Title: Is Microcredit really a way forward as a sustainable development in rural Bangladesh?
Abstract:
Development that will be permanent and will sustain for long time period is called sustainable development. Now a day there is latest trend in the developing countries, which is urbanization. Urbanization means developing the urban areas of the country and migration of the people from the rural areas. But it is not a sustainable development because there are a lot problem comes with urbanization. In Bangladesh as there is a huge number of population is poor and living below the poverty line, bringing them above the poverty line will be a sustainable development. That is why “microcredit” a loan system has been introduced in Bangladesh, which means small amount of loans for the poor people without any collateral. It has got a very well recognition worldwide that one of the microcredit organizations “ Grameen Bank” has got Nobel Peace Prize. But in the reality these organizations are bringing a lot of new problem for the society in the name of microcredit and helping poor people. In this paper these real pictures has been discussed with proper evidence.
Introduction:
The latest trend in the developing countries is urbanization. Urbanization actually means development in the urban areas of the country and migration of the people from rural areas to those developed urban areas. It is good for a country to develop but on the other hand it is not good for the rural areas, which remains undeveloped. Moreover this kind of migration also creates a lot of pollution and economic imbalance. This is harmful for sustainable development. Sustainable development means development that will sustain or remain for a long time period considering factors in mind that can be responsible for future development like environment. There can be some other factors like empowerment of the poor people, which can be a big consideration for future development. If the poorest populations get their empowerment in the rural areas then it will be nothing but a proper sustainable development for a developing country and those poor people will not try to go to the urban areas for living. One of the most popular steps is microcredit for the sustainable development in Bangladesh. People can borrow money from the bank but they need to show some property to the bank against that loan. They call it collateral in the language of business. But no bank is going to give loan to a poor man who doesn’t have anything as a collateral. May be if that person could get the loan he could have done a business for living and crossed the poverty line. For this reason microcredit has been introduced in Bangladesh. Microcredit is a very small amount of loan for the poor people that they can give back in very small installments through a long period of time. For small weekly installments it became very easy for them to repay back the money. As they didn’t show any kind of collateral, staffs from bank needed to know about their full information like where they live, about their neighbours and many more. This microcredit program was taken by some non-profit organizations (NGO) and later some governmental projects were also included. But the question is how far this was a real help for the poor people. There are many questions about the efficiency of the microcredit like microcredit is not reaching the vulnerable areas of the country, their interest rate is so high that they are making poor people even poorer or they are making gender conflict even worst. Microcredit was good when it was first introduced but now it is not a real help for the poor people of the rural areas of Bangladesh, it became like a burden for them. In my essay I want to analyze both positive and negative issues of microcredit and how efficient is its role for the sustainable development.
What is Microcredit?
Most of the population in Bangladesh lives below the poverty line. There are some rural areas in Bangladesh the people from there can’t do anything for living just because they don’t have the money to start with. No commercial bank will give them loan because they have nothing as guarantee which is called collateral. Keeping this situation in mind one process of lending money has been introduced which is called microcredit. Microcredit means small amount of loan that can be distributed to those people who live below the poverty line and who don’t have anything as collateral. With help of government and some donor agencies from various part of the world, some non-profit organization has started microcredit in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Grameen bank, BRAC and Bangladesh Rural Development Board's (BRDB) RD-12 project are the most popular organizations who are devoted to microcredit. Microcredit can be agriculture credit, rural credit, cooperative credit, consumer credit, credit from savings and loan associations.
There are a lot of methods of running microcredit in the world. In Bangladesh there is a slightly different method for microcredit program. The organization has to choose an area where they will run the microcredit program and then they will employ field manager and other field workers for that particular area. During the first few days field manager and other field worker will just visit the area and be familiar with the local community. Then they will find those people who need credit to begin a new way of living. They will make group of five people from the same neighborhood. In that group of five people only two people will be responsible for taking the loans and repay the loans with interest every week. This is being done because it is easier to track two people instead of five if there is any occurrence of non-repayment. After fifty successful weeks other group members will also be eligible to get the loan. These groups are formed with only the women to empower the female population of the rural areas. With the help of the group system organizations can borrow money without any collateral. So in this way microcredit is playing an active role for the sustainable development in Bangladesh because in a country when the poor people become independent then they can take play a proper role for the country’s economy.
Microcredit organizations got a very warm welcome and recognition among the rest of the world. Apart from many well-recognized prizes, Grameen Bank and its founder Dr. Yunus got the highest prestigious prize: The Nobel Peace Prize. Moreover many donor agencies and banks like World Bank, UNDP are helping microcredit in Bangladesh with loans and grant loans.
Though microcredit is very popular in the world, there are some very crucial problems which can raise a question for the existence of the microcredit. First of all is the profit. Every organization needs profit to survive. In the case of the non-profit organizations they earn service charge as a profit or it can be a subsidiary program for the government. But Grameen Bank is not a subsidiary program. Its 25% shareholder is government and the rest 75% ownership is for the poor people because while they take the loan they have to open a saving account in the bank. That savings account is their ownership in the bank. So to survive Grameen Bank has to charge interest rate and that interest rate is 20% per year which is far more (12%-15%) than any commercial conventional banks(www.standardchartered.com.bd). But this is not the end, because of their increased expense they need to charge up to 33%, 40% or 46%. If that happens then there will be increased rate of loan default (J.Morduch, 1999).
The target of microcredit is reaching the poorest population in the country and to help them with loan. But it has been proved that microcredit is now reaching the poor but not the most vulnerable poor. In the villages of Bangladesh there are many rural households don’t have the insurance against the risks of floods, sickness, crop damage, fluctuation of price, political problems and other natural calamities. These households can be counted as the vulnerable population. Both rich and the poor people can be counted as the vulnerable in the research. But it has been found that generally poor people are more vulnerable than the rich. The research was done by comparing 1991-1992 to 1995 that if people were poorer and more vulnerable or not. Comparing the average consumption and average vulnerability between the members and the non-members did this. It was clear those households joined microcredit in 1995 were poorer than the population who didn’t join at that time. But it was not clear for the case of vulnerable. The research was done between two villages, and the average result is vulnerable people have been avoided. Subsidized loan cannot be encouraged because there is high risk of default (S.Amin, A.S.Rai, G.Topa, 2003). Even one officer has mentioned that they are looking for members who are “not hopeless”(Todd, 1996, p.173). So it is very clear that microcredit is not reaching the vulnerable poor.
The next issue is using the woman population as the member. In Bangladesh the two most popular microcredit organization (Grameen bank and BRAC) works in the same way. They take only woman as their member and those women had to be present in the center meetings each week where they had to repay their loans. Grameen go through this procedure because they say that this procedure is appropriate to empower women in Bangladesh. But the reality is they do this because they don’t want to take male members because they can be arrogant, they can threaten the bank officers and can cause high default rate. Bank officers are instructed to do so from their superior though they don’t have any written document for it. It become easier for them to pressure and manipulates the woman if they failed to repay the loan in time. Moreover they keep the center meeting running until each and everyone repays the loan. This is done because if any one failed to bring the money then because of the meeting they would be late to go home and prepare the meal and later their husband would physically abuse them. On top of that other members would blame on that member and it causes her a bad reputation in the society. Sometimes bank officers take the defaulter women member to the branch office with them and lock her up. If it was a male member than it is not a matter for the society but now it is not a male member. If a woman member doesn’t come home for a few days and stay locked up in the bank office than it means a huge shame in the society of the rural Bangladesh. Incident happened like woman member has committed suicide by hanging herself with her cloth from the ceiling of the bank office (Rahman 1999a: 70).
Another reason to use woman is to attract the donor agencies. Donor agencies always encourage empowering woman in a male dominating country like Bangladesh. So that Grameen always show the poor woman from the rural areas and get grant loan from donor agencies, which they don’t have to pay back. It is kind of selling the “poverty” for own profit. But if Grameen really wanted to do so they should have tried to recruit woman in their bank instead of just using them to only get their profit from them. In a book on Grameen Bank, David Bornstein noticed that the founder of Grameen Bank doesn’t want to talk about this issue where as he always talks about his challenging ability. When this question was brought up Yunus replied:
‘There’s tremendous pressure for women to quit their jobs. It’s very difficult to take them on. We still try but we have not succeeded. This is one area where we have failed miserably. We didn’t do it.’ (Bornstein 1996:187–188)
He replied quickly and wanted to go for the next question. ). This is not acceptable from a noble laureate. Bornstein called this a blind spot for them. But this shouldn’t be a blind spot. The save the children fund in Bangladesh (SCF) has 43 percent of female staffs whether Grameen and BRAC has only 10 to 9 percent (Ackerly 1995:66). So there are many things that could have been done for sustainable development instead of attracting donor agencies by selling poverty and encouraging the gender conflict.
