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Well done on a good semester Lagos, all the best for 2019!

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Well done on a good semester Lagos, all the best for 2019!

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Eco Cities and Zero Waste 1/2 introduction

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Eco Cities and Zero Waste 1/2 introduction

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One of the main pillars of urban sociology is the fact that the world is urbanising rapidly and will continue to do so. We also know that cities are centres of high-consumption and waste production and thus hold a great responsibility for climate change. We often tend to view cities as part of the problem, but the fact remains that is the main unit for governance, culture, production and consumption in our present and future time, and as such we have to make it part of the solution.

The idea of an ‘eco-city’ (or ‘smart cities’) is a way of viewing cities as part of the solution. It is line of thinking that believes in the promise of technology and that we can manage our way out of the crisis. It can be defined as a city that “enhances the well-being of its citizens and of society through integrated urban planning and management that fully harness the benefits of ecological systems and renewable energies aiming for zero-emissions and zero-waste” (Lehmann 2011:853). An implicit assumption that could be questioned about ‘eco-city’ is whether we can keep up our level of consumption – especially in the Global North – and still talk about being ‘ecologically’ responsible. But putting that discussion aside, Zaman and Lehmann (2011) has made an interesting study into a subfield of the eco-city, namely into the ‘Zero Waste City’.

Zero Waste is defined as “designing and managing products and processes systematically to avoid and eliminate the waste and materials, and to conserve and recover all resources from waste streams”. This issue matters to urban sociologists, because it is a problem that we see a solution to, but we haven’t found a way of implementing them yet. Think about the success of the TV show “The War on Waste” – many people are aware of the issue of waste, but on a greater societal scale it remains an unresolved one. This article investigates the key drivers, challenges, threats and opportunities of transforming our current waste management systems into zero waste practices.

Photo: Vincent Callebaut's 2050 Vision of Paris as a "Smart City"

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It is probably known amongst most that the larger affluent countries contribute to most problem solving of climate change. Moreover, at the same time, they can suffer from political uncertainty in most cities within the country because of the changing preferences between the competing cities. Besides this minor factor in select cities, most cities are contributing to the countries techniques of direct investment in adaptation. Rather than mitigation, policital influences prefer to invest in benefits of adaptation and long term policy. Governments can introduce incentives which can in return reduce GHG and consumer effects (Thomas Bernauer, 2013)

In saying this, cities need to collaborate with larger organisations to invest in measures that could globally turn climate change and the perceptions of climate change. A starting point of governmental policy is the reduction of plastic bags in shopping centres, which have led to decreasing production of oil and chemical pollution.

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In light of this the United States of America, arguably the most important nation in the world have opted against the Paris Agreement, even stating that they will be increasing their carbon emissions rather than aiming to reduce them. (Bunting, 2017)

Donald Trump, one the more polarising figures in recent memory is at the forefront of the American withdrawal from the agreement, as per (Zhang, 2017) two key reasons that led to the United States deciding to not abide to the agreement terms are;

First, the Trump Administration is closely tied to the fossil fuel industry, and interest groups are a defining feature of American politics. The fossil fuel industries hold powerful political clout over the Trump Administration and the Republican Party:

Another reason is that Donald Trump is sceptical of climate change, refusing to acknowledge the fundamental principle of common but differentiated responsibility in global climate cooperation. He has also never publicly acknowledged that climate change is happening and is mainly caused by human beings, a consensus shared by most U.S. scientists.

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The average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880 with Two-thirds of this warming occurring since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15-0.20°C per decade. (UNCC, 2018) This has led to the emergence of agreements on a international level aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. Of these is the Paris Agreement;

The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. This includes a goal of limiting temperature rise to below 2 degree Celsius, while aiming to reach 1.5. The agreement also looks to tackle the problem of countries not having the ability to deal with climate change impacts. By improving finance flows with low GHG emissions the agreement hopes to make climate change management simple for all countries. In order to reach these ambitious goals, appropriate mobilisation and provision of financial resources, a new technology framework and enhanced capacity-building is to be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives.

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Most food activities are the contributing rise to Greenhouse gases (GHGs). Agricultural and aqua cultural production of our food systems are a perfect example to show the contribution to increasing GHG and toxic waste. We are continuously influencing the rise of GHG emissions through major supermarket centres exerting capitalism over the food systems. Enormous scaled operations and commodification is controlling the food culture of consumption leading to climatic changes to the atmosphere. It is the dislocation of food exchange from the biospheric and socio-cultural contexts (A.J. McMichael a , C.D. Butler b,* , J. Dixon, 2012).

