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Week 1 - Why Everyone should know about sustainability :

● In 2015, world leaders signed the Paris Agreement to work together to limit global warming.
Preferably below 1.5 degrees
● The Paris Agreement was updated in the COP 26 Summit in Glasgow in November 2021.
● The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) produces assessment reports regularly
● 17 Sustainable Development Goals was set up by the UN in 2015 → called Agenda 2030 →
Singapore also signed
● Singapore Green Plan for Green Singapore by 2030 → NTU aims for carbon neutrality by 2035
● We are beginning to see and feel the effects of climate change i.e. global warming, extreme weather,
etc.
● CO2 is the main greenhouse gas, has long life and stay in atmosphere for thousands of years
● CO2 is naturally removed by photosynthesis by plants which releases oxygen
● The ocean also absorbs C02, making it more acidic → Ocean Acidification
● In 2013. The atmospheric carbon pool reached 400 parts per million for the 1st time
● In 2022, the carbon pool is close to 420 parts per million and increasing steadily
● A dip in the carbon pool in 2020 due to the pandemic but a rapid rebound in 2021.
● The 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2005
● Earth temperature has risen by 0.08 degrees per decade since 1880.
● The rate of warming in the past 40 years is about 0.16 degrees → twice the rate
● Sustainable development goals was adopted by the UN as a universal call to end poverty and by
2030, ensure all countries enjoy peace and prosperity
● 17 sustainable goals that are integrated and Singapore has responded in a voluntary national review
report
● Three perspective model is practised to see issues from different sides, identify specific and common
interests
● At the UN climate summit in Copenhagen 2009, world leaders pledged to donate 100 Billion USD per
year to poorer countries by 2020 to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate further rise in
temperature. → has not been met.
● In Singapore Green Plan, the well-being of citizens is part of the sustainability
Video Quiz Answers:
Week 2 - No poverty, Social Inclusion, and Equality:

Part 1:
● Around 10% of the world population lives in extreme poverty and cannot basic needs such as food,
water, sanitation and health
● In 2015, >150 million kids are at risk of continuing to live in extreme poverty by 2030
● Poverty implies a lack of income, lack of resource to ensure sustainable living, hunger and
malnourishment, social discrimination, exclusion and lack of participation in decision-making
● In 1990, 1.9 Billion people lived in extreme poverty which is 36% of the population.
● In 2010, 1 Billion people lived in extreme poverty which is 16% of the population.
● In 2015-2017, 10% of the population lived in extreme poverty
● The rate of poverty decline is reducing significantly recently and the COVID pandemic represents the
first rise in extreme poverty in 30 years
● Prof Jeffrey Sachs, renowned economist and president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions
Network.
● PPP is a theoretical exchange rate.
● In 2015, the international poverty line was US$1.25 per day.
● The Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is predominantly the most poverty
● North Africa poverty has increased 2.3% in 2013 to 10% in 2018.
● East Asia experienced the fast economic growth and fastest decline of extreme poverty and most of
which is from China.
● Average growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has picked up significantly since 2000 at about 5% each year.
● A farmer in Africa achieves about half a ton to one ton of grain per hectare → extremely low.
● Africa’s farmers are too poor to spend money on soil refilling to get decent crop yield which leads to
an agricultural poverty trap.
● A high priority is to roll out government programmes that can help farmers get the farm inputs they
need until they can get them themselves.
● Crucial infrastructures are needed - Roads, rails, power, ports, and communication networks. Mass
electrification and huge investments in health and education are needed.
● Decreasing the fertility rate is a priority in Africa.
● Same thing applies in South Asia.
● South Asia has some of the worst levels of human deprivation and India child malnutrition is nearly
double those of sub-saharan Africa
● Rich countries will donate about 1% of their GDP yearly to help low income countries
● 70% of donations will come from the governments and remaining 30% will come from private
donations
● In 2021, the ODA assistance was $179 billion which is 4.4% higher than 2020 amounts
● Combined income of high income countries is about $40 trillion and donor aid for poor countries
should $280 billion and there is still room for improvement
● China and Korea relied heavily on foreign aid in the past and now become the significant donors for
foreign aid