Microcredit, itself a very powerful tool to reduce poverty. But it has to be well organized. Without the financial help from the government and other donor agencies the interest rate would be so high to bear the program feasibly. Organizations those do the microcredit program have to be more honest and not selfish at all. If microcredit in Bangladesh keeps going on like now then it would be a very shameful situation for the whole nation in the near future. Many improvements are necessary. NGOs should follow some main code of conducts by the government where as now they don’t. Organizational structure is not appropriate because there is no accountability. Government should take responsibility about the expenses of million of dollars that organizations like Grameen get from donor agencies. To what extent the poor members are benefitted from those grant loans. Moreover government should be responsible about the hierarchy of the organization, retirement policy, salary scale, other facilities and everything of the employees and the board of those organizations. These organizations should be accountable more than any other organizations because they are literally running on poor people’s money. Ethics should be the most important issue there. For the microcredit there also many things can be changed. First thing should be the interest rate. Interest rate should be lower. Organizations should also help the members with their way of earning money, not just giving them the loan. Because if they don’t know what they will do with the money than they will waste the money on something else and will be a defaulter and as a result will be abused by the bank officers. So they cannot ever get out of the circle of poverty. Microcredit organizations should also do some thing to help the vulnerable to help to fight unavoidable circumstances like natural calamities. There should be some other special program for them. Actually if microcredit is being run properly then it would be really a weapon to fight poverty and that will result a sustainable development. So organizations who are doing microcredit program should overcome their shortcomings and offer the rural Bangladesh a sustainable development.
Ref:
Ackerly, Brooke A. (1995) ‘Testing the tools of development: credit programmes, loan involvement, and women’s empowerment’, IDS Bulletin 26(3):56–68.
Bornstein, David (1996) The Price of a Dream, New York: Simon & Schuster.
J.Morduch (1999), “The role of subsidies in microfinance: evidence from the Grameen Bank”, journal of development economics, vol: 60, issue 1, pg 229-248
Mallick, Ross(2002) 'Implementing and evaluating microcredit in Bangladesh', Development in Practice, 12: 2, 153 — 163
S.Amin, A.S.Rai, G.Topa (2003), “Does Microcredit reach the and vulnerable? Evidence from northern Bangladesh”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol 70, issue 1, pg 59-82
Todd, H., 1996. Women at the Center. Westview Press, Boulder
Friday, 13 August 2010
Renie's whole essay.
Title: To what extent can the problem of urbanization be met by a policy of sustainable development?
-to what degree can UK government policies improve present traffic situation and reduce the impact on the environment to achieve sustainable development.
Abstract
In recent decades, urbanisation is one of the biggest problems in many counties as the population grows rapidly, urbanisation related issues, such as traffic, make the problems worse, governments are trying to improve the situation by carrying out initiatives and encouraging people to use green transport methods. This essay focuses on traffic related matters in the UK with the purpose of evaluating whether these policies are effective in meeting traffic congestion, pollution, and achieve sustainable transport. It starts by listing the main current problems, followed by an outline of government initiatives, after that statistics collected from regions and national levels are provided together with an analysis aimed at assessing how feasible and sustainable they are. The statistics show positive tendency in terms of using public transport and green gas emissions, Sustainable Travel Plans largely proved to be successful, therefore, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable policies in the long run, as long as continuing efforts are being made to ensure benign progress, practically, in car using and energy consumption areas which may affect the overall achievement.
Introduction
Over the last 2 decades, as the population has been increased rapidly, urban areas in many counties have witnessed a dramatic growth accordingly, at present, nearly half of the global population live in cities, and it is expected that over the next 3 decades most people that increase in global population will also live the urban areas. Many countries are on the way towards urbanisation which means cities which grow rapidly and massively, and large amount of migration pour into these areas. In Europe, the urban population was 51.2 million in 1950, it’s predicted by the year of 2030 that this figure will amount to 79.6 million in 2030(Cohen, 2006).
Urbanisation, also stands for low average cost of providing infrastructure, education and health care, and other basic services (Cohen, 2006), however, it’s also attended by many serious problems that challenge the surrounding environment and current situation of the society, such as: traffic congestion, pollution, over-crowded public places, high priced houses and consumer goods, increased crime rate, fierce competition which are difficult to manage.
Facing the problems that become increasingly sticky, government carried out a range of measures to improve the situation and hope to achieve sustainable development, Brundtland describes sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”(1987,p43 ),as this essay will focus on the traffic problems and traffic pollution in UK, firstly, I will reveal the traffic problems of UK’s current situation, secondly, introducing the policies that the government adopted to tackle the problems, then move on to analysis how sustainable the solutions are.
Till now, a series of initiatives are implemented by UK Department for Transport to encourage sustainable travel, meanwhile to promote healthier lifestyle and to improve local environment. Great efforts have been made by the government, based on the statistic and research that has been done before, in my opinion, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable development policies in the long run.
Main body
Traffic related problems
Transport, road transport in particular generates a huge amount of pollution and it is the major contributing factor to global warming (Neale, 1997) .The impact that transport has on environment can be measured by estimating carbon dioxide emissions (Leith, 2007). In 2007, transport accounts for 24% all carbon dioxide emissions in the UK, rising from 20% (117 million tonnes) in 1990. Carbon dioxide emissions come from road transport increased by 11% between 1990 and 2007 (Department for transport, 2007).
The UK Government pointed out in the White Paper on the Future of Transport: road traffic is the major source of air pollution, and every year there are more than 24,000 people die for this reason, and similar number of people are in the hospital because of exposure to polluted air which has mainly come from road traffic(DETR, 1998).
Another problem of transport is traffic congestion, new road building projects are planned to meet the traffic demand, but more often than not, are being neglected that they can bring more traffic problems and noise pollution; moreover, it has become a striking symbol of unsustainable development in UK and many other countries (Neale, 1997).
In order to find out the effects of traffic-related pollution in urban areas and come out with possible policy to deal with it, in 1999, a national survey was conducted and it indicated that 66.6% of 147 surveyed respondents regard the effects that road traffic has on the health in urban areas of UK as being serious or very serious, and 70.5% view traffic exhaust pollution and 41.1% consider noise pollution as a serious or very serious issue (Ison, 2002).
Government solutions
In 1998, “Transport White Paper” as an integrated transport strategy carried out with the aim to change the travel habits and arouse people’s awareness to reduce car-based travel, thus lessen the pollution caused by traffic congestion and bring health benefits (Coleman, 2000), therefore, the Sustainable Travel Plans play an important role in this strategy in order to fulfill the goal that is to make transport better for everyone (Rye et al, 2000).
“Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future” (2009), a strategy designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport which is in line with Climate Change Act 2008 , calling for businesses and citizens to take joint actions to use green transport to reduce the impact of transport has on climate change (Department for transport,2009) , among green plans ,the cycle to work scheme is encouraged greatly by the government, tax-free bikes are offered to staff to promote healthier commuting and reduce environmental pollution.
In recent years, UK government has given priority to cutting down the transport problems and build a low carbon future, transport is a big consumer of scarce resources and a major contributor to environmental pollution (Banister et al, 2003), thus developing a low carbon travel plan with a wide range of options for citizen and businesses is essential (Department for Transport, 2009).
In responding to comply with policies and take actions, for both organisations and individuals make commitment to the environment, the implement of the Sustainable Travel Plans especially meaningful in reducing carbon dioxide emission and striving for a sustainable future, since walking and cycling cause no carbon dioxide emission and resource consumption, in addition, using public transport and car sharing such kind of environmentally-friendly alternatives exhaust much less carbon dioxide emission than driving alone, furthermore, it can improve the air quality, alleviate local and global environmental problems, such as climate change and global warming.
