Sustainability in the Built Environment

Introduction

The 21^st century presents, perhaps the most overwhelming challenges to the survival of humanity and continuity of life on planet earth. In addition to problems such as terrorism and economic uncertainties, environmental challenges including pollution and unsustainable resource use have emerged as the most serious global threats to life. It is therefore the reason that there is more emphasis on responsible use of resources with minimum impact to the environment to ensure survival of the human race.

Consciousness for the environment takes into account the carrying capacity of the planet’s natural systems together with the social challenges that face humanity as a whole. Given that the economic system is central to exploitation of resources, environmentalists have sought to achieve economic equilibrium with the critical support of ecological systems. Ultimately, achieving a steady state of the economy capable of addressing pressing environmental issues is the long-term goal of the environmental conservation initiatives.

Sustainable development has come to represent the collective initiatives and efforts by individuals, governments and non-governmental organizations aimed at encouraging responsible political, social and economic activities to preserve the planet for future generations. It is important to note that the ecological system also involves all other forms of life apart from human beings. In the backdrop of the above, urbanization has emerged as one of fronts promoting unsustainable use of the environment (Mawhinney, 2002). Urban challenges such as poor housing, pollution and overpopulation have been the leading causes of direct results of policies that encourage unsustainable development. This discussion will focus on sustainable development and other related elements. In relation to urban environment and its pursuit of sustainable environmental policies, the discussion will put special emphasis on the planning of the built environment.

Sustainable Development

The World Commission on Environment and Development’s also known as the Brundtland Commission coined the term “Sustainable Development” to denote “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising ability of future generations to meet their needs” (Baker, 2006). The above is the prototype definition whose universal use provides common ground for environmentalists. However, it is important to acknowledge that the concept of sustainable development is diverse and encompasses many other factors and elements under it. More important is the fact that sustainable development involves integration of all human actions from the highest to the lowest level. In essence, the large corporate entity or government departments undertaking mega projects to the peasant farmer that owns a half an acre of land have responsibility to play their part in promoting sustainable development.

Sustainable development therefore aims at improving quality of life of the current as well as future generations while ensuring the earth maintains its capability to support life (Calvin & Schmandt, 2000). Additionally, sustainable development aims at enforcing democracy and rule of law including respect for basic human rights. Furthermore, sustainable development aims at promoting high and stable levels of employment emanating from a strong education, innovation, social, health and environmental base. The above three factors represent the environmental, social and economic fronts of sustainable development respectively. There is consensus among proponents of sustainable development that the three dimensions form the most basic pillars of sustainable development. Also, they agree that there exist many approaches on the linkages among the dimensions (Rao, 2000).

In that regard, policy makers designate the environmental pillar as the basis for sustainable development while the economy is the tool through which to achieve sustainable development. The social dimension on the other hand is primary target of sustainable development. For a better understanding of the meaning of sustainable development, it is prudent to tackle every one of the above separately, albeit briefly.

The environment

The natural environment is increasingly under pressure from human activity, presenting an enormous challenge to policy makers on the best way to meet the current human demands while minimizing the impact of human activities. To acknowledge importance of the environment as the basis for sustainable development implementation of numerous steps needs to take place to ensure security of the living and physical environment that includes natural resources as well as processes and balances (Gechey, 2005). Some of the steps already being taken to secure the environment and promote sustainable development include, controlling of global warming, discharging of harmful chemical wastes and halting loss of biodiversity.

The economy

The economy’s crucial role towards sustainable development is through equitable distribution of resources and wealth to ensure economic prosperity for all people living on the planet. Successful application of economic policies that support sustainable development will easily ensure eradication of poverty as well as positive economic growth that will improve people’s standard of living while protecting the environment and the scarce resources. It is important to note that only economic development that bears the least adverse impact on the environment qualifies as sustainable development. Hill et al. (2006) agrees with the above assertion by saying that eco-efficiency is only possible through careful and planned application of the economic tool supported by elements such as legislation and public awareness campaigns. More importantly, the economy can achieve sustainable development through supporting “green” investment ventures and increasing research into the activities that promote sustainable economic activities.