Part 2:
● SDG includes 3 direct and 3 indirect goals to promote social inclusions.
● South Africa has the lowest income equality and the richest 10% hold 70% of the wealth and most of
the people live in poverty
● The US and several South American countries have a better income equality
 ● Western and Central Eastern Europe enjoy relative equal income
● GINI coefficient does not tell anything about overall wealth, income of a country, quality of life or
gender economic well being.
● High income and low income country can have the same GINI if income is distributed equally → US
and Turkey where US has a GDP 8 times of Turkey
● Blacks in the US earn 30% less than Whites and Women in Singapore earn 6% less than man
● Skills, Education and Globalisation seem good but contribute to the income inequality
● Returns of education increased significantly seen by emerging economies like China
● Digital revolution recently has led to use of data science, AI and related info tech .
● Wealthy people use their wealth to gain political influence and influence policies in their favour like tax
breaks. → the digital media is giving them more ways to twist the political system and find ways to
gain wealth
● Government use progressive tax and social transfers suchs as retirement benefits which is not done
properly nowadays
● RICH IS GETTING RICHER AND POOR IS GETTING POORER NO SHIT!
● Income of 99% of people fell during the pandemic → and yet 10 men doubled their wealth during this
time.
● Highest level of gender inequality is in Asia, Middle East and North Africa → Women employment is
50% and earn 50-52% of men in Asia, SSA has a high employment ratio but poor earnings ratio.

Video Quiz Ans:

Week 3 - Introduction to Food Security and the Global Food System:

● 2.37 Billion people in 2020 are lacking food or unable to eat a healthy diet on a regular basis
● More than half of the malnourished people are found in Asia.
● We need to end war and conflicts to achieve zero hunger
● 60% of the world 811 million hungry people lives in areas affected by armed violence
● Assistance from the World Food Programme can ease food worries by people trapped in these areas
and be the first step to peace
● Agriculture contributes to ¼ (25-30%) of greenhouse gases emission and comes mainly from changes
in land use such as deforestation, loss of carbon from soil and methane gas from animal waste.
● Sea level rise in low lying coastal areas caused by climate change
● By 2050, World Bank estimates that the water shortage could result in a decline in rice yields by
15.6%
● Singapore has the three food baskets policy where it imports food like eggs from Malaysia, Australia
and Europe
● Singapore wants to produce 30% of its needs by 2030, tripling domestic production of today.
● Agriculture uses 69% of freshwater supplies and drives degradation of marine and terrestrial
ecosystems, loss of biodiversity and deforestation.
● In less than 30 years, we need to support about 2 billion more than today and is in addition with the
>2 billion people worldwide already going hungry
● Based on studies done on 38,000 around the world, meat and dairy have a larger impact on global
warming compared to plants.
● Agriculture has a heavy consumptive use of freshwater, loading of nutrients, pesticide pollution, soil
erosion and degradation, water pollution, and depletion of freshwater resources
Video Quiz Ans:
Week 4 - Water:

