Lesson video

Hi, I'm Chloe, and I'm a geography field studies tutor.

This lesson is called Living Sustainably in Urban Environments, and it forms part of the patterns of global urbanisation unit of work.

We're going to be looking at how the urban environment can be redesigned to be more sustainable, but also how our own behaviours can be changed in order to further that cause.

Let's get started.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to evaluate different strategies for making urban spaces more sustainable, and less congested.

There's a few key terms to think about, first of all.

Sustainable, this is a state of being able to be maintained at a certain level economically, socially, and environmentally, without compromising any future ability to achieve the same level.

Congestion means an overcrowding of traffic in a particular space, and a park and ride scheme is a system where people can park their cars just outside the CBD, or the central business district, and then take public transport into the centre.

This lesson has two sections.

The first is about making urban spaces more sustainable, so we're gonna be seeing the kinds of things that can happen, and then we're gonna focus particularly on traffic congestion, and we're going to look at ways that we can reduce traffic congestion, and ways that have been trialled in different urban spaces.

Let's start with that first one about how we can make urban spaces more sustainable.

When we're thinking about sustainable urban spaces, we need to think about water and energy use, waste management, and how we use green spaces.

When we then think about the connection to that and traffic congestion, of course, we have to mention public transport, how we use bicycles, and how we use cars, and how those things together can create a less congested city.

Let's start by looking at water and energy use.

So geographers view most urban space as being unsustainable.

We have to remember that a key part of this is that urban spaces have a high population density.

This means that they have high levels of water and energy use.

They tend to have a high consumption of food and materials, for example, building materials, and they also have high levels of waste and pollution.

One way of addressing these problems is to conserve resources wherever possible, and we're gonna be thinking about water initially here.

Green roofs slow down the flow of water after rainfall.

Now, this is not only beneficial because it would reduce the risk of flooding, but it could mean that we can actually use that water, and store it.

Permeable paving, so that's paving that has small gaps in it, you can see an example in the photograph there.

This can reduce surface runoff, so instead of water running over the surface of the pavement, it actually soaks in.

And where would it soak to? Maybe you might have a store that you can use to then store that rainwater, and use it for other purposes.

This is called rainwater harvesting.

What could you use that water for? Well, it could be pumped into a system to do things like flush toilets, or to irrigate parkland.

Now let's think about energy, and how you might conserve energy, or make energy in an urban space.

One of the first things you can do, and you probably have got these things in your own home, is energy efficient appliances.

These could be standard, in public buildings, but also more use in the streets.

So things like street lights could be use energy efficient light bulbs.

You might also be able to create energy.

If you've got tall buildings, why not make use of that exposed roof space, by putting some solar panels, or solar tiles, on the roof to create energy for local use.

The building itself might be retrofitted.

This means that the building might have been built some years ago, but then afterwards you can come in, and change the fabric of the building, so insulation could be added.

This would make the building warmer in winter, and cooler in summer.

In other words, less use of radiators, and less use of air conditioning units.

That means you're gonna save energy in that building.

You might also have electric car charging points.

Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, well, that means we're using more energy because we're powering our cars with energy.

We are using less energy in the form of petrol and diesel, and more energy in the form of electricity, which can be made through sustainable sources, like our solar panels on the roof of this building.

Let's check our understanding so far.

Why is using permeable paving in urban areas a sustainable option? It looks nicer and is hard wearing.

It costs less to instal.

It reduces surface runoff, or it directs water to stores for local use.

Have a think about each of those options, and then come back to me with the right answer.

Hopefully, you recognised that it's about reducing surface runoff, but is it something else as well? Yes, it could direct water into a local store, be this an underground tank, or into a local pond, where it can be appreciated in other ways.

We've looked at water and energy.

Now let's look at waste management.

So we're gonna be thinking here about waste recycling, and what could be done in urban areas to increase the amount of recycling, so there's less things going to landfill.

First of all, we recognise that this is true in lots of places, not just urban areas.

There's curbside collection of numerous types of recycling.

Is it the job in your household to sort out the recycling? It's quite a task sometimes, isn't it? Some businesses though may be taxed on waste that goes to landfill.

You might also be able to recycle food waste.

This might be sent to something called a biodigester.

It's a plant that can burn your food waste, and turn it into energy.

You have probably seen these on the streets, litter bins which allow you to sort your waste into what is recyclable and what is not recyclable.

Let's listen into this conversation between Andeep and Alex.

Andeep says, "There's really no excuse not to recycle.

There are bins everywhere." Alex says, "We went to Berlin on holiday.

There, if you don't recycle, you can be fined.

You can even be evicted from your apartment if you don't sort your household waste properly." Do you think cities in the UK need to have rules like this? Let's now look at a third area of sustainability, and that's about green space.