Social

The social component of sustainable development stresses on the need to use the resources available responsibly while minimizing degradation of our surrounding to ensure future generations benefit as well (Baker, 2006). The spirit behind the social component is selflessness that ensures positive growth of the entire society. Achievement of sustainable development through the social component takes place through civil society work that primarily aims at solving various types of issues as well as participating in the decision-making processes.

In a nutshell therefore, sustainable development calls for the view on the entire world as a system that connects space and time. In terms of space, sustainable development stresses for instance on formulation of policies that curb all types of pollution since pollution at any part of the world affects air quality everywhere. In terms of time, sustainable development stresses importance of making sound decisions that will ensure preservation of the environment for current and future generations.

As said earlier said, urban areas are increasingly becoming the face of unsustainable development. Policy makers in the built environment like urban centers have drawn criticism for either complacency or utter ignorance in enforcing sustainable development policies. Sustainable urban development has therefore come denote the initiatives aimed at helping urban centers and other built environment overcome challenges that hinder realization of sustainable development.

Sustainable Urban Development

According to Curwell & Vreeker (2009) towns and cities have become the focal points of sustainable human development by virtue of them being the primary points for consumer activities and distribution of goods and services. Curwell & Vreeker (2009) further add that cities have become more or less of consumers than producers of good sad n services that they so critically need. As a result, they have become largely dependent on the surrounding areas for their survival. Expectedly, this situation permeates almost every aspect of cities around the world especially those in developing countries bringing forth challenges such as pollution, overpopulation, congestion and food deficits. The above situation has led to the need for pursuit of urban sustainable development.

According to the Urban 21 Conference in Berlin 2000, urban sustainable development encompasses

” improvement of quality of life in a city, including ecological, cultural, political, institutional, social and economic components without leaving a burden on the future generations. This burden is the result of a reduced natural capital and an excessive local debt. There is necessity for application of the flow principle that stresses on equilibrium of material and energy and also financial input/output, to play a crucial role in all future decisions upon development of urban areas.”

The above definition is more or less similar to the general sustainable development principle within a narrower application context-city. Sustainable urban development in other words is the pursuit of sustainable development principles with emphasis on urban areas. According to Wheeler & Beatley (2004), urban places and built environments represent areas of concentration whose demand for resources is high hence failure to adapt a planned approach will most likely lead to unsustainable development.

Sustainable Development of Built Environment

Despite the consensus on what sustainable development entails, many scholars still hold divergent views on a standard definition of sustainable development in, built areas. However, consensus on the fact that sustainable built environment are places where people would like to live and work, now and in the future while accessing diverse needs, caring for the environment and contributing to a high quality of life seems possible. Sustainable built environments offer safety to the people through well planned, built and run neighborhoods as well as equal access to opportunity and basic services.

Sustainable development of built environment takes into account the environment, social and economic sustainability objectives that are critical to successful core planning and achievement of the concept’s policy targets (Curwell et al., 2005). To ensure successful sustainable development in the built environment, it is important to implement a sustainability development framework that is practical and that helps in achieving the sustainability objectives within the built environment.

It is important to harmonize legislation and to take measures so that planning policies do not clash with sustainability frameworks developed by private developers. According to Keiner (2004), sustainable development policies must provide for ample time for decision-making by planners and developers when formulating set targets. The frameworks must aim at streamlining the development processes to ensure achievement of a positive and a proactive approach in creating sustainable built environments. Additionally, it is imperative to ensure flexibility of the built environment so as easy assessment on the projects can take place while maintaining integrity of the projects.