Many food systems go through intensive production and post productions, which cause the further pressure on resources which consequently lead to the displacement of other landscapes and food chains. In order to manage solutions to the food systems, a vulnerability assessment for the degrees of countries can assess the elements of sensitive, exposure and adaptive capacity (Godber & Wall 2014).
- Sensitivity: biophysical, social and economic factors likely to be influence by extrinsic stresses. sensitivity also analyses specific drivers and the importance.
- Exposure: measures the influence changes.
- Adaptive Capacity: mitigation responses undertaking. several forms, including technological, behavioural, managerial and policy based (Thornton et al., 2009). This form usually includes government, industry, infrastructure and per capita affluence.

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Eco-cities and Zero Waste 2/2 findings and solutions

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Eco-cities and Zero Waste 2/2 findings and solutions

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Zaman and Lehmann's (2011) study focuses on two cases: Adelaide and Stockholm. Both cities' waste management systems are investigated as a whole by looking at four different contexts: generation, management, treatment and environmental impacts. What they find from these two examples is that an issue like waste cannot be solved by a single fix. They argue that in order to successfully implement sustainable solutions, it is key to apply a holistic view that takes all 5 societal spheres into account: the social, political, technical, economical and environmental. The model underneath displays this argument, stating that a good, sustainable waste manegement system needs to be:

1. affordable in a socio-economic context
2. regulatory in socio-political context
3. applicable in a techno-political context
4. effective in techno-economical context
5. and lastly, all of these should be directly related to environmental sustainability.

The main point here is that we must see the bigger picture when we reinvent our cities to become 'eco-cities'. However, the researchers also discusses some more tangible solutions that are worth mentioning.

Drastically improving awareness, education and training around consumption and the value of waste

Waste management and recycling as opportunities: landfills and e-waste contain precious materials and could become “big business”

Product stewardship: producer responsibility for sustainability and recycling of their own products

New bins, voucher systems, retrofitting existing communities, urban farming, improving of space and public transport, building from recycled waste, renewable energy sources.

In conclusion, there are a lot of possible solutions being advanced, and maybe just as many obstacles in implementing them. But it remains evident that the city has the potential and maybe even the responsibility to become the main unit from which we manage to overcome climate change.

Sources:
Lehmann, S. (2011). Optimizing urban material flows and waste streams through

principles of zero waste and sustainable consumption

Zaman & Lehmann 2011. Urban growth and waste management optimization towards ‘zero waste city’

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Housing Design and the change in social behaviours 

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Housing Design and the change in social behaviours 

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Figures reported in 2007 found that almost a quarter of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions were produced from energy demand in the building/housing sector. With a predicted 33’000 new houses being built in Queensland until 2026, the role housing has in contributing to climate change is clear, especially in cities where housing is most dense. Importantly, environmentally sustainable building designs are starting to infiltrate the market. Environmentally sustainable buildings attempt to minimise a buildings environmental impact through energy and water efficiency methods, use of sustainable materials and landscaping that considers a sites biodiversity and existing natural features. However these buildings often require social change by those who are occupying them to really make a significant difference. Building design now often incorporates consideration and design features around the follow factors:

·         Energy – design elements are incorporated to improve energy efficiency. All new homes must now comply with energy-efficiency requirements of the Building Code of Australia.

·         Water – greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 80% with a greenhouse efficient hot water system (i.e. solar, electric, gas).

·         Material – using sustainable building material such as recycled materials, avoiding on-site construction waste and household run-off into drains can limit the environmental impact of housing.

·         Landscaping – retaining existing vegetation as much as possible is an important tool, often outlined within local planning schemes. Vegetation offsets are also commonly imposed.

Although these new housing design elements are important, the majority of housing in cities has already been built, mostly without consideration of such elements. For many, social change in the way they live their day to day lives is now required to limit the environmental impact of their homes. For example installing solar, or reducing shower time. For many these behaviours are often hard to accept and therefore leads to in-action and the continuation of environmental degradation through housing in our cities.

https://sustainability.uq.edu.au/projects/campus-grounds-and-buildings/better-buildings-designing-solutions-sustainable-architecture

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Example of where social change is needed, but too hard for people.