Addressing Environmental Challenges Through Spatial Planning


Book Description

"This edited book is devoted to addressing environmental concerns and technology innovations in domains such as pollution, water insecurity and resources management, loss of green cover, energy efficiency, reducing carbon footprint, climate change, and disaster management with an aim to bridge the gap between engineering considerations and spatial aspects of planning"--




Addressing Environmental Challenges Through Spatial Planning


Book Description

Urbanization is giving rise to environmental concerns including urban flooding, which generally occurs due to the construction of houses in the low-lying areas; loss of green cover leading to a disturbance in the ecological cycle; water scarcity due to growing needs; and deforestation leading to habitat fragmentation, wildlife corridors disturbance, forest fires, and climate change. In order to correct these issues, a consolidated balance between human, nature, and spatial aspects must be resolved and spatial solutions integrated on a common platform. Addressing Environmental Challenges Through Spatial Planning is devoted to addressing environmental concerns and technology innovations in domains such as pollution, water insecurity, and resources management. This text works to bridge the gap between engineering considerations and spatial aspects of planning. Covering topics such as sustainable housing, environmental restoration, and air emissions, this text is essential for environmental engineers, planning researchers, faculty, environmental and civil administrators, architects, consultants, environmental activists, town and country planning organizations, and professionals in all industries who aspire to have an environmentally friendly atmosphere and to provide a sustainable way of dealing with the environment in their respective domains for process efficiency and cost optimization.




Spatial Planning and Climate Change


Book Description

Spatial planning has a vital role to play in the move to a low carbon energy future and in adapting to climate change. To do this, spatial planning must develop and implement new approaches. Elizabeth Wilson and Jake Piper explore a wide range of issues in this comprehensive book on the relationship between our changing climate and spatial planning, and suggest ways of addressing the challenges by taking a longer-sighted approach to our preparation for the future. This text includes: an overview of what we know already about future climate change and its impacts, as we attempt both to adapt to these changes and to reduce the emissions which cause them the role of spatial planning in relation to climate change, offering some theoretical and political explanations for the challenges that planning faces in the coming decades a review of policy and legislation at international, EU and UK levels in regard to climate change, and the support this gives to the planning system case studies detailing what responses the UK and the Netherlands have made so far in light of the evidence ways to help new and existing urban developments to reduce energy use and to adapt to climate change, through strengthening the relationships between urban and rural areas to avoid water shortage, floods or loss of biodiversity. The authors take an evidence-based look at this hugely important topic, providing a well-illustrated text for spatial planning professionals, politicians and the interested public, as well as a useful reference for postgraduate planning, geography, urban studies, urban design and environmental studies students.




Land Use and Spatial Planning


Book Description

This book reconciles competing and sometimes contradictory forms of land use, while also promoting sustainable land use options. It highlights land use planning, spatial planning, territorial (or regional) planning, and ecosystem-based or environmental land use planning as tools that strengthen land governance. Further, it demonstrates how to use these types of land-use planning to improve economic opportunities based on sustainable management of land resources, and to develop land use options that strike a balance between conservation and development objectives. Competition for land is increasing as demand for multiple land uses and ecosystem services rises. Food security issues, renewable energy and emerging carbon markets are creating pressures for the conversion of agricultural land to other uses such as reforestation and biofuels. At the same time, there is a growing demand for land in connection with urbanization and recreation, mining, food production, and biodiversity conservation. Managing the increasing competition between these services, and balancing different stakeholders’ interests, requires efficient allocation of land resources.




Planning, Development and Management of Sustainable Cities


Book Description

The concept of ‘sustainable urban development’ has been pushed to the forefront of policymaking and politics as the world wakes up to the impacts of climate change and the destructive effects of the Anthropocene. Climate change has emerged to be one of the biggest challenges faced by our planet today, threatening both built and natural systems with long-term consequences, which may be irreversible. While there is a vast body of literature on sustainability and sustainable urban development, there is currently limited focus on how to cohesively bring together the vital issues of the planning, development, and management of sustainable cities. Moreover, it has been widely stated that current practices and lifestyles cannot continue if we are to leave a healthy living planet to not only the next generation, but also to the generations beyond. The current global school strikes for climate action (known as Fridays for Future) evidences this. The book advocates the view that the focus needs to rest on ways in which our cities and industries can become green enough to avoid urban ecocide. This book fills a gap in the literature by bringing together issues related to the planning, development, and management of cities and focusing on a triple-bottom-line approach to sustainability.