So how can urban spaces be made more sustainable by green space? Let's have a look.

First of all, there's urban parks.

These reduce flood risk and filter air pollution.

Because urban parks are predominantly grass-based, and don't have concrete on them, it means that when the rain falls, it will actually infiltrate into the soil rather than run over the surface.

You can also come back to our green roofs.

These will attract wildlife and cool buildings down.

You might have something like street planting.

This can provide shade both for parking, for pedestrians, for anyone who's using the street.

Let's now listen in on this conversation.

So Sam says, "I wonder why people call urban parks the lungs of the city." Aisha replies, "Well, all the trees, shrubs, and grass must take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen." She's absolutely right on her science there.

The trees, anything that's green within the park, will be able to take in CO2 and release oxygen.

Jacob says, "The leaves must capture all the dirt in the air too, like soot, dust and smoke." And he's correct as well.

Any kind of little particulates that maybe come out of engines, or come off the road, do get thrown into the air for us to breathe in.

Trees, and shrubs, and that kind of thing are brilliant barriers for these.

They will filter out the air because they will capture those particulars.

Now, true or false? Urban parks reduce the chance of towns and cities flooding.

Have a think about what you saw on the last slide.

Is that true or false? Come back to me with the right answer soon.

Well, hopefully yes, you recognise that that is true.

Now, tell me why that's a true statement.

Well done.

If you've got the idea that the greenery slows down rainwater through interception, it increases infiltration because there isn't any concrete covering the earth, and it reduces the amount of overland flow, which would otherwise be causing a flood.

We now move on to our first practise task of this lesson.

You can see here we've got a drawing of an office building, and a street as well.

What I'd like you to do is draw symbols to add three features of sustainability to this sketch.

We've covered lots and lots in this lesson.

You've got a big menu of options to choose from, but I just want three.

I'd then like you to annotate the sketch, explaining why each of your features are important for sustainability.

Remember, annotation is not about describing, it's about explaining.

Right, as I said, there's lots of things you could have chosen for this.

So I've chosen to include these three.

I've got energy efficient lighting.

I've got a roof garden, and I've got a litter bin, which allows you to separate your rubbish.

For the second part, I then need to annotate my sketch, and I'm remembering that I need to make sure I've got explanations in there, and not just descriptions.

So here's the kind of thing your answers may include.

Energy efficient lighting lowers the amount of energy needed.

My roof garden attracts wildlife, and it cools the building, harvest rainwater to be used locally, and street litter bins require users to sort waste into recyclables, and waste going to landfill.

Hopefully you got those ideas.

We'll now move on to the second part of today's lesson, where we're thinking about traffic congestion specifically.

We're gonna start by looking at public transport.

Traffic congestion is a common feature in many UK towns and cities, but why is that? Well, there's increasing levels of car ownership, for a start.

More than ever, we've got people owning cars.

And cars are, on average, getting bigger by design.

And if cars are bigger, they take up more space on the road, and are more likely to cause congestion.

It's also true that many roads, particularly in some of our older towns and cities, they're simply not designed for high volumes of traffic.

This can lead to high levels of air and noise pollution, as well as, of course, the social disruption that comes from having to sit in traffic.

Now, one way to reduce traffic congestion is to make public transport a more viable option for people.

So what we're gonna do here is look at some different strategies, and then how they work.

So the first strategy is bus lanes.

These allow more people to move quickly through an urban area, overtaking cars that are stuck in traffic.

You might have something called an integrated transport system in your area, and not even know about it.

This is where buses, trains, or trams have stations that are close to each other, and their timetables for those different forms of transport actually are aligned.

This makes it easier for people to get to and from an urban area quickly.

They're not having to sit around, waiting for a bus or a train, because the timetables actually align with each other.

That means it's more likely that people are gonna choose public transport because it's actually extremely convenient.

You might also have park and ride schemes where you live.

People can park outside the CBD, or the central business district, for free, and then get a dedicated bus into the centre, and this reduces the need to drive in and find parking.

Let's check our understanding there.

Complete the sentences with the missing words.

You've got a paragraph here with three words that are missing.

So pause the video so you can read it through, and then see if you can work out what is missing.

Let's see your answers, now.

People are more likely to use public transport if it means they do not have to wait for it.

Integrated transport systems are where different modes of public transport have their timetables aligned, and have stations near to each other.

Hope you managed to get those.

We've done public transport.

So now let's look at bicycle use.

A cheaper and healthier alternative to car travel in urban areas is to increase the amount of people cycling.

So you might have something near you called a cycle super highway.

These are arterial routes into the CBD.

In other words, the main routes, which would take you right into the middle of the urban area.

