travel to work by
motor vehicle, a percentage that continues to rise (McLennan
1996). Almost half of the vehicle trips undertaken in Australia
are less than 5 kilometers, reflecting not only our psychological
reliance on vehicles, but also poor urban design that discourages
walking and cycling.
Another area of concern is the growth
in urban freight transport. The largest increase in predicted
kilometers traveled in
our cities is by light commercial vehicles (BTCE 1995).
The
environmental and health consequences of Australia’s
automobile dependency, including urban air pollution and
noise and urban congestion have been estimated to cost the
country up $3 billion per year. Traffic accidents add an
additional $15 billion. (Philip Laird pers com).The reaction
of governments in Australia to these issues has been to build
more freeways, yet evidence of numerous overseas studies
has shown that road building does not relieve traffic congestion
and air pollution (Litman 1999). Instead, it encourages car
dependency and induces traffic growth - in Australia
up to 180,000 additional vehicles on our roads each year
(ABS 1996).
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