Planning Sustainable Cities


Book Description

This publication reviews recent urban planning practices and approaches, discusses constraints and conflicts therein, and identifies innovative approaches that are more responsive to current challenges of urbanization. It notes that traditional approaches to urban planning (particularly in developing countries) have largely failed to promote equitable, efficient and sustainable human settlements and to address twenty-first century challenges, including rapid urbanization, shrinking cities and aging, climate change and related disasters, urban sprawl and unplanned peri-urbanization, as well as urbanization of poverty and informality. It concludes that new approaches to planning can only be meaningful, and have a greater chance of succeeding, if they effectively address all of these challenges, are participatory and inclusive, as well as linked to contextual socio-political processes.--Publisher's description




Pathways to Urban Sustainability


Book Description

Cities have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth in the last decade. More than half the world's population lives in urban areas, with the U.S. percentage at 80 percent. Cities have captured more than 80 percent of the globe's economic activity and offered social mobility and economic prosperity to millions by clustering creative, innovative, and educated individuals and organizations. Clustering populations, however, can compound both positive and negative conditions, with many modern urban areas experiencing growing inequality, debility, and environmental degradation. The spread and continued growth of urban areas presents a number of concerns for a sustainable future, particularly if cities cannot adequately address the rise of poverty, hunger, resource consumption, and biodiversity loss in their borders. Intended as a comparative illustration of the types of urban sustainability pathways and subsequent lessons learned existing in urban areas, this study examines specific examples that cut across geographies and scales and that feature a range of urban sustainability challenges and opportunities for collaborative learning across metropolitan regions. It focuses on nine cities across the United States and Canada (Los Angeles, CA, New York City, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Grand Rapids, MI, Flint, MI, Cedar Rapids, IA, Chattanooga, TN, and Vancouver, Canada), chosen to represent a variety of metropolitan regions, with consideration given to city size, proximity to coastal and other waterways, susceptibility to hazards, primary industry, and several other factors.




Marine Spatial Planning


Book Description

As the demand for space availability in marine environments increases due to the upward trend and intensity of human activities, Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) becomes the key response for accommodating sectoral policies in a way that is both compatible and ecosystem friendly. The book Marine Spatial Planning: Methodologies, Environmental Issues and Current Trends is addressed to people involved in coastal and marine spatial planning and management, such as administrators, planners, decision makers at different political levels, engineers, stakeholders as well as academic staff. It can also provide a sound background to post-graduate and PhD students working in relevant studies. The reader will be able to find information on the legal framework, the methods used so far, the ecosystem oriented approach and the current views as they have been implemented in some marine areas of the world. The book is organized into three sections: Section One focuses on the governance of the seas, international conventions and laws as well as the physical aspects of the marine environment. Section Two includes the most established methodologies in marine environmental quality assessment and planning; particular emphasis has been placed on integrated methodologies merging political, economic, environmental and societal information. Section Three is a selection of case studies that will familiarize the reader on current aspects and experiences gained from marine spatial studies procedures in different areas of the world.




Opportunities and Challenges for Women Leaders in Environmental Management


Book Description

Our planet is facing the prospect of environmental catastrophe, resulting from decades of reckless human activities. The ongoing degradation of the Earth's natural resources, climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction have created an urgent global crisis. The responsibility for addressing these challenges has been a significant issue since the 1972 International Conference on Human Environment in Sweden. Despite widespread acknowledgment of the issues at hand, insufficient efforts have been taken to safeguard our fragile ecosystems and secure a sustainable future for generations to come. Opportunities and Challenges for Women Leaders in Environmental Management is a groundbreaking book meticulously crafted for academic scholars seeking answers to the most pressing environmental questions of our time. This book reveals the pivotal role women are playing as environmental stewards, providing a ray of hope in the face of environmental turmoil. Through data, empirical studies, and narratives, this book spotlights the remarkable contributions of women worldwide in environmental activism, advocacy, research, education, and innovative strategies. Their unwavering commitment to energy conservation, responsible waste management, and the preservation of ecological parks and wildlife is both inspiring and transformative.




Spatial Planning in Ghana


Book Description

This book documents and analyses spatial planning in Ghana, providing a comprehensive and critical discussion of the evolving institutional and legal arrangements that have shaped and defined Ghana’s spatial planning system for more than seven decades; the contemporary policy instruments and mechanisms for articulating and implementing policies and proposals at multiple scales; and the formally established procedures for development management. It covers important themes in contemporary spatial planning discourse, including the evolving meaning, scope and purpose of spatial planning globally; the scales of spatial planning (i.e. national, regional, sub-regional and local); multi-level integration within spatial planning; public participation; the interface between urbanization, sustainable growth management and spatial planning; spatial planning and housing development; integrated spatial development and transportation planning; and spatial planning and the urban informal economy. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students, and academic researchers and practitioners/policy-makers in the multidisciplinary field of spatial planning, it appeals to readers seeking an international perspective on spatial planning systems and practices.