Environmental Challenges facing Fast Developing Urban cities

According to UN estimates, population of the world will reach seven billion people by the year 2011. Furthermore, the global body projects that almost two-thirds of the world population will be living in urban centers by the year 2025. This growth will mainly take place in the developing world where cities will be growing at a rate of 3.5% while that of developed nations will increase by less than 1% (Baker, 2006). According to Marcotulio & McGranahan (2007), cities have historically been the engines of growth in many countries in the world. By virtue of them being centers of commerce and industry, cities accord their residents the easiest way to wealth and better living conditions. However, they have also become the sources of environmental ills that have threatened their very existence. These problems form the bulk of the challenges facing cities and other urban environments. They include lack of access to clean water, air and noise pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the above, more than one billion people in developing cities face environmental hazards including exposure to untreated effluents released to waterways putting both human and aquatic life at risk. It is important to note that all of these challenges come as a result of poverty and affluence. The following is a brief explanation of the challenges identified above.

1. Water Supply and Sanitation

Many developing cities face difficulty in supplying clean water and sanitation services. Many of these cities supply 60-70 percent of the needed amount of water. However, a good amount of the water never reaches the consumer owing to a faulty distribution network (Marsalek, 2008). Additionally, these cities rely on overwhelmed sewer networks that leave many parts especially informal settlements uncovered.

2. Housing

The urbanization process of the developing cities has contributed to the compounding of the hosing situation in these environments. Fast developing cities are experiencing housing shortage mainly because of the fast population growth leading to demand outstripping the supply of housing units. Lack of sufficient residential units has led to overcrowding and congestion giving rise to informal settlements.

3. Waste Management and Environment

In fast developing cities, the rate waste generation normally exceeds the rate of collection. Though many cities’ bylaws prohibit disposal of waste along rivers, open spaces and drainage systems, lack of alternative waste disposal systems compel residents to violate such laws leading to pollution of the natural environment. Others resort to open air burning potentially causing air pollution. Besides, these cities are experiencing rapid industrialization marked with establishment of gas emitting factories that greatly contribute to air pollution.

In addition to the above challenges, Jones et al. (2002), asserts that some developing cities also experience some of the challenges experienced by wealthy cities. High per capita resource consumption garbage generation is one of the main challenges Jones et al. (2002), singles out as facing both wealthy and developing cities. For instance a New York resident consumes resources and produces garbage eight times more than a Mumbai resident. The overwhelming demand and consumption of energy in both developing and wealthy cities is a major contributing factor to greenhouse emissions.

Marsalek (2008) on his part adopts a different approach in examining the challenges facing both developing and wealthy cities. According to him, the most significant challenge right now to developing cities concerning the environment is the quest to improve the environmental conditions for the urban poor. Furthermore, he cites the need for reconciliation of competing demands of economic growth and environmental protection as another challenge facing developing both developing and wealthy cities.

The Impact of urban area to the environment

Given that currently nearly half of the world population lives in cities and other urban areas, effects on the environment-both positive and negative are inevitable. Immigration of people to towns has influenced consumption patterns, travel behaviors and urban economic activities with a resultant considerable impact on the environment especially in terms of consumption of resources and discharge and management of waste. Jones et al. (2002), concurs with the above observation by asserting that urbanization has brought forth impacts on the environment including pollution and contamination of water, air and soil. Additionally, Jones et al. (2002), blames urbanization for the rise in noise pollution as well as ineffective waste management. However, he further alludes that the above mentioned impacts of urbanization are traditional and that new impacts related to ecology and biodiversity have taken center stage. In that regard, Curwell & Vreeker (2009) asserts that the urban area has impacted in various ways development of green areas and ecological diversity especially in the face of increased demand for land for construction.

An objective global assessment of the situation concerning urban growth paints a grim picture especially on the environmental and sustainable development sapects aspect. According to GUO 2001 and Panos 2001 as quoted in Curwell & Vreeker (2009), less than 35% of cities in the developing world have access to treated water. The statistics also assert that between one-third and one half of solid wastes generated in most developing countries’ cities get collected. Additionally, the statistics state that only about 49% of cities in the world have in place an urban environmental plan. It is possible that the world’s cities especially those of developing countries suffer from acute neglect resulting to development of deteriorating environmental and living conditions. The above statistic stating that only slightly less than half the cities have an urban environmental plan underscores importance of establishing a comprehensive environmental urban strategy that can address the challenges faced by these cities while promoting sustainable development.