And these have specially widened bicycle lanes.

They can actually accommodate an awful lot of bikes compared to a car lane.

You might have 20 mile an hour restrictions in your area as well.

By reducing the speed limit, this makes the road safer for cyclists, and indeed pedestrians, and can keep the traffic flowing.

Cycle hire schemes have been really popular.

These are common use bikes that can be hired for short periods of time.

And you might have seen these, bike boxes.

They're weatherproof secure boxes at train stations, that allow people to cycle to the station, and then take the train.

Now let's check our understanding there.

True or false, reducing speed limits can increase traffic congestion? What do you think, true or false? Pause video and then come back to me with an answer.

Hopefully you got that that is actually false, but can you explain to me why that's false? Yes, it would almost make sense that if you reduce the speed at which vehicles are going, that they would actually become more congested in traffic.

But in reality, the opposite is true.

Reducing speed limits is more likely to keep traffic flowing through a space, rather than have prolonged congestion.

We're onto our final area now, car use.

There are other ways to either reduce car usage, or manage congestion differently.

One way is creating tolls on roads, or reducing parking spaces.

This makes driving more inconvenient for people, and so it may force people to consider their other options.

Some of you may be aware of the congestion charge, which operates in London, and other cities, as well as things like the ULEZ, the ultra low emission zones, that many cities have on certain vehicles.

You might be aware of something called smart monitoring.

This is where cameras monitor traffic levels, and adjust things, like the wait times on traffic lights, to try to keep it moving.

Something which has not really taken off in the UK, but certainly has in other cities in other parts of the world, are car share schemes.

Drivers get access to priority lanes if they have more than one person in the car, and there are cameras monitoring that usage.

So why might a toll, such as a congestion charge, reduce congestion? It makes driving expensive and inconvenient.

It makes cars speed up and keep moving.

It punishes poor driving, or it pays for councils to widen the road.

Which one of those is true? Do pause the video and have a think about your answer.

Well, hopefully you got it.

Yes, it's A, it makes driving more expensive, and therefore it's gonna be probably inconvenient for some people, and it means they might choose an alternative way of moving into and out of an urban space.

Our last practise task here.

Izzy wants to know which strategy for reducing traffic congestion is most sustainable.

For each strategy, give a score of one, which means a low positive impact, to three, a high positive impact, against the three criteria.

Let's take a closer look at this.

She's chosen three traffic congestion strategies here: congestion tolls, park and ride schemes, and 20 mile an hour zones.

She needs to give a score in each of those for economic sustainability, for social sustainability, and for environmental sustainability.

A one to three score.

Then what I'd like to do is to justify your three scores for just one of the strategies in the tables.

Either the congestion toll, the park and ride, or the 20 mile an hour zones.

Do pause the video here, because this is quite an in-depth task, and then come back to me.

Okay, let's look at your answers here.

Now, of course, this is very much based on opinion.

So I've given them these scores, you might have something quite different.

Don't worry if you've got different numbers to me, it is based on your opinion as a geographer, and, of course, that's gonna be influenced by your experience of these things, maybe in your local area.

Now we need to justify our scores for one of the strategies.

So the one I've chose that I'm gonna justify is my 20 mile an hour zone strategy.

You can see here I've given it a one for economic sustainability, a two for environmental sustainability, and a three for social sustainability.

Remember, one is low and three is high.

This is something your answer may include.

Reducing the speed limit makes the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists, so it scores high for social sustainability.

It does not generate any income like other schemes.

So gains a low score for economic sustainability.

The 20 mile an hour zone doesn't actually stop people from driving, though it will keep traffic moving.

So it somewhat reduces pollution from idling vehicles.

This means environmentally, it scores a two out of three.

So recognising that pedestrians and cyclists are gonna be safer, so that's a social aspect, as a high score.

It doesn't generate any money, not like the tolls or the park and ride.

So it's got a low economic score, but there are both sides of things within the environmental score.

So yes, people are still gonna be using their cars, but at least they're gonna keep moving.

They're not gonna be idling, in other words, sitting in congested traffic.

So a score of two has been given there.

Let's now summarise our learning.

Urban spaces can be made more sustainable by conserving water and energy, reducing waste, and increasing green space.

Various traffic congestion reduction schemes have been adopted by urban spaces.

They vary in approach, and all have different economic, social, and environmental impacts on sustainability.

Well done.

There were lots of strategies to think about there.

I wonder how many of them are in operation in towns and cities near you.

Are they having the positive impact that's anticipated for them? Or are there other things which are causing the city to be more unsustainable than it needs to be? Of course, all of these things rely on human behaviour, and people playing their part.

So have a think about how you can do that as you move around your nearest urban space.