“Sustainable Travel Plans(or Green Commute Plans) is a package of measures tailored to the needs of individuals and aimed at promoting greener, cleaner travel choices and reducing reliance on the car thus reducing the impact on the environment”(Department for Transport, 2009). It is including “walking, cycling, public transport, car clubs, car sharing, eco-driving and low carbon vehicles” (the Scottish Government, undated), table below shows the measures of Sustainable Travel Plans:
Table: 1-1
Source: The Scottish Executive Central Research Unit 2000, p18
The first Green Commute Plan in UK was adopted in Nottingham in 1995, Nottinghamshire County Council and a number of local employers intended to make a public commitment to encourage their staff to use sustainable transport to travel to work and to reduce the impact on environment (Emerson et al, 1999). Since then GCP is developed by the adoption of some public and private organisations including Nat West and Hewlett Packard (Newson, 1997).At present, some big companies in UK such as: Pfizer, Stockley, Park, AstraZeneca and Boots also have their own Green Commuter Plans. Green Commute Plan has witnessed a steady increase since 1990, peeking at the implementation of reducing car-based travel by the department of environment (Coleman, 1999).
Evidence and statistic
In order to find out how feasible and sustainable policies are, numerous research has been done, in “The Effects of Smarter Choice Programs in the Sustainable Travel Towns: Full Report” which was published by Department for Transport in 2010, this full independent report examined every aspect of traffic and served to assess the achievement of 3 'Sustainable Travel Towns'- Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester in which Sustainable Travel including cycling, walking, public transport, and decreases usage in cars is being adopted (Department for Transport, 2010).
The report indicated that the usage of bus increased tremendously in Peterborough and Worcester, 760,000 extra trips in Worcester, and 2.6 million extra trips in Peterborough, whereas Darlington showed a slight decline (though the rate of decline slowed from 2006 onwards) during the period of the implement of Sustainable Travel Plans in 3 towns, the car driver trips of household travel in three cities reduced by 7% to 10% in three places based on that figures in 2004’s report, and this helps to lessen the traffic congestion to a great deal, moreover, the carbon saved from the decrease in car driver journeys that below 50km in the Sustainable Travel Towns achieved a percentage of 0.6% reduction in individual emission compared to the figure of 2004, and the carbon savings of an individual can amount to approximate 50kg CO2 across the three towns (Department for Transport, 2010). Table1-2 below can show the progress made in the 3 Sustainable Travel Towns clearly:
Table: 1-2
Sources: Department for Transport, 2010, The Effects of Smarter Choice Programs in the Sustainable Travel Towns: Full Report, charter 3
The Department for Transport concluded that implement of Sustainable Travel in three towns is very successful in terms of carbon savings which is an important element of reducing carbon emission, and it also brings about additional substantial benefits, evident congestion relief, improved air quality, cost saving, the report also gives an example of two employees who use car sharing to commute, each of them can save £4,000 a year, furthermore, it can be of great assistance to fulfill government objectives.
In research “Mitigating Transport's Climate Change Impact in Scotland: Assessment of Policy Options” which was published by Scottish transport statistics in 2009, the finding suggested that the joint force of the 2 polices in the Central Scenario would achieve a reduction of approximately 1.35 MtCO2 p.a. in 2022, while another project called Ambitious Scenario would achieve a reduction of approximately 2.15 Mt CO2 p.a. in 2022, an reduction estimated to be 44% from 1990 total transport emissions (tale 1-3).
Table: 1-3
Sources: Scottish Transport Statistics, 2009, Mitigating Transport's Climate Change Impact in Scotland: Assessment of Policy Options
The annual publication “Measuring Progress Sustainable development indicators 2010” which assessed the UK progress in sustainable development, this research outlined 68 aspects together with the evidence which can examine the progress, the study shows emissions of six greenhouse gases in 2009 were 575 million tonnes, 26 % reduction compare with that of 1990. Emission of carbon dioxide, the main element of greenhouse gas, was estimated to be 481 million tonnes, 19 % lower than 1990. It’s worthy noticing that emissions decreased by 9% between 2008 -2009.
Chart: 1-4
Source: Defra, DECC, AEA Energy and Environment
The figures in first reports is largely satisfactory, despite no progress made in 3 Sustainable Travel Towns in terms of bus using in Darlington and carbon saved from the decrease in car driver journeys which need to be improved, the experiment in 3 towns can be of help the implementation of Sustainable Travel Plan in other cities in order to have an overall achievement. Taking Scotland as a region that shows in second research, the reductions in Central Scenario and Ambitious Scenario was huge, although they are estimated figures; a reduction of 44% from 1990 total transport emissions is really encouraging. The implement in cities and regions are successful, so it’s not suspiring to find out the overall 26 % reduction compared with 1990 in six greenhouse gases which fulfilled the goal of 18% reduction in Kyoto protocol, together with 19 % in carbon dioxide prove that the Sustainable policies are successful in UK.
The transport caused pollution problems are largely solved, however, according to the research: Energy consumption in the United Kingdom that done by Department of Trade and Industry(undated), the transport energy consumption becomes sever which can affect sustainable transport achievement, the transport energy consumption has increased 2 times since 1970 (Chart: 1-5), although rail and water transport has fallen, the consumption from road transport doubled from 22million tonnes to 42 million tonnes since 1970.Between 1990 and 2001, energy consumption increased by 8% in the rail transport, and 7% in the road transport. Among different type of road vehicles, car made up of almost 2/3 of the all road transport energy consumption.
Chart: 1-5
Source: DTI
The length of journey and frequency of using cars affect energy consumption greatly, now, less of 1/3 families without a car, the chart: 1-6 shows car use by an individual increased by 91% since 1970, and car is most frequently used if the journey is more than 1mile, consequently, the using of car and the energy consumed form this are the biggest problems need to take in to consideration to fulfill the objective of the sustainable development of the society.
Chart: 1-6
Sourced estimates derived from data provided by DFT and ONS
Conclusion
As urbanisation becomes increasingly severe ,transport related problems become one of the symbols of being unsustainable(Neale, 1997), and as transport plays an important role in meeting the challenges that the urbanisation bring about, sustainable transport initiatives which design to combat with traffic related problems make great contribution in minimising negative impact on environment, traffic stress and congestion, improving air quality, researches show that an increase percentage using of green transport methods instead of car-based travel can lessen the traffic caused environmental pollution ( Department for Transport, 2009),
The data of researches indicate positive changes, and dramatic percentages in decreasing CO2 emission in cities, region, and the whole country prove that the sustainable policies are successful, as a result, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable policies as long as continuing efforts are being made, especially in car use and car energy consumption aspects, and most likely these two areas are full of opportunities that researches can be carried forward to examine whether improvements are being made with reference to taking current statistics as the base year.
Reference:
Brundtland, 1987, the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future
Chris B., Gallent N., Sustainable Commuting: A Contradiction In Terms?
Coleman, C. 2000, Green commuter plans and the small employer: an investigation into the attitudes and policy of the small employer towards staff travel and green commuter plans, Transport Policy volume7, pp139–148
Cohen, B. ,2006,Urbanization in developing countries: Current trends, future projections, and key challenges for sustainability, Technology in Society, volume 28,pp63-80
David B., Kenneth J. B., 2003, Transport, the environment and sustainable development, charter2 PP19-52, Regional Studies, volume 33,issue 3, pp274 — 280,
Department for Transport, 1998, Transport White Paper
Department for Transport, 2009, Delivering Sustainable Low Carbon Travel: An Essential Guide for Local Authorities
Department of the Environment and Transport and the Regions (DETR), 1998, A new deal for transport: better for everyone, The Government’s White Paper on the Future of Transport, The Stationery Office, London.
Department for Transport, 2010, The Effects of Smarter Choice Programmes in the Sustainable Travel Towns: Full Report
Department for transport, 2009, low carbon transport, a greener future, A Carbon Reduction Strategy for Transport
Department for Environment, 2010, Measuring Progress Sustainable development indicators 2010
Department of Trade and Industry and National Statistics, undated, Energy consumption in the United Kingdom
Leith A., 2007, Travel to Work in Nottingham: An Analysis of Environmental Impacts and Mitigating Policies, School of Geography, University of Leeds.
