Towards Low Carbon Cities: Implications for Urban

Development

David Dewar

1. Urban development accounts for 75% of carbon emissions.

2. Carbon and climate changes cannot be seen in isolation from other developmental issues.

3. Cannot be seen in isolation from other international issues.

4. Urban decision-makers must take a resilient position.

STARTING POINTS

1. Economic globalization and increasing structural unemployment.

2. Food security.

3. Water scarcity.

4. Improved liveable and enabling environments in the face of the increasing poverty.

5. Global warming and climate change.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES AND DEBATES

Threatens food supply and extends range;

Generates massive amounts of movement;

Fails to deliver benefits of ‘city’;

Cannot develop public transport;

Poor trapped in space;

Destroys sense of place.

1. Managing urban growth in a manner that combats sprawl.

Figure 1

Define edges intensify

2. Compacting city form

Increase densities : changes space economy

3. Decentralizing urban opportunities

4. Promote integrated system of NMT and public transportation

Promotes urban corridors

6. Green the city in developmentally and ecologically sensible ways.

7. Promote industrial ecology

8. Generate energy from bio-degradable waste

9. Promote green building practices

No building on fault lines or other unstable geological conditions

No building on swelling clays or other unstable soil conditions

No building on slopes steeper than 1:4

No building in 100 year flood plains

No building in areas prone to flooding

No building below the 5 metre contour in coastal zones

No building on good agricultural soils.

10. Make conservative land management decisions.