We Can Make Urban Areas More Environmentally Sustainable and Enjoyable Places to Live.

Many environmental scientists and urban planners call for us to make new and existing urban areas more sustainable and enjoyable places to live through good ecological design.

Smart growth is one way to encourage more environmentally sustainable development that requires less dependence on cars, controls and directs sprawl, and reduces wasteful resource use. It recognizes that urban growth will occur. At the same time, it uses zoning laws and other tools to channel growth into areas where it can cause less harm. Smart growth can discourage sprawl, reduce traffic, protect ecologically sensitive and important lands and waterways, and develop neighborhoods that are more enjoyable places to live.

A more environmentally sustainable city, called an ecocity or green city, emphasizes the following goals, some of which directly apply the three principles of sustainability:

• Use solar and other locally available, renewable energy resources and design buildings to be heated and cooled as much as possible by nature

• Build and redesign cities for people not cars

• Use energy and matter resources efficiently

• Prevent pollution and reduce waste

• Recycle, reuse, and compost at least 60% of all municipal solid waste

• Protect and encourage biodiversity by preserving surrounding land and protecting and restoring natural systems and wetlands

• Promote urban gardens and farmers markets

• Use zoning and other tools to keep the human population at environmentally sustainable levels

An ecocity is a people-oriented city, not a caroriented city. Its residents are able to walk, bike, or use low-polluting mass transit for most of their travel. Its buildings, vehicles, and appliances meet high energy efficiency standards. Trees and plants adapted to the local climate and soils are planted throughout the city to provide shade, beauty, and wildlife habitats, and to reduce air pollution, noise, and soil erosion. Small organic gardens and a variety of plants adapted to local climate conditions often replace monoculture grass lawns.

In an ecocity, abandoned lots, industrial sites, and polluted creeks and rivers are cleaned up and restored. Nearby forests, grasslands, wetlands, and farms are preserved. Much of an ecocity’s food comes from nearby organic farms, solar greenhouses, community gardens, and small gardens on rooftops, in yards, and in window boxes. Parks are easily available to everyone. People designing and living in ecocities take seriously the advice that U.S. urban planner Lewis Mumford gave more than 3 decades ago: “Forget the damned motor car and build cities for lovers and friends.”

 

4. Give definitions of the following concepts.

Good ecological design, smart growth, people-oriented city.

5. Read Text 2 again, then work with a parner and use the prompts below to tell each other how cities can become more sustainable in your own words.

g) Environmental scientists / urban planners / areas / more sustainable / good ecological design.

h) Smart growth / encourage / sustainable development / less dependence on cars / sprawl / traffic / wasteful resource use.

i) Ecocity / solar / renewable / redesign / efficiently / reuse, recycle and compost.

j) Biodiversity / urban gardens / zoning / human population / sustainable levels.

k) People-oriented city / low-polluting / mass transit / energy efficiency standards.

l) Trees and plants / wildlife habitats / noise / air pollution / soil erosion.

m) Organic gardens / solar greenhouses / rooftops / window boxes / farmers markets.

6. Answer the following questions.

1) Which of the measures suggested in Text 2 can be introduced in Russia?

2) Would you like to live in an ecocity? Why (not)?

7. Use the material from Text1 and Text 2 and explain why you agree or disagree with each of the following statements:

1) humans are superior to other forms of life;

2) humans are in charge of the earth;

3) the value of other forms of life depends only on whether they are useful to us;

4) because all forms of life eventually become extinct we should not worry about whether our activities cause their premature extinction;

5) all forms of life have an inherent right to exist;

6) nature has an almost unlimited storehouse of resources for human use;

7) technology can solve all our environmental problems;

8) every person should be entitled to equal protection from environmental hazards regardless of race, gender, age, national origin, social class, or any other factor.

Jigsaw reading

 Case study

1. Work in two groups.

Group 1 read TEXT A

Group 2 read TEXT B

Read your article and (a) put 3 questions to it and (b) match the words and word-combinations below with their synonyms underlined in your text.

TEXT A

TEXT B

- a tall building that is equipped with elevators and usually has at least six stories - likely to suffer from floods - praised and renowned in more than one country - a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories - becoming greater or more numerous - an official document giving someone authorization to do something - an idea or invention which is considered to be a particular person's creation - public transportation - not assigned or restricted to any particular location

- a furnace for burning trash - an unused area of land that has become barren or overgrown - fit to live in - poisonous waste - not producing any dangerous gases - an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel - a successful person or thing - a light at the front of a motor vehicle - to yield good results

 

2. Team up with a student from the other group and swap information. Before you summarize your text, dictate the 3 questions you prepared to your partner and let him/her answer these questions after listening to your summary. Remember to pre-teach the vocabulary from your column in the previous exercise to your partner before making the summary.