Neale, A., 1997, Extending the scope of environmental management: the case of company-assisted travel in Britain, Business Strategy and the Environment, volume 6, pp9–17,
Scottish Transport Statistics, 2009, Mitigating Transport's Climate Change Impact in Scotland: Assessment of Policy
Stephen Ison a,*, Stuart Wall b, 2002, Attitudes to traffic-related issues in urban areas of the UK and the role of workplace parking charges, Journal of Transport Geography 10 (2002) 21–28
Tony E. and Romney T., 1999, GREEN COMMUTER PLANNING:
A ROLE FOR BUSINESS, Business Strategy and the Environment, volume8, pp82-87,
Tom R. and David M., 2000, Green Commuter Plans, Do They Work? The Scottish Executive Central Research Unit 2000,
-to what degree can UK government policies improve present traffic situation and reduce the impact on the environment to achieve sustainable development.
Abstract
In recent decades, urbanisation is one of the biggest problems in many counties as the population grows rapidly, urbanisation related issues, such as traffic, make the problems worse, governments are trying to improve the situation by carrying out initiatives and encouraging people to use green transport methods. This essay focuses on traffic related matters in the UK with the purpose of evaluating whether these policies are effective in meeting traffic congestion, pollution, and achieve sustainable transport. It starts by listing the main current problems, followed by an outline of government initiatives, after that statistics collected from regions and national levels are provided together with an analysis aimed at assessing how feasible and sustainable they are. The statistics show positive tendency in terms of using public transport and green gas emissions, Sustainable Travel Plans largely proved to be successful, therefore, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable policies in the long run, as long as continuing efforts are being made to ensure benign progress, practically, in car using and energy consumption areas which may affect the overall achievement.
Introduction
Over the last 2 decades, as the population has been increased rapidly, urban areas in many counties have witnessed a dramatic growth accordingly, at present, nearly half of the global population live in cities, and it is expected that over the next 3 decades most people that increase in global population will also live the urban areas. Many countries are on the way towards urbanisation which means cities which grow rapidly and massively, and large amount of migration pour into these areas. In Europe, the urban population was 51.2 million in 1950, it’s predicted by the year of 2030 that this figure will amount to 79.6 million in 2030(Cohen, 2006).
Urbanisation, also stands for low average cost of providing infrastructure, education and health care, and other basic services (Cohen, 2006), however, it’s also attended by many serious problems that challenge the surrounding environment and current situation of the society, such as: traffic congestion, pollution, over-crowded public places, high priced houses and consumer goods, increased crime rate, fierce competition which are difficult to manage.
Facing the problems that become increasingly sticky, government carried out a range of measures to improve the situation and hope to achieve sustainable development, Brundtland describes sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”(1987,p43 ),as this essay will focus on the traffic problems and traffic pollution in UK, firstly, I will reveal the traffic problems of UK’s current situation, secondly, introducing the policies that the government adopted to tackle the problems, then move on to analysis how sustainable the solutions are.
Till now, a series of initiatives are implemented by UK Department for Transport to encourage sustainable travel, meanwhile to promote healthier lifestyle and to improve local environment. Great efforts have been made by the government, based on the statistic and research that has been done before, in my opinion, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable development policies in the long run.
Main body
Traffic related problems
Transport, road transport in particular generates a huge amount of pollution and it is the major contributing factor to global warming (Neale, 1997) .The impact that transport has on environment can be measured by estimating carbon dioxide emissions (Leith, 2007). In 2007, transport accounts for 24% all carbon dioxide emissions in the UK, rising from 20% (117 million tonnes) in 1990. Carbon dioxide emissions come from road transport increased by 11% between 1990 and 2007 (Department for transport, 2007).
The UK Government pointed out in the White Paper on the Future of Transport: road traffic is the major source of air pollution, and every year there are more than 24,000 people die for this reason, and similar number of people are in the hospital because of exposure to polluted air which has mainly come from road traffic(DETR, 1998).
Another problem of transport is traffic congestion, new road building projects are planned to meet the traffic demand, but more often than not, are being neglected that they can bring more traffic problems and noise pollution; moreover, it has become a striking symbol of unsustainable development in UK and many other countries (Neale, 1997).
In order to find out the effects of traffic-related pollution in urban areas and come out with possible policy to deal with it, in 1999, a national survey was conducted and it indicated that 66.6% of 147 surveyed respondents regard the effects that road traffic has on the health in urban areas of UK as being serious or very serious, and 70.5% view traffic exhaust pollution and 41.1% consider noise pollution as a serious or very serious issue (Ison, 2002).
Government solutions
In 1998, “Transport White Paper” as an integrated transport strategy carried out with the aim to change the travel habits and arouse people’s awareness to reduce car-based travel, thus lessen the pollution caused by traffic congestion and bring health benefits (Coleman, 2000), therefore, the Sustainable Travel Plans play an important role in this strategy in order to fulfill the goal that is to make transport better for everyone (Rye et al, 2000).
“Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future” (2009), a strategy designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport which is in line with Climate Change Act 2008 , calling for businesses and citizens to take joint actions to use green transport to reduce the impact of transport has on climate change (Department for transport,2009) , among green plans ,the cycle to work scheme is encouraged greatly by the government, tax-free bikes are offered to staff to promote healthier commuting and reduce environmental pollution.
In recent years, UK government has given priority to cutting down the transport problems and build a low carbon future, transport is a big consumer of scarce resources and a major contributor to environmental pollution (Banister et al, 2003), thus developing a low carbon travel plan with a wide range of options for citizen and businesses is essential (Department for Transport, 2009).
In responding to comply with policies and take actions, for both organisations and individuals make commitment to the environment, the implement of the Sustainable Travel Plans especially meaningful in reducing carbon dioxide emission and striving for a sustainable future, since walking and cycling cause no carbon dioxide emission and resource consumption, in addition, using public transport and car sharing such kind of environmentally-friendly alternatives exhaust much less carbon dioxide emission than driving alone, furthermore, it can improve the air quality, alleviate local and global environmental problems, such as climate change and global warming.
“Sustainable Travel Plans(or Green Commute Plans) is a package of measures tailored to the needs of individuals and aimed at promoting greener, cleaner travel choices and reducing reliance on the car thus reducing the impact on the environment”(Department for Transport, 2009). It is including “walking, cycling, public transport, car clubs, car sharing, eco-driving and low carbon vehicles” (the Scottish Government, undated), table below shows the measures of Sustainable Travel Plans:
Table: 1-1
Source: The Scottish Executive Central Research Unit 2000, p18
The first Green Commute Plan in UK was adopted in Nottingham in 1995, Nottinghamshire County Council and a number of local employers intended to make a public commitment to encourage their staff to use sustainable transport to travel to work and to reduce the impact on environment (Emerson et al, 1999). Since then GCP is developed by the adoption of some public and private organisations including Nat West and Hewlett Packard (Newson, 1997).At present, some big companies in UK such as: Pfizer, Stockley, Park, AstraZeneca and Boots also have their own Green Commuter Plans. Green Commute Plan has witnessed a steady increase since 1990, peeking at the implementation of reducing car-based travel by the department of environment (Coleman, 1999).
Evidence and statistic
In order to find out how feasible and sustainable policies are, numerous research has been done, in “The Effects of Smarter Choice Programs in the Sustainable Travel Towns: Full Report” which was published by Department for Transport in 2010, this full independent report examined every aspect of traffic and served to assess the achievement of 3 'Sustainable Travel Towns'- Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester in which Sustainable Travel including cycling, walking, public transport, and decreases usage in cars is being adopted (Department for Transport, 2010).
The report indicated that the usage of bus increased tremendously in Peterborough and Worcester, 760,000 extra trips in Worcester, and 2.6 million extra trips in Peterborough, whereas Darlington showed a slight decline (though the rate of decline slowed from 2006 onwards) during the period of the implement of Sustainable Travel Plans in 3 towns, the car driver trips of household travel in three cities reduced by 7% to 10% in three places based on that figures in 2004’s report, and this helps to lessen the traffic congestion to a great deal, moreover, the carbon saved from the decrease in car driver journeys that below 50km in the Sustainable Travel Towns achieved a percentage of 0.6% reduction in individual emission compared to the figure of 2004, and the carbon savings of an individual can amount to approximate 50kg CO2 across the three towns (Department for Transport, 2010). Table1-2 below can show the progress made in the 3 Sustainable Travel Towns clearly:
Table: 1-2
Sources: Department for Transport, 2010, The Effects of Smarter Choice Programs in the Sustainable Travel Towns: Full Report, charter 3
The Department for Transport concluded that implement of Sustainable Travel in three towns is very successful in terms of carbon savings which is an important element of reducing carbon emission, and it also brings about additional substantial benefits, evident congestion relief, improved air quality, cost saving, the report also gives an example of two employees who use car sharing to commute, each of them can save £4,000 a year, furthermore, it can be of great assistance to fulfill government objectives.
