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URP 110-Lecture 1

The document discusses the concept of environment, emphasizing its physical, biological, and cultural elements that influence living organisms. It also explores urbanization as a socio-economic process that transforms the built environment, highlighting its triggers, opportunities, and challenges. The text concludes with strategies for managing urban growth and addressing related issues such as climate change and service provision.

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18 views19 pages

URP 110-Lecture 1

The document discusses the concept of environment, emphasizing its physical, biological, and cultural elements that influence living organisms. It also explores urbanization as a socio-economic process that transforms the built environment, highlighting its triggers, opportunities, and challenges. The text concludes with strategies for managing urban growth and addressing related issues such as climate change and service provision.

Uploaded by

HAMO
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INTRODUCTION TO PLANNING

AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

LECTURE 1
ENVIRONMENT

The term envronment is used to


describe, in the aggregate, all the
Environment refers to the sum
external forces, influences and
total of all conditions which
conditions, which affect the life,
surroun man at a given point in
nature behaviour and the growth,
space and time (C.C Park).
development and maturity of living
organisms (Douglas and Holland).

The entire range of external


influence acting on an organism, Total environmental system
including not only the biosphere, but
both the physical an biological an also his interactions with his natural
other organisms ie forces of nature and man made sorrounding (US
sorrouning an indiviual Council on Environmental Quality).
(Encyclopedia Britannica).
• Environment is argued as an inseparable whole and is constituted by the
interacting systems of physical, biological and cultural elements, which are
interlinked individually as well as collectively in myriad ways.
• Physical elements (space, landforms, waterbodies, climate, soils, rocks and
minerals) determine variable character of the human habitat, its opportunities as
well as limitations.
• Biological elements (plants, animals, micro-organisms and man) constitute the
biosphere.
• Cultural elements (economic, social, political) are essentially man- made features
which go into the making of cultural milieu (Savindra Singh and A. Dubey, 1983).
• From the aforesaid; the environment is
• The circumstances and conditions (physical conditions) that surround an
organism or group of organisms, or
• The social and cultural conditions that affect an individual or community.
• Since human inhabit the natural world as well as the ‘built’ or technological,
social, and cultural world, all constitute part of our environment’ (W.P.Cunnigham
and M.A. Cunnigham, 2004).
Environmental knowledge is a multidisciplinary
knowledge whose fundamental aspects have a
direct significance to every segment of the
planet. Its main characteristics include:
• Conservation and natural resources.
• Maintenance and management of biological diversity.
• Controlling and managing environmental pollution to
permissible limit
• Stabilisation of human population and environment.
• Development of alternate sources of renewable
energy systems
• Providing new dimension to nation’s security
through conservation, protection, management and
maintenance of environment
BUILT ENVIRONMENT

• Currently built
environments are typically
used to describe the
interdisciplinary field that
addresses the design,
construction,
management and use of
these man-made
surroundings as an
interrelated whole as well
as their relationship to
human activities over time.
“Built environment”
refers to places (be
they neighborhoods,
towns, or cities) made
up of individual
buildings, streets,
infrastructure, public
places and green open
spaces.
UNDERSTANDING THE
OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES OF
NAVIGATING THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT USING
THE URBANISATION
LENS
• The future of the world’s population is urban.
• With more than half of the world’s people living in urban
areas (55% by 1950).
• The global urban population is projected to grow by 2.5
billion urban dwellers between 2018 and 2050, with
nearly 90% of the increase concentrated in Asia and
Africa.
• Urbanization determines the spatial distribution of the
world’s population
• Cities are major gateways and destinations for
internal and international migrants
• Urbanization is closely related to the three dimensions of
sustainable development: economic, societal and
environmental.
WHAT IS
URBANISATION

• Urbanisation - ‘process of becoming urban’


(Johnston, 1994: 665).

• ‘The concentration of population in urban


settlements’ (UN-Habitat (1999).

• Urbanisation is the process by which an


increasing proportion of the total population
usually that of a country, lives in towns and cities
(Waugh 2000:418).

Note: It is a process rather than a one-off event.


1. Urbanization is a complex socio-economic
process that transforms the built
environment.
2. Shift the spatial distribution of a
population from rural to urban areas.
3. It includes changes in dominant
occupations, lifestyle, culture and
behaviour, and thus alters the demographic
and social structure of both urban and rural
areas.
4. Alters the demographic and social structure
of both urban and rural areas.
MAIN TRIGGERS OF
URBANISATION
• Migration to cities from rural areas or from abroad
contributes to urban growth whenever the number of in-
migrants exceeds the number of out-migrants.

• Natural increase: the difference between the number of


births and the number of deaths in a given population.

• The urban transition/reclassification: the passage from a


predominantly rural to a predominantly urban society. This
contributes to urban growth by enlarging the size of urban
areas.

• When cities grow in area, they incorporate neighbouring


settlements and their populations, which were formerly
classified as rural.
PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RESIDING IN URBAN AREAS,
1950, 2018 AND 2050
BOTSWANA: URBANIZATION FROM 2012 TO 2022
MIGRARION-PULL & PUSH FACTORS
Push factors are the Pull factors are the
reasons why people reasons why people move
to a particular area.
leave an area.
1. Higher employment
1. Lack of services
2. More wealth
2. Lack of safety
3. Better services
3. High crime 4. Good climate
4. Crop failure 5. Safer, less crime
5. Drought 6. Political stability
6. Flooding 7. More fertile land
7. Poverty 8. Lower risk from natural
hazards
8. War
OPPORTUNITIES
1. Urbanization has generally been a positive force for economic
growth, poverty reduction and human development.
2. Other schools of thought are more optimistic and see urban
growth as engine of economic growth.
3. It calls for enabling strategies to optimise advantages offered
by urbanisation and let people do their own thing.
4. This school of thought calls for more liberal approach and
accommodation to the urbanisation process with less planning
restrictions and calls for freedom to build.
CHALLENGES

Those who view urban •Crime - general lawlessness


growth as bad cite the ills
that accompany •This is the view that underlies
urbanisation. urban master planning

The idea is that urban


growth could be better
and should be controlled •It leads to regulatory planning.
or prevented. This has
implications to planning.
OTHER
CHALLENGES
1. Disruptions to everyday survival
strategies.
2. Climate change
3. Tremendous pressure service provision.
4. Inadequate access to safe water supplies
5. Inadequate access to proper sanitation
6. Inadequate land and housing provision
7. Inadequate waste disposal systems
8. Social ills
9. Unemployment
CONTROLLING
URBAN GROWTH

1. Population policy formulation and implementation.


2. Access to Reproductive Health Services and Rights
3. Integrated population activity providing social,
economic and political empowerment
4. Management of migration, urbanization and
environmental issues
5. Youth empowerment
6. Research and capacity building
7. Regional integration/integrated regional
development
8. Improving Linkages

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