For a long time, Earth with all her pristine resources remained by and large free for humans and other species. But since the advent of the Industrial Revolution coupled with an unprecedent growth in human population and the accompanying urbanization, now Earth with her resources face a probable ecocide of a larger scale.
Urban Sprawl is the bane for our times. What is an Urban Sprawl? Urban Sprawl is defined as the exploitation of agricultural land and forests to build residential areas for human consumption. The space revolution with its satellites orbiting our Earth brought home the perilous truth of population explosion and its concomitant urban sprawl that threatens global well-being. What first began to happen in developed countries slowly began to be copied by the less developed/developing countries.
After World War II, urban residents sought more free space cum greenery and moved out into sub-urban regions. One described it then as sub-urban expansion of cities. But, before long, real estate developers began their land-hunt in the rural areas in their bid to citify them. No sooner, along came industrial development, automobiles, shopping malls and other building structures gobbling up farm lands and forests. Development has been intense in some countries leaving more than 70% of the agricultural land into complex urban structures, points out Environmental Issues Network (EIN).
Urban sprawl has many characteristics that have cast an ominous spell of permanence. Once agricultural lands or forest territories are taken over for urban development, all the other concomitant 'killer grab' of land ensures that the expansion is cancerous: habitats are fragmented, water percolation is impacted, aquifers disappear, forests vanish, species endangerment. Its long time impact on the environment is never accounted for in the neo-liberal model of growth economics. When complex urban structures are developed by cutting down trees, we naturally have more polluted air. "The intensity of pollution further increases from smoke emitted by automobiles, industries and room heaters. Hazardous gases emitted by these complex machines worsen the air pollution," points out EIN.
One of the major crisis is energy depletion. With the urban model of economic growth, the consumption of energy is faster than any replenishable probability as long as the base is fossil fuels. Nuclear energy with its scary waste disposal issue is not necessarily an ample solution for now. Besides, the urban lifestyle per se is energy-consumptive. With agrilcultural lands getting urbanized, food crisis is real problem in a number of developing countries. Urban sprawl has led to a 'car-dependent' community. Air pollution, health illnesses, traffic gridlock and parking space crisis are 'downlights' of the car-dependent community.
Job-sprawl is a twin issue born with the increasing urban sprawl. Now workers tend to travel longer distances for their job locations leading to extensive commuting. Often people tend to use automobiles more often opt for public transport. Further, expanding citification also has led to an ever increasing cost of living for even necessary food materials have to be delivered over longer distances. Prices in the sub-urban cities always exhibit a tendency to spike in a never-ending spiral on account of transportation costs.
EIN depicts a gloomy scenario given the rate of urban sprawl around the globe: "Urban Sprawl definitely is taking its toll on nature, destroying wildlife and agricultural land. It is believed that several thousands of plant and animal species will come to an end by the end of 21st century if urban sprawl is continued at this rate. . In many developing countries, energy crises are a major problem in the developed suburbs. Needless to say, this trend will severely damage our ecosystem, our natural resources for food and water around with many other things."
Urban Sprawl is the bane for our times. What is an Urban Sprawl? Urban Sprawl is defined as the exploitation of agricultural land and forests to build residential areas for human consumption. The space revolution with its satellites orbiting our Earth brought home the perilous truth of population explosion and its concomitant urban sprawl that threatens global well-being. What first began to happen in developed countries slowly began to be copied by the less developed/developing countries.
After World War II, urban residents sought more free space cum greenery and moved out into sub-urban regions. One described it then as sub-urban expansion of cities. But, before long, real estate developers began their land-hunt in the rural areas in their bid to citify them. No sooner, along came industrial development, automobiles, shopping malls and other building structures gobbling up farm lands and forests. Development has been intense in some countries leaving more than 70% of the agricultural land into complex urban structures, points out Environmental Issues Network (EIN).
Urban sprawl has many characteristics that have cast an ominous spell of permanence. Once agricultural lands or forest territories are taken over for urban development, all the other concomitant 'killer grab' of land ensures that the expansion is cancerous: habitats are fragmented, water percolation is impacted, aquifers disappear, forests vanish, species endangerment. Its long time impact on the environment is never accounted for in the neo-liberal model of growth economics. When complex urban structures are developed by cutting down trees, we naturally have more polluted air. "The intensity of pollution further increases from smoke emitted by automobiles, industries and room heaters. Hazardous gases emitted by these complex machines worsen the air pollution," points out EIN.
One of the major crisis is energy depletion. With the urban model of economic growth, the consumption of energy is faster than any replenishable probability as long as the base is fossil fuels. Nuclear energy with its scary waste disposal issue is not necessarily an ample solution for now. Besides, the urban lifestyle per se is energy-consumptive. With agrilcultural lands getting urbanized, food crisis is real problem in a number of developing countries. Urban sprawl has led to a 'car-dependent' community. Air pollution, health illnesses, traffic gridlock and parking space crisis are 'downlights' of the car-dependent community.
Job-sprawl is a twin issue born with the increasing urban sprawl. Now workers tend to travel longer distances for their job locations leading to extensive commuting. Often people tend to use automobiles more often opt for public transport. Further, expanding citification also has led to an ever increasing cost of living for even necessary food materials have to be delivered over longer distances. Prices in the sub-urban cities always exhibit a tendency to spike in a never-ending spiral on account of transportation costs.
EIN depicts a gloomy scenario given the rate of urban sprawl around the globe: "Urban Sprawl definitely is taking its toll on nature, destroying wildlife and agricultural land. It is believed that several thousands of plant and animal species will come to an end by the end of 21st century if urban sprawl is continued at this rate. . In many developing countries, energy crises are a major problem in the developed suburbs. Needless to say, this trend will severely damage our ecosystem, our natural resources for food and water around with many other things."
We have been hearing the initiatives of governments around the world to curb the urban sprawl, but given the flawed neo-liberal economic model which posits a technological substitution for probable crises without a realistic assessment of its devastating impact on the eco-systems, it is far important to realize that we need to uproot our 'static material growth' models which are not in tune with eco-sytemic recyclable services of the Nature.
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