In research “Mitigating Transport's Climate Change Impact in Scotland: Assessment of Policy Options” which was published by Scottish transport statistics in 2009, the finding suggested that the joint force of the 2 polices in the Central Scenario would achieve a reduction of approximately 1.35 MtCO2 p.a. in 2022, while another project called Ambitious Scenario would achieve a reduction of approximately 2.15 Mt CO2 p.a. in 2022, an reduction estimated to be 44% from 1990 total transport emissions (tale 1-3).
Table: 1-3
Sources: Scottish Transport Statistics, 2009, Mitigating Transport's Climate Change Impact in Scotland: Assessment of Policy Options
The annual publication “Measuring Progress Sustainable development indicators 2010” which assessed the UK progress in sustainable development, this research outlined 68 aspects together with the evidence which can examine the progress, the study shows emissions of six greenhouse gases in 2009 were 575 million tonnes, 26 % reduction compare with that of 1990. Emission of carbon dioxide, the main element of greenhouse gas, was estimated to be 481 million tonnes, 19 % lower than 1990. It’s worthy noticing that emissions decreased by 9% between 2008 -2009.
Chart: 1-4
Source: Defra, DECC, AEA Energy and Environment
The figures in first reports is largely satisfactory, despite no progress made in 3 Sustainable Travel Towns in terms of bus using in Darlington and carbon saved from the decrease in car driver journeys which need to be improved, the experiment in 3 towns can be of help the implementation of Sustainable Travel Plan in other cities in order to have an overall achievement. Taking Scotland as a region that shows in second research, the reductions in Central Scenario and Ambitious Scenario was huge, although they are estimated figures; a reduction of 44% from 1990 total transport emissions is really encouraging. The implement in cities and regions are successful, so it’s not suspiring to find out the overall 26 % reduction compared with 1990 in six greenhouse gases which fulfilled the goal of 18% reduction in Kyoto protocol, together with 19 % in carbon dioxide prove that the Sustainable policies are successful in UK.
The transport caused pollution problems are largely solved, however, according to the research: Energy consumption in the United Kingdom that done by Department of Trade and Industry(undated), the transport energy consumption becomes sever which can affect sustainable transport achievement, the transport energy consumption has increased 2 times since 1970 (Chart: 1-5), although rail and water transport has fallen, the consumption from road transport doubled from 22million tonnes to 42 million tonnes since 1970.Between 1990 and 2001, energy consumption increased by 8% in the rail transport, and 7% in the road transport. Among different type of road vehicles, car made up of almost 2/3 of the all road transport energy consumption.
Chart: 1-5
Source: DTI
The length of journey and frequency of using cars affect energy consumption greatly, now, less of 1/3 families without a car, the chart: 1-6 shows car use by an individual increased by 91% since 1970, and car is most frequently used if the journey is more than 1mile, consequently, the using of car and the energy consumed form this are the biggest problems need to take in to consideration to fulfill the objective of the sustainable development of the society.
Chart: 1-6
Sourced estimates derived from data provided by DFT and ONS
Conclusion
As urbanisation becomes increasingly severe ,transport related problems become one of the symbols of being unsustainable(Neale, 1997), and as transport plays an important role in meeting the challenges that the urbanisation bring about, sustainable transport initiatives which design to combat with traffic related problems make great contribution in minimising negative impact on environment, traffic stress and congestion, improving air quality, researches show that an increase percentage using of green transport methods instead of car-based travel can lessen the traffic caused environmental pollution ( Department for Transport, 2009),
The data of researches indicate positive changes, and dramatic percentages in decreasing CO2 emission in cities, region, and the whole country prove that the sustainable policies are successful, as a result, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable policies as long as continuing efforts are being made, especially in car use and car energy consumption aspects, and most likely these two areas are full of opportunities that researches can be carried forward to examine whether improvements are being made with reference to taking current statistics as the base year.
Reference:
Brundtland, 1987, the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future
Chris B., Gallent N., Sustainable Commuting: A Contradiction In Terms?
Coleman, C. 2000, Green commuter plans and the small employer: an investigation into the attitudes and policy of the small employer towards staff travel and green commuter plans, Transport Policy volume7, pp139–148
Cohen, B. ,2006,Urbanization in developing countries: Current trends, future projections, and key challenges for sustainability, Technology in Society, volume 28,pp63-80
David B., Kenneth J. B., 2003, Transport, the environment and sustainable development, charter2 PP19-52, Regional Studies, volume 33,issue 3, pp274 — 280,
Department for Transport, 1998, Transport White Paper
Department for Transport, 2009, Delivering Sustainable Low Carbon Travel: An Essential Guide for Local Authorities
Department of the Environment and Transport and the Regions (DETR), 1998, A new deal for transport: better for everyone, The Government’s White Paper on the Future of Transport, The Stationery Office, London.
Department for Transport, 2010, The Effects of Smarter Choice Programmes in the Sustainable Travel Towns: Full Report
Department for transport, 2009, low carbon transport, a greener future, A Carbon Reduction Strategy for Transport
Department for Environment, 2010, Measuring Progress Sustainable development indicators 2010
Department of Trade and Industry and National Statistics, undated, Energy consumption in the United Kingdom
Leith A., 2007, Travel to Work in Nottingham: An Analysis of Environmental Impacts and Mitigating Policies, School of Geography, University of Leeds.
Neale, A., 1997, Extending the scope of environmental management: the case of company-assisted travel in Britain, Business Strategy and the Environment, volume 6, pp9–17,
Scottish Transport Statistics, 2009, Mitigating Transport's Climate Change Impact in Scotland: Assessment of Policy
Stephen Ison a,*, Stuart Wall b, 2002, Attitudes to traffic-related issues in urban areas of the UK and the role of workplace parking charges, Journal of Transport Geography 10 (2002) 21–28
Tony E. and Romney T., 1999, GREEN COMMUTER PLANNING:
A ROLE FOR BUSINESS, Business Strategy and the Environment, volume8, pp82-87,
Tom R. and David M., 2000, Green Commuter Plans, Do They Work? The Scottish Executive Central Research Unit 2000,
whole essay - ahmed
To what extent can the problems of urbanization be met by a policy of sustainable development?
Sub-title :
How can urban agriculture resolve problems such as: urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation in Lagos, Nigeria?
ABSTRACT:
Today with technology and urbanisation in developing countries you will find that there are many problems due to people who are moving from rural to urban areas.
The problems can affect on environment , society and people who are suffering from urbanisation . In this research I will examine the important issues in relation to the experiences of Lagos , Nigeria such as urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation .
In this case we will discuss how ‘urban agriculture’ can help to solves those problems of urbanisation in Lagos for each case and avoid them for the future , to be a sustainable development solutions.
Introduction :
This essay discusses how some problems caused by urbanization can be alleviated by developing urban agriculture. In order to examine this issue properly this essay will begin by providing definitions of the terms ‘urbanization’ and ‘sustainable development’. Sustainable development has been defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987, p.43). There are two concepts that constitute the idea of sustainable development. The first is the idea that limitations must exist upon technology and social organization in order to ensure that natural resources can meet present and future needs. The second concept integral to the idea of sustainable development is that of needs, especially the basic needs of the world’s poor (Ibid.). Urbanization refers to process that leads to the development of towns and cities (Giddens 2000, p.571). Over the last century urbanization has increasingly become a global process which has had significant ramifications on the developing world. Almost all growth prior to 1900 occurred in the West. There was some urban expansion in cities in the developing world over the following fifty years, but the majority of urbanization in these areas occurred in the last half-century (Ibid. p.572). Urban populations are growing at a faster rate than the world’s overall population. The United Nations (UN) has estimated that 63 per cent of the world’s population will live in urbanized areas by 2025 (Ibid. p.273). The rise of rapid urbanization leads to a variety of problems which are perpetuated as population increases. I have chosen to focus on the following problems caused by urbanization: urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation. These issues will be examined in relation to the experiences of Lagos, Nigeria.