● 17 countries. ¼ of the world’s population face astonishing high level of baseline water stress
● 44 countries, ⅓ of the world’s population face high level of water stress
● Population growth, socioeconomic development and urbanisation increase water demands
● Climate change can make precipitations and demands unpredictable
● 1 in 3 people do not have access to safe drinking water, 2 out of 5 people do not have a primary
hand-washing facility with soap and water, more than 670 million still practise open defecation.
● More than 25% of the african population must walk >30 minutes to collect water
● Water pollution affect economic inequality and contribute to the continuation of inequality
● Existing water treatment methods remove 90% of microplastics, nanoplastics escape the treatments
and remain in the water which humans may eventually consume.
● Agricultural production will need to expand about 70% by 2050
● Water may become an increasing source of international tension.
● A river in mexico that created the Grand Canyon and feed the vast delta has been dry for 2 decades
● Water basins in South Asia, Middle East and East Africa are are major hotspots with many violent
conflicts
● The Nile basin has less activities reflecting past negotiations to replace colonial era water agreements
● India and Bangladesh are concerned about China’s thirsty northern territories and water-diversion
ambitions
● At the Mekong Basin, Southeast Asian countries are anxious as well
● Lack of communication over a significant natural resource is a bad sign for cooperation
● Singapore was 170th out 193 countries for natural water resources in the 2006 World Water
Development Report.
● Singapore was ranked this way because of its limited land
● Singapore developed protected catchments in western and northern singapore.
● Singapore current water demand is 430 million gallons a day → can fill 800 olympic size pools
● By 2060, Singapore’s water demand may be doubled
● Two water agreements signed between SG and Malaysia in 1961 (Expired 31st August 2011) and the
second expires in 2061
● Johor river fell to historic low of 20% due to climate change in 2016
● Singapore has 5 NEWater plants that can meet 50% of the water needs but NEWater is expensive
due to advance technology
● Desalination is the most energy intensive method out of the Singapore 4 taps
● Cost of desalinated water is 2 times of NEWater
● Singapore collects stormwater through Deep Tunnel Sewage System (DTSS) for treatments at a
water reclamation plant
● NEWater processes reclaimed water in ultra-clean, high-grade reclaimed water and is used mainly in
industries.
● DTSS will shrink land occupied by used water infrastructure by 50% and collect every drop of used
water for purification and treatment

Video Quiz Ans:

Which is the factor that makes water demand hard to predict:
Climate Change
Week 5 - Energy and Climate change (I) :

● World Population is 8 billion people and will be estimated 9 billion by 2040

● The US, Canada, Australia and several european countries are high income countries
● Asia and Middle East countries are upper-middle income countries
● SS Africa and some parts of asia are low-income countries
● In 2000, 23-24 million tons of C02 is emitted and in 2020, 35 million tons of C02 emitted → 50%
increase in 20 years
● IPCC findings found that atmospheric C02 concentration in 2019 was higher at any time in the last 2
million years
● Perfect global temperature is 18 degree celsius
● Global surface temperature increased by around 1 degree celsius since industrialisation
● The increase in temperature is associated with increase frequency and intensity of heat
● The first set from 1980-1999 and second set from 2000-2019 → 20 years periods → more than 4000
natural disasters in the 1st set and around 7,400 natural disasters in the 2nd set
● 1.23 million reported deaths in the 2nd set compared to 1.19 million in the 1st set
● Financial losses amounting to $3 trillion in the 2nd set compared to $1.5 trillion in the 1st set
● There are 6 major greenhouse gases
● Global warming potential of methane is higher than C02
● 76% of global greenhouse gases emissions are C02 → main reason for C02 as main greenhouse gas
● We can avoid climate change impacts if we limit temperature changes to 1.5 degrees
● Forests in 1960s soaked 25% of total C02 emissions
● National Institute for Space Research shows that significant parts of the Amazon Rainforest emit more
C02 than they absorb
● Solar photovoltaics is the most popular method of power generation
Video Quiz Ans:

What is “energy poverty”?

Lack of access to sustainable modern energy services and products
Week 6 - Energy and Climate Change (II) :

