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Unlock This CourseCities in LICs and HICs face the problems you have already met, such as overcrowding, unplanned settlement and traffic. Governments and communities respond with action plans (strategies) and with practical methods (techniques). This lesson evaluates those responses: what each one does, how well it works and who gains.
Key terms:
Families do the building, so it is cheap and fast, and people feel they own their future. The weakness is that the poorest cannot afford the plot or materials, and the plots may be far from jobs. Who benefits: low-income families who can pay a little.
Residents stay where their jobs and friends are, and the cost is lower than rebuilding. In Rio de Janeiro, the Favela-Bairro programme in the 1990s added roads, drains and services to favelas. The weakness is that upgraded areas can become pricier, so poorer people may be pushed out. Who benefits: existing residents.
It gives safe, affordable homes to people on low incomes. In Singapore, the Housing and Development Board built flats on a huge scale, and about 80% of residents now live in them, most on long leases at lower prices. In many cities the weakness is the high cost to the government, and waiting lists when there are not enough homes. Who benefits: low-income families.
They take pressure off the big city and are planned with homes, jobs and services together. Milton Keynes in the UK was set up as a new town in 1967 to take people from London. Weaknesses: they are expensive, can take years to build, and some people do not want to move away from family and work. Who benefits: people who move, and those left in the old city, which becomes less crowded.
You met green belts and brownfield sites in Urban Sprawl and the Rural-Urban Fringe. Here we evaluate them.
Curitiba in Brazil began its bus rapid transit system in 1974, with bus-only lanes and raised tube-shaped stops. It cuts car use, congestion and pollution at a lower cost than a metro. Metros carry more people but are costly and slow to build. Who benefits: commuters, especially poorer people who cannot afford cars.
Recycling schemes cut landfill, create jobs and clean streets. They need people to sort rubbish and a market for the recycled materials. Who benefits: the whole city, and waste pickers who gain paid work.
Clean taps and toilets cut disease and save people hours of fetching water. In Karachi, the Orangi Pilot Project helped residents build their own sewers. Pipes and treatment plants are costly, and they must be maintained. Who benefits: the poorest households most.
A smart city uses technology such as sensors, data and apps to run services better. For example, traffic lights can respond to traffic, and bins can signal when they are full. An eco city is designed to have a small environmental footprint, with renewable energy, green space and low waste. Masdar City in Abu Dhabi was planned in this way. The strengths are lower pollution and lower running costs in the long term. The weaknesses are high building costs and the risk that only richer people can afford to live there. Who benefits: richer residents first, and the city's environment in future.
A sustainable city balances three things, and weakness in any one makes it less sustainable.
Do not just list the schemes. Examiners want a judgement: say who benefits, who is left out and how long it lasts. Do not say a scheme solves everything. Most schemes help some groups and not others, and many only work with enough money and strong planning.
Fig. 1.1 describes a made-up city, Zalmar, in an LIC. Its population has doubled in 20 years. About one in three people live in unplanned settlements with no piped water. Traffic is slow and the air is polluted. The government is considering three options: upgrading the settlements, building a new town 60 km away, and building a bus rapid transit system.
(a) Define the term slum upgrading. [2 marks]
(b) Give two reasons why a new town may reduce pressure on Zalmar. [2 marks]
(c) Explain one weakness of a bus rapid transit system. [2 marks]
(d) Evaluate the options for managing the growth of Zalmar. [6 marks]
(a) Improving an existing informal settlement (1) by adding services such as water, toilets and paved roads, rather than knocking it down (1).
(b) It would provide new homes and jobs away from the city (1), so fewer migrants would crowd into Zalmar and congestion would fall (1).
(c) It still needs money to build the bus lanes and stops (1), and it only helps if the routes reach where people live and work (1).
(d) Level 3 (5-6 marks): Slum upgrading is the best short-term choice because it improves water, health and safety quickly for the one in three people who live in poor settlements, and it keeps them close to their jobs. It is cheaper than rebuilding. However, richer groups gain little, and upgraded areas may become more expensive for the poorest. A new town 60 km away would reduce pressure on the city in the long run and could be planned with services and jobs. It would cost a great deal, take many years, and many people would not want to leave their jobs and families, so the poorest would probably not benefit first. Bus rapid transit would help everyone by cutting traffic and pollution at a lower cost than a metro, but it does nothing for housing or water. The best approach is to combine upgrading with a BRT, as these deal with the biggest problems at an affordable cost, and then to add planned housing later.
In an evaluate answer, finish with a clear decision and a reason, such as "upgrading is best because it helps the most people quickly for the least money".