Rapid urbanization, which is often left unchecked, is common in major cities in the developing world, Lagos being no exception. This accelerated development has led to unplanned expansion, ill-ventilation and an essentially ‘unhealthy’ city (Adedej & Ademiluyi 2009, p.44). The Nigerian metropolis Lagos has become the economic centre for the country and has been classified as the sixth largest megacity in the world. However, the Lagos was also ranked last in terms of urban living standards among the 28 megacities ranked in 1991 (Ibid.). Despite being the Nigeria’s most populous state, Lagos is also its smallest in size (3577 km²). Lagos has been choked by hasty housing development resulting in ‘limited land’ (Abegunde et al 2009, p.1065). Furthermore, the megacity hosts many polluting industries and possesses the highest number of automobiles of any state in Nigeria (Ibid).
The unregulated urbanization that has occurred in Lagos had led to a multitude of problems. One of the key problems that requires urgent attention is that of urban poverty. A great deal of residents live in inadequate accommodation on land with short-term leases. Many others have similar housing on land that is not leased (i.e. squatting). The uncertain nature of tenancy in the city is a major obstacle to the development of areas occupied by the urban poor. The high levels of unemployment present in Lagos means that many residents live in poverty and struggle to support their families and satisfy their basic needs. In order to tackle poverty more job creation initiatives are required in order to provide greater employment and reduce the size of the poverty trap.
Another key issue facing the population of Lagos is food security. The ‘land ownership system makes it rather cumbersome for poor urban farmers to access land’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). The lack of access to land makes it difficult for the urban poor to maintain any level of self-sufficiency. This makes it hard for the urban poor to grow their own food. This is one of the reasons why ‘the world’s poorest urban households spend between 50 to 90% of their income on food (Kerry 2004, cited in Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). Poor urban households become dependent on food that is transported into the city, which is then sold at higher prices due to transport costs. Population growth in Lagos ‘not only directly increases the demand for food, but also indirectly reduces its supply through building development, environmental degradation and the marginalization of food production’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.45). As we can see from above, food security is a serious issue facing Lagos.
As mentioned above, it has been claimed that megacities that have experienced rapid urbanization can be regarded as ‘unhealthy’. The expanding population and under regulated polluting industries found in Lagos, have had negative effects upon “city ecology” (Ibid. p.47). The large number of automobiles and the severe lack of vegetation contributes to the reduction of air quality, which in turn has adverse effects on the health of Lagos resident’s. Rapid and unplanned urbanization has created an unnatural CO² balance in the city and has severely affected biodiversity (Ibid.).
In summary, we have identified three problems caused by urbanization which are adversely affecting the quality of life in the city of Lagos. The issues are: urban poverty, a lack of food security and the need for environmental conservation. In what way can these issues be met by a policy of sustainable development? It has been argued that all three of these problems can be addressed by implementing and promoting the use urban agriculture amongst the urban poor of Lagos. Urban agriculture has been defined by Smit et al (1966) as:
“an industry located within (intra-urban) or on the fringe (peri-urban) of a town, a city or a metropolis, which grows or raises, processes and distributes a diversity of food and non-food products, using largely human and material resources, products and services found in and around the urban area” (Ibid. p.44).
The crops yielded or the products produced by this method are usually supplied to the surrounding urban area. Urban agriculture can be seen as beneficial in a variety of areas. Firstly, it can help improve issues surrounding food security. The promotion of urban agriculture increases the amount of fresh food available in the city. Moreover, research has shown improvements in nutrition once urban families have begun to farm (IFPRI 2002, p.281 cited in Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). This exemplifies the positive effects on health that urban agriculture can bring. Furthermore, the development of urban agriculture allows cities to become less reliant on food imports. This then reduces overall cost as transportation fees are not incurred.
Secondly, urban agriculture can give greater financial empowerment to the urban poor and thus can be seen as a mechanism to help combat the high levels of urban poverty present in Lagos. It has been argued that urban agriculture can provide ideal employment opportunities to the urban poor as it provides jobs ‘in a sector with low barriers to entry’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). Horticultural production can be exercised in many areas of Lagos. Although it provides more employment in peri-urban areas, waste land found in inner city areas can also be utilised, as well as previously unused sites such as rooftops. Produce and products derived from urban agriculture can generate ‘reasonable income and returns’ (Ibid.) helping to reduce poverty. Moreover, the success of urban agricultural sites can help attract further investment into such areas of Lagos. It has been argued that ‘plants generally enhance the economic and social values of the community’ (Abegunde et al 2009, p.1065), which brings clear advantages to urban areas. The state of the local economy can be improved by changing the economic value of the land through urban agriculture. In turn this may attract the investment of businesses such as restaurants. This solution can also help create other indirect economic advantages for the local economy. For example, by making use of organic waste (e.g. solid waste and waste water) waste management costs can be reduced (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47).
Thirdly, urban agriculture can also be seen as beneficial in the realms of environmental conservation. Energy and resources can be saved simply through reducing the distance that food has to travel from production to consumption site. By increasing the amount of food grown in urban areas dependency on imported food will be reduced (Ibid.). Furthermore, the poor air quality that plagues densely urbanized areas such as Lagos can also be addressed through the promotion of urban agriculture. This is possible due to the fact that ‘carbon related gasses generated in cities are utilised during plants photosynthesis’ (Abegunde et al 2009, p.1065). The oxygen released and the carbon captured during photosynthesis helps purify the CO² heavy air that causes health problems. Planting on waste land can also help prevent erosion and flooding. If sloping waste land is utilised it can be advantageous in regard to disaster mitigation (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47).
Despite the clear benefits of implementing and promoting urban agriculture there are also risks that need to be taken into consideration (Ibid.). One of the major problems that needs to be overcome is access to land. Urban farming has not been fully embraced by the correct officials and relevant intuitions. Because of this urban agriculturalists often face uncertainty over the lease of land. The fear of eviction prevents real investment in urban spaces and often only quick-yielding crops are planted in order to mitigate against this (Ibid.) ‘Land redistribution is contentious and politically complex’ (Ibid. p.48). Furthermore, the use of waste matter and water can also be dangerous if not undertaken properly. Liquid waste, such as pig slurry and flush waters must be properly processed before use on farms. When these practises are managed correctly the risk is significantly reduced (Flynch 1999 cited in Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.48). The ‘major danger in utilizing waste waters is food contamination by pathogenic micro-organisms and outbreaks of water-borne diseases’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). However, overall it has been argued that such dangers only occur when ‘poorly treated waste water is used for irrigation’ (Ibid.).
Conclusion:
In summary, we have seen how rapid and unchecked urbanization in Lagos had led to many problems that need to be overcome. In this essay I have chosen to identify three issues that can be potentially overcome by implementing a policy of sustainable development. The problems are as follows: urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation. The sustainable development policy examined has been urban agriculture. As we have seen, urban agriculture can help combat all three of these problems in different ways. The development of urban agriculture provides an opportunity to provide financial empowerment to the urban poor. By farming on waste land poorer sections of Lagos society are able to join a sector with low barriers and begin to generate their own income. In turn, we have seen how the development of green spaces can also attract further investment in these areas. Furthermore, I have outlined how by simply making use of waste land and resources the food security of Lagos can be greatly improved. A rise in urban agriculture will cause a growth in the amount of food available in Lagos. This also has health benefits. Lastly, I have attempted to show how the implementation of urban agriculture can help bring about cleaner air in Lagos, which is positive for all sections of Lagos society. The growth of green spaces can also help gentrify the city as a whole. The limitations touched upon show that urban agriculture as a solution is not simple. Uncertainty over how land-less households are able to acquire land is a definite problem. The re-use of waste resources also has to be done in rte correct fashion otherwise health risks can emerge. Waste resources must be properly processed to avoid the spread of disease. I would recommend that future research should concentrate on strengthening g the links between urban farmers and local government officials. There is a clear need to overcome the uncertainty surrounding the legality of urban land use and entrench the ideas into local government, as the benefits are not only enjoyed by the households that farm, but buy all sections of Lagos society. In conclusion, I argue that urban agriculture has a clearly positive part to play in overcoming issues of urbanization in Lagos. However, the correct infrastructure to support such schemes is required in order to ensure that risky farming methods are carried out properly. Moreover, clear regulation is required so that land can be fairly allocated to the households that want to support themselves through urban agriculture. When viewed in a holistic fashion, urban agriculture can provide great opportunity to confront issues that have arisen from urbanization.