Importance of establishing a coherent environmental urban strategy

The World Bank concedes that it is necessary to focus on environmental issues of developing cities. Especially singled out is the issue of climate change and its impact on such cities. According to the bank, it is prudent to develop strategies that give emphasis on retooling approaches to management of the urban environment. A coherent environmental urban strategy will help in better management of cities in their quest to promote sustainable development in the built environment. Hoffman (2000) highlights five areas that will benefit from a comprehensive urban environment strategy. Integration of the five areas into a city’s environmental strategy will certainly ensure better management of its urban environment for the benefit of its population. The following paragraphs elaborate more on importance of the said urban strategy.

A comprehensive strategy will ensure provision of better urban household and work-place environments through availability of better quality housing, affordable environmental friendly fuel and adequate water, sanitation and waste disposal facilities (Hoffman, 2000)). Additionally, the strategy will come in handy provision of occupational health services, safety from biological pathogens and chemical pollutants as well as protection from physical hazards and noise pollution.

An effective city strategy will be necessary in a city’s efforts to contain city system environmental challenges such as air and water pollution, traffic accidents and management of solid waste.

The strategy will also prove its importance in maintaining city ecosystems by providing guidelines on the best way possible to carry out sustainable use of freshwater resources, watershed management, expansion of the city and effective management of solid, liquid and air wastes.

A comprehensive strategy will be necessary for a city’s disaster management preparedness. This is especially essential in face of extreme events like cyclones, storms, earthquakes and floods.

Finally, a comprehensive strategy is important in helping cities to face global challenges especially managing resource availability, maintenance of ecosystem functioning especially against greenhouse gas emissions.

Development and implementation of an effective environmental strategy is crucial to a city’s effective management of resources and the environment for sustainable development. Critical to successful planning and implementation are environmental indicators that help in painting the clear picture of the environmental situation.

Need for environmental indicators in cities

Environmental indicators are parameters used to describe the state of the environment and its effects on life on planet earth including. An environmental indicator is also defined as a numerical value derived from statistics and/or quantitative measurements developed over time, that helps human beings determine the state of the ecosystem (Rugman & Verbeke, 2005). Environmental indicators have become essential tools involved in monitoring environmental progress as well as informing formulation of policies for public information. Some of the environmental indicators include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), BREEAM, Cost benefit analysis (CBA), Environmental impact analysis (EIA), Ecological foot print and Environmental sustainability index (ESI) (Jones et al., 2002).

Environmentalists use LEED in rating systems for design, construction and operation of green buildings, both commercial and residential. U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developed LEED intending to extend help to owners of buildings a concise framework for the implementation realistic and measurable green building designs and solutions. BREEAM on the other hand helps in setting the standards in best practice sustainable building designs, construction and operations in order to enhance the building’s environmental performance. Environmentalists use the ecological footprint to measure the human demand Earth’s ecosystems (Jones et al., 2002). The measure operates within standardized parameters that help in determining the planet’s ecological capacity to regenerate. The ecological footprint investigates the area on land and sea that is ecologically active and that can sufficiently produce necessary resources for the human population while mitigating waste. The Environmental Impact Assessment helps in determining the possible negative or negative natural, social and economic impacts that a project is likely to have on the environment.

The above indicators are some of the most commonly used in gauging the status of the environment to regardless of the context to inform decision-making. It is important to note that the indicators above are applicable on all levels of environmental building and management. According to Curwell et al. (2005), environmental indicators especially the ones discussed above are crucial to a city’s effective management of resources and in development of a comprehensive urban environmental strategy. Generally, technical experts, science advisors, policy makers, decision makers, resource managers and the public are the main consumers of the environmental indicators information (Curwell et al., 2005). City leaders fall in the category of policy makers and decision makers as well as resource managers.

