Cities and Environments

Cities and Environments

Introduction

Population increase is the primary driving force of change. Unless consumption patters change to reduce our dependency on natural resources population growth would increase concerns on human consumption on natural resources and increases pollution levels. The Canadian population is higher than most industrialized countries at the same time the Canadian population is growing at a steady rate. Rapid growth tends to overwhelm the ability of municipalities to plan and deliver appropriate social services as well. (Bourne, 2001) Global population growth has put pressure on the environment causing global impacts that are experienced in Canada for example smog. With the population growing steadily, Canada needs to produce homes for these people. The high demand of housing results in unplanned, uncontrolled spreading of urban development into areas neighbouring around the city. This creating poorly serviced, poorly accessible, low density, and high energy dependent neighbourhoods that raise concerns for the future of our environment.

Areas that lack sustainability are known as suburban sprawls, which according to the Oxford dictionary is described as a "largely unplanned suburban growth, which contain low population density and has no connection to infrastructure". The many concerns of having sprawls include environmental degradation, transportation inconvenience, and isolation of the community. Environmental degradation is considered a health hazard to us humans and to the planet. Transportation inconvenience causes people to drive their cars rather than to use public transit. The municipal government only focuses on economic growth, and they have failed to organize the development of society and recognize the endangering issue of sprawl. Governments must prepare for anticipated levels of growth in ways that are well-organized, equitable, and sensitive to social and environmental issues. (Bourne, 2001) By describing my neighbourhood in detail we will observe if this community fit the definition and qualities of a sprawl.

Neighbourhood under Examination

The neighbourhood of my study will be focused within the perimeter of Markham Rd., Steeles Ave. East and McCowan Rd, 14th Ave. located in the north east corner of the GTA. Those boundaries were chosen because they enclose a community consisting of schools, own public transit routes, and a commercial area. This area is more weakly defined by features such as schools, parks, and housing subdivision. The landscape in this area is relatively flat. There are open spaces used for parks, small wooded areas, and fields for the schools. This area has poor accessibility which is the result of a curvilinear street design which makes traveling through the neighbourhood on foot an unpleasant task.

According to personal observation, house surface area range from 2000 to 2500 square feet. These houses consist of single to double garages, an average front lawn of about 20-25 square feet, and wider driveways that could fit about four cars. Since all the houses in this area have double garages everyone is assumed to have at least one car. The backyard tends to be wider if not the same size of the house. There is also small condos that house about 30 families located on the perimeter of this neighbourhood with other condos in the process of being built.

In the last three years this area was only residential until recently a strip mall was built on the northeast area of the perimeter. Stores such as Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Staples and many restaurants have opened. The area of commercial and resident is not well mixed; the stores are located at the corner of the neighbourhood making walking for some people a hassle. To walk from one corner of the neighbourhood to the stores would take about 45 minutes to an hour making driving the more preferred form of transportation. There are shopping nodes located at each corner of the perimeter consisting of coffee shops and newsstands alongside major bus stops.

This community encloses three schools each spread within equal distance of one another. The schools are localized within the community creating convenience for children to walk to school. Recreational parks are located alongside the school which contain soccer fields, basketball courts and playgrounds.

Analysis

Focusing on the details of this neighbourhood we will asses if this area can be described as a 'sprawl'. This area consists of 85% residential, with housing consisting of 85% single-family detached houses, 5% condominiums, and 5% commercial. In an area with mostly single-family detached housing, it can be assumed that this area contains a low overall density. Increasing low density areas helps protect farmland from being used for housing. A new plan in Ontario "Places to Grow" sets goals to include 40 percent of all new growth must be contained within existing built up areas. The growth that will still occur on undeveloped land must meet minimum targets, about twice as dense as traditional sprawl. (Gillespie, 2006) Single family detached houses use a great deal of energy, each family has their own air condition system, washer and dryer. Individually these products do not represent major consumption, but together they represent extremely high consumption levels.

The focus on consumption with physical planning and the effect that this has on human activity is relevant into improving future development and expansion. When we talk about housing related consumption there are other forms of consumption such as energy consumption with regard to heating and operating housing. Having a sprawl consumes massive amounts of energy creating large ecological footprints. (Holden, 2004)

The roads in this area are poorly accessible, with the use of curvilinear street design a person may have to walk around many streets in order to reach the other side. However in an area that consists of mainly houses many people do not bother to walk because they find it a nuisance. An additional definition of sprawl is a place that is not conductive to walking. The streets in this neighbourhood are poorly planned and poorly accessible and they attract more people into driving. The environmental costs of auto-dependency and sprawl are also huge. About half the carbon dioxide emissions in this country of nitrous oxide emissions come from the transportation sector. Transportation and the sprawl connected with new highways account for the loss of, habitat wetlands and farmland. Automobile by-products including tire particulates and brake, air toxins, and road chemicals run off into groundwater and are increasingly recognized as a major source of both ground