Bibliography :
Abegunde et al (2009). ‘Commercial horticulture practise in Nigeria: Its socio-spatial effects in Lagos city’ African Journal of Agricultural Research. Vol. 4 (10), pp. 1064-1074, October
Adedeji, Oludare H. & Ademiluyi, I.A. (2009). ‘Urban agriculture and urban land use planning: Need for a synthesis in metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria’ Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, Vol 2 (3), pp. 43-50, March
Antai, D. & Moradi, T. (2010). ‘Urban Area Disadvantage and Under-5 Mortality in Nigeria: The effect of Rapid Urbanization’ Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 118 (6) pp. 887-883
Giddens, A (2001). Sociology, Oxford: Polity Press.
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987). Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 43.
Sub-title :
How can urban agriculture resolve problems such as: urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation in Lagos, Nigeria?
ABSTRACT:
Today with technology and urbanisation in developing countries you will find that there are many problems due to people who are moving from rural to urban areas.
The problems can affect on environment , society and people who are suffering from urbanisation . In this research I will examine the important issues in relation to the experiences of Lagos , Nigeria such as urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation .
In this case we will discuss how ‘urban agriculture’ can help to solves those problems of urbanisation in Lagos for each case and avoid them for the future , to be a sustainable development solutions.
Introduction :
This essay discusses how some problems caused by urbanization can be alleviated by developing urban agriculture. In order to examine this issue properly this essay will begin by providing definitions of the terms ‘urbanization’ and ‘sustainable development’. Sustainable development has been defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987, p.43). There are two concepts that constitute the idea of sustainable development. The first is the idea that limitations must exist upon technology and social organization in order to ensure that natural resources can meet present and future needs. The second concept integral to the idea of sustainable development is that of needs, especially the basic needs of the world’s poor (Ibid.). Urbanization refers to process that leads to the development of towns and cities (Giddens 2000, p.571). Over the last century urbanization has increasingly become a global process which has had significant ramifications on the developing world. Almost all growth prior to 1900 occurred in the West. There was some urban expansion in cities in the developing world over the following fifty years, but the majority of urbanization in these areas occurred in the last half-century (Ibid. p.572). Urban populations are growing at a faster rate than the world’s overall population. The United Nations (UN) has estimated that 63 per cent of the world’s population will live in urbanized areas by 2025 (Ibid. p.273). The rise of rapid urbanization leads to a variety of problems which are perpetuated as population increases. I have chosen to focus on the following problems caused by urbanization: urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation. These issues will be examined in relation to the experiences of Lagos, Nigeria.
Rapid urbanization, which is often left unchecked, is common in major cities in the developing world, Lagos being no exception. This accelerated development has led to unplanned expansion, ill-ventilation and an essentially ‘unhealthy’ city (Adedej & Ademiluyi 2009, p.44). The Nigerian metropolis Lagos has become the economic centre for the country and has been classified as the sixth largest megacity in the world. However, the Lagos was also ranked last in terms of urban living standards among the 28 megacities ranked in 1991 (Ibid.). Despite being the Nigeria’s most populous state, Lagos is also its smallest in size (3577 km²). Lagos has been choked by hasty housing development resulting in ‘limited land’ (Abegunde et al 2009, p.1065). Furthermore, the megacity hosts many polluting industries and possesses the highest number of automobiles of any state in Nigeria (Ibid).
The unregulated urbanization that has occurred in Lagos had led to a multitude of problems. One of the key problems that requires urgent attention is that of urban poverty. A great deal of residents live in inadequate accommodation on land with short-term leases. Many others have similar housing on land that is not leased (i.e. squatting). The uncertain nature of tenancy in the city is a major obstacle to the development of areas occupied by the urban poor. The high levels of unemployment present in Lagos means that many residents live in poverty and struggle to support their families and satisfy their basic needs. In order to tackle poverty more job creation initiatives are required in order to provide greater employment and reduce the size of the poverty trap.
Another key issue facing the population of Lagos is food security. The ‘land ownership system makes it rather cumbersome for poor urban farmers to access land’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). The lack of access to land makes it difficult for the urban poor to maintain any level of self-sufficiency. This makes it hard for the urban poor to grow their own food. This is one of the reasons why ‘the world’s poorest urban households spend between 50 to 90% of their income on food (Kerry 2004, cited in Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). Poor urban households become dependent on food that is transported into the city, which is then sold at higher prices due to transport costs. Population growth in Lagos ‘not only directly increases the demand for food, but also indirectly reduces its supply through building development, environmental degradation and the marginalization of food production’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.45). As we can see from above, food security is a serious issue facing Lagos.
As mentioned above, it has been claimed that megacities that have experienced rapid urbanization can be regarded as ‘unhealthy’. The expanding population and under regulated polluting industries found in Lagos, have had negative effects upon “city ecology” (Ibid. p.47). The large number of automobiles and the severe lack of vegetation contributes to the reduction of air quality, which in turn has adverse effects on the health of Lagos resident’s. Rapid and unplanned urbanization has created an unnatural CO² balance in the city and has severely affected biodiversity (Ibid.).
In summary, we have identified three problems caused by urbanization which are adversely affecting the quality of life in the city of Lagos. The issues are: urban poverty, a lack of food security and the need for environmental conservation. In what way can these issues be met by a policy of sustainable development? It has been argued that all three of these problems can be addressed by implementing and promoting the use urban agriculture amongst the urban poor of Lagos. Urban agriculture has been defined by Smit et al (1966) as:
“an industry located within (intra-urban) or on the fringe (peri-urban) of a town, a city or a metropolis, which grows or raises, processes and distributes a diversity of food and non-food products, using largely human and material resources, products and services found in and around the urban area” (Ibid. p.44).
The crops yielded or the products produced by this method are usually supplied to the surrounding urban area. Urban agriculture can be seen as beneficial in a variety of areas. Firstly, it can help improve issues surrounding food security. The promotion of urban agriculture increases the amount of fresh food available in the city. Moreover, research has shown improvements in nutrition once urban families have begun to farm (IFPRI 2002, p.281 cited in Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). This exemplifies the positive effects on health that urban agriculture can bring. Furthermore, the development of urban agriculture allows cities to become less reliant on food imports. This then reduces overall cost as transportation fees are not incurred.
Secondly, urban agriculture can give greater financial empowerment to the urban poor and thus can be seen as a mechanism to help combat the high levels of urban poverty present in Lagos. It has been argued that urban agriculture can provide ideal employment opportunities to the urban poor as it provides jobs ‘in a sector with low barriers to entry’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). Horticultural production can be exercised in many areas of Lagos. Although it provides more employment in peri-urban areas, waste land found in inner city areas can also be utilised, as well as previously unused sites such as rooftops. Produce and products derived from urban agriculture can generate ‘reasonable income and returns’ (Ibid.) helping to reduce poverty. Moreover, the success of urban agricultural sites can help attract further investment into such areas of Lagos. It has been argued that ‘plants generally enhance the economic and social values of the community’ (Abegunde et al 2009, p.1065), which brings clear advantages to urban areas. The state of the local economy can be improved by changing the economic value of the land through urban agriculture. In turn this may attract the investment of businesses such as restaurants. This solution can also help create other indirect economic advantages for the local economy. For example, by making use of organic waste (e.g. solid waste and waste water) waste management costs can be reduced (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47).
Thirdly, urban agriculture can also be seen as beneficial in the realms of environmental conservation. Energy and resources can be saved simply through reducing the distance that food has to travel from production to consumption site. By increasing the amount of food grown in urban areas dependency on imported food will be reduced (Ibid.). Furthermore, the poor air quality that plagues densely urbanized areas such as Lagos can also be addressed through the promotion of urban agriculture. This is possible due to the fact that ‘carbon related gasses generated in cities are utilised during plants photosynthesis’ (Abegunde et al 2009, p.1065). The oxygen released and the carbon captured during photosynthesis helps purify the CO² heavy air that causes health problems. Planting on waste land can also help prevent erosion and flooding. If sloping waste land is utilised it can be advantageous in regard to disaster mitigation (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47).