Environmental indicators will help cities in their quest towards effective and sustainable use of resources to promote sustainable development. Besides, cities need indicators like BREEAN, CBA and LEED to ensure safety and sustainability of the structures erected in the city for safety and better ecosystem management.

Building clear indicators for the city’s built environment

As emphasized above, building a clear indicator is necessary for enhancement of sustainable cities. Though indicators like BREEAM, LEED and CBA can generally suit any environmental setting, it is important specificity takes precedence when building indicators for a particular environment, especially cities. Building an indicator involves collection of data. It is important to divide the city into territorial units for easier data collection and management. The data collected will be on environmental issues such as air, energy, green areas, noise and waste and water management. Analysis of these data will clearly point out to a regular trend concerning a city’s environmental status. It is important that the characteristics of indicators formed be based on a common conceptual model. The indicator must exhibit measurable qualities, cover information over a long period of time and be able to play its role as a public awareness raising tool. Contrary to assumptions, building environmental indicators takes place over a long period of time during which compressive collection and analysis of data takes place.

Measurement of the indicators must take place on an annual basis and they must form the basis for formation of new indicators. These indicators will cover the main environmental issue of the city besides informing formulation of environmental policies in their respective cities.

Role of indicators in decision-making

According to Hill et al. (2006), decision and policy making on the environmental level involves the sum total of all synthetic and approximate quantification of the properties of the environment for instance its vulnerability, ability to regenerate and the status of conservation. According to Baker (2006), there has never been a generally accepted position on the environment’s fragility or vulnerability to the stress factors, be it exogenous or endogenous. However, thorough knowledge on the above factors is necessary for informed decision-making. Baker (2006), casts doubt on ability of entities in developing countries of making informed environmental decisions given such a process of coming up with a credible indicator needed heavy investments in research, modeling and data collection that can only be possible in industrialized countries. He adds that the decision-making process is utterly dependent on a series of commonly used data, statistics and environmental indicators that help in determining the status of the economy. Indicators are intrinsic to decision-making and provide the base for decision-making. They are the high, pieces of information on which leaders base their decisions. In addition to providing strong bases for decision-making, they are crucial in contributing towards self-regulating sustainability of environmental systems. Framing policy and setting priorities to assess results critically depends on reliable environmental information. It is important to note that the above mentioned decision-making critically depends on the indicators of sustainable development. Through these indicators, policy makers have a thorough view on all human activities, processes and patterns that have an effect on sustainable development. Decision makers are able to make decisions about the state of sustainable development and/or any specific aspect of it. Furthermore, indicators help decision makers in formulating policy options and other responses to any changes that the state of sustainable development may take in a given jurisdiction. Sustainable development indicators therefore help decision makers to gauge the status of their areas of jurisdiction; in order to make necessary modifications as need arises.

Conclusion

Achieving sustainability in the built environment is the primary focus in planning and development of urban environment. Despite the impetus given to the increasing pollution and dwindling resources in urban centers and built environment, it still is necessary to increase the initiatives that will enhance the already established mechanisms that promote sustainable development. For instance countries responsible for majority of the world’s greenhouse emissions including the US and China must take the lead in signing the Kyoto Protocol that call for reduction of the emissions pumped to space. Such protocols are on an international scale nevertheless good starting points.

Increasingly, sustainable development is acquiring a new twist and proponents of sustainable development prefer to use “sustainable human development” instead of the latter. This serves to highlight the important human element in sustainable development. To achieve the objectives of sustainable development, it is prudent that planners and policy make more use of environmental indicators in decision-making since they are better placed to give accurate information on the status of the environment. Uniform achievement of all sustainable development objectives will no doubt take some time. However, it is the only effective solution that can easily help in alleviating environmental issues affecting cities and built environment.

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