Despite the clear benefits of implementing and promoting urban agriculture there are also risks that need to be taken into consideration (Ibid.). One of the major problems that needs to be overcome is access to land. Urban farming has not been fully embraced by the correct officials and relevant intuitions. Because of this urban agriculturalists often face uncertainty over the lease of land. The fear of eviction prevents real investment in urban spaces and often only quick-yielding crops are planted in order to mitigate against this (Ibid.) ‘Land redistribution is contentious and politically complex’ (Ibid. p.48). Furthermore, the use of waste matter and water can also be dangerous if not undertaken properly. Liquid waste, such as pig slurry and flush waters must be properly processed before use on farms. When these practises are managed correctly the risk is significantly reduced (Flynch 1999 cited in Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.48). The ‘major danger in utilizing waste waters is food contamination by pathogenic micro-organisms and outbreaks of water-borne diseases’ (Adedeji & Ademiluyi 2009, p.47). However, overall it has been argued that such dangers only occur when ‘poorly treated waste water is used for irrigation’ (Ibid.).
Conclusion:
In summary, we have seen how rapid and unchecked urbanization in Lagos had led to many problems that need to be overcome. In this essay I have chosen to identify three issues that can be potentially overcome by implementing a policy of sustainable development. The problems are as follows: urban poverty, food security and the need for environmental conservation. The sustainable development policy examined has been urban agriculture. As we have seen, urban agriculture can help combat all three of these problems in different ways. The development of urban agriculture provides an opportunity to provide financial empowerment to the urban poor. By farming on waste land poorer sections of Lagos society are able to join a sector with low barriers and begin to generate their own income. In turn, we have seen how the development of green spaces can also attract further investment in these areas. Furthermore, I have outlined how by simply making use of waste land and resources the food security of Lagos can be greatly improved. A rise in urban agriculture will cause a growth in the amount of food available in Lagos. This also has health benefits. Lastly, I have attempted to show how the implementation of urban agriculture can help bring about cleaner air in Lagos, which is positive for all sections of Lagos society. The growth of green spaces can also help gentrify the city as a whole. The limitations touched upon show that urban agriculture as a solution is not simple. Uncertainty over how land-less households are able to acquire land is a definite problem. The re-use of waste resources also has to be done in rte correct fashion otherwise health risks can emerge. Waste resources must be properly processed to avoid the spread of disease. I would recommend that future research should concentrate on strengthening g the links between urban farmers and local government officials. There is a clear need to overcome the uncertainty surrounding the legality of urban land use and entrench the ideas into local government, as the benefits are not only enjoyed by the households that farm, but buy all sections of Lagos society. In conclusion, I argue that urban agriculture has a clearly positive part to play in overcoming issues of urbanization in Lagos. However, the correct infrastructure to support such schemes is required in order to ensure that risky farming methods are carried out properly. Moreover, clear regulation is required so that land can be fairly allocated to the households that want to support themselves through urban agriculture. When viewed in a holistic fashion, urban agriculture can provide great opportunity to confront issues that have arisen from urbanization.
Bibliography :
Abegunde et al (2009). ‘Commercial horticulture practise in Nigeria: Its socio-spatial effects in Lagos city’ African Journal of Agricultural Research. Vol. 4 (10), pp. 1064-1074, October
Adedeji, Oludare H. & Ademiluyi, I.A. (2009). ‘Urban agriculture and urban land use planning: Need for a synthesis in metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria’ Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, Vol 2 (3), pp. 43-50, March
Antai, D. & Moradi, T. (2010). ‘Urban Area Disadvantage and Under-5 Mortality in Nigeria: The effect of Rapid Urbanization’ Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 118 (6) pp. 887-883
Giddens, A (2001). Sociology, Oxford: Polity Press.
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987). Our common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 43.
Kamran's Abstract
To what extent can be the problem of urbanization is met by a policy of sustainable development?
Sub Title:
To what extent policies of UK government are helping to reduce housing problems caused by overcrowding in urban areas to achieve sustainable life
Abstract
An increasing trend of urbanization has been noticed in last few decades that mean industrialization and technological advancement along with all possible necessities. It seems very nice when we only think about urbanization but on the other hand meanwhile it has also give birth to many issues such as human safety, health and limited places to live, which automatically brings the need of sustainable development. The concept of such development is creating benefit from available resources for our future generation without compromising on health issues. This essay takes UK as a base country for example and discusses the trend of urbanization and related problems i.e. crimes, housing and health issues. It also evaluate the policies and role of UK government to tackle such problems and how to achieve sustainable development. Finally, this essay tries to give some recommendations for future generation such as, “Co Housing Model” to cope with such issues and to maintain healthier and longer life expectancy.
Monday, 9 August 2010
kelvin's abstract
Topic: To what extent can the problems of urbanisation be met by a policy of sustainable development?
Sub-title:How Can the sustainable policies in Hong Kong can iron out the urban problem successfully?
Abstract
Urbanisation no longer brings us wealth and future but hazards. It is the time for us to sit down and plan the further [future]. The main concept of sustainable development is concernsly than those in Singapore. Indeed, those policies are fair enough to solve the basic problems but there is room for improvement.
Sub-title:
Abstract
Urbanisation no longer brings us wealth and future but hazards. It is the time for us to sit down and plan the further [future]. The main concept of sustainable development is concerns
Renie's essay abstract.
Title: To what extent can the problem of urbanization be met by a policy of sustainable development?
-to what degree can UK government policies improve present traffic situation and reduce the impact on the environment to achieve sustainable development.
In recent decades, urbanisation is one of the biggest problems in many counties as the population grows rapidly, urbanisation related issues, such as trafficthat discussed in this essay, make the problems become worse, governments are trying to make every efforts to improve the situation by carrying out initiatives and encouraging people to use green transport methods. This essay focuses on traffic related matters in the UK with the purpose to of evaluating whether these policies are effective in meeting traffic congestion, pollution, and achieve sustainable transport. It is starts with [by] listing the main current problems, followed by an outline of government initiatives, after that statistics collected from regions and national levels are provided together with an analysis aimed to [at] assessing how feasible and sustainable they are. The statistics are showing positive tendency in terms of using public transport and green gas emissions, Sustainable Travel Plans largely proved to be successful, therefore, to a large extent the problems can be solved by the sustainable policies in the long run, as long as continuing efforts are being made to ensure benign progress, practically, in car using and energy consumption areas which may affect the overall achievement.
-to what degree can UK government policies improve present traffic situation and reduce the impact on the environment to achieve sustainable development.
In recent decades, urbanisation is one of the biggest problems in many counties as the population grows rapidly, urbanisation related issues, such as traffic
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Abstract----sue
To what extent can the problems of urbanization be met by a policy of sustainable development?
Sub-Title: Can the sustainable development policies solve the urban housing problems in Hong Kong?
Abstract
Hong Kong is a modern and prosperous city in the worldwide. Whereas it has existed the serious problems of urbanlisation sine the second world war in 1956. Due to the majority of the land is too hilly in housing development. Hong Kong has limited resource of land to supply the high population with about 7 million leading to citizens are suffering in overcrowded living condition especially the large family. The government has attached great importance to adopt the efficient sustainable development policies such as the Home Owner Scheme (HOS) and Public Rental Housing (PRH) to solve the housing problem. In this paper, the comparison of urban housing problems between Hong Kong and Shanghai are described and the information are collected from the academic articles and relative websites that can find out the positive sustainable polices to solve the problems in housing development. For this research purpose, I concentrated each situation of the housing problems with Hong Kong and Shanghai to compare its own sustainable policies and evaluate which city’s policies are more efficient.
Sub-Title: Can the sustainable development policies solve the urban housing problems in Hong Kong?
Abstract
Hong Kong is a modern and prosperous city in the worldwide. Whereas it has existed the serious problems of urbanlisation sine the second world war in 1956. Due to the majority of the land is too hilly in housing development. Hong Kong has limited resource of land to supply the high population with about 7 million leading to citizens are suffering in overcrowded living condition especially the large family. The government has attached great importance to adopt the efficient sustainable development policies such as the Home Owner Scheme (HOS) and Public Rental Housing (PRH) to solve the housing problem. In this paper, the comparison of urban housing problems between Hong Kong and Shanghai are described and the information are collected from the academic articles and relative websites that can find out the positive sustainable polices to solve the problems in housing development. For this research purpose, I concentrated each situation of the housing problems with Hong Kong and Shanghai to compare its own sustainable policies and evaluate which city’s policies are more efficient.
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