● From 2022 onwards, certain appliances will need two ticks minimum.
● Apart from moral and ethical responsibilities, businesses do not have any other incentive to stop C02
emissions
● C02 is a byproduct of businesses when they are producing their products and services
● We need to make polluters pay for polluting but not harm the economy in the process
● Governments will need to make sure businesses do not emit C02 for free anymore
● Carbon tax in Singapore is $5 per tonne → forcing businesses in SG to have an option to choose
between reducing C02 or pay the fine and then transfer the cost to the consumers
● Economics’ Rational Agent Theory: Every decision is driven by some kind of cost and benefits
calculations.
● We are asking the current generation to pay to eliminate risk of climate change in the next 50, 100 or
1000 years
● But people are not patient or willing enough to pay for something so distant in the future as climate
change is an intergenerational issue.
● Climate modelling is difficult and dogged with uncertainties → this is not a justification for our inactions
● Professor Sir David John Mackay’s famous book on sustainability: “riding a fast moving motorcycle
near a cliff edge in a fog and you don't have a map. Would the lack of a map justify you not slowing
down?”.
● Nicholas Stern, a leading economist, warns this danger in his report about climate change, impacts
and actions → He prepared this report for the UK in 2006
● He highlighted an issue that nobody considers on the financial viability of climate actions which is
NOT ACTING NOW and its huge cost
● Nicholas estimates that if people act now, it might cost 1% of global GDP per year but if we delay, it
might cost 5% of global GDP in the future and even then, there might be no recovery at all.
● Low income and developing countries feel rich countries started the issue and they should do it first
and bear the responsibility.
● China, USA, India, Russia, Japan are the biggest emitters of C02
● India and China presently producing most of the products that rich countries use → Much of the
industrial emissions are coming from the manufacturing of goods for rich countries
● World average C02 emissions per capita in 2018 was 4.4 tonnes in 2018
● China emitted much more than that which was 7.35 tonnes
● India emitted much lesser than the world average which was 1.79 tonnes per capita
● Several European countries, especially those will oil and gas resources are the some of the biggest
per capita emitters
● Australia, USA, Japan, European countries and South Africa are the next big per capita emitters
● Arguments of the sub-developing countries like India and China are that they are developing to grow
their income per capita to attain living standards that developed countries attained decades ago →
which is why their present emissions are so high
● US Democrats are pro-climate change actions while Republicans are not
● The fossil fuel industry has the biggest business interest involved
● Developing countries will suffer the most in climate change so although they contributed the least so
far, they must put in significantly more effort for their own interest
● Tackling climate change is a pro-growth strategy in the long term
● Individual countries will be vulnerable to climate change threats until the world economy has averted
the climate crisis
● There is also the free-riding problem → some countries may take advantage of others’ efforts without
serious consequences
● In 1992, the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) was signed with
195 countries
● The Kyoto Protocol signed in Kyoto (Duhhh) in 1998 with 192 countries agreeing to take legally
binding targets to reduce emissions
● First commitment period of the protocol ended in 2012 and after three years of negotiation, saw a
landmark agreement in the Paris Agreements of 2015.
● Most countries amended the agreement and agreed to limit global warming to <2 degrees celsius
● They agree to provide financial and tech support to low income countries
● The US withdrew from the agreement in 2020 and joined again in 2021
● Some turn of events in the recent climate meeting in glasgow: the commitment to phase out fossil
fuels was changed to phase down fossil fuels at the last minute.
● Many developed countries aim to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
Video Quiz Ans:
Week 7 - Pollution: Air, Light, Noise and Plastic:

● Respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive lung diseases are some of the top 10 causes of
death in Singapore and worldwide
● Air pollution was reported as early as the 17th century → In 1661, John Evelyn, diarist and gardener,
wrote to King George II and the parliament about London’s air pollution.
● Smog and fog due to coal burning became London's defining character for centuries.
● Colour of the smog was yellow, brown and orange → different from normal fog → gave rise to pea
souper
● Air pollution until the 1950s was accepted due to industrial activity.
● Battersea Power Station was emitting about 160 tonnes of sulphur acid each day during the Great
Smog
● Premature deaths of 12,000 people occurred during the Great Smog
● Public outcry and political reactions led to the Clean Air Act in 1956 → 3 years after the event
● Beijing Haze Events in January 2012 is similar to the 1952 London Smog
● WHO shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe polluted air
● Around 600,000 children below ages of 15 breathe polluted air threatens their health and
development
● Pregnant women breathing poor air give birth early and to small, low birth weight children 3
● Polluted air also impacts neuro development, cognitive abilities, and causes asthma and childhood
cancer.
● Of the 7 millions deaths that occur every year from exposure to these particles, 4.2 million are caused
by outdoor air pollution and 3.8 million are caused by cooking with polluting fuels
● Air pollution is responsible for up to 40 % of global warming
● UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, staples like rice, wheat etc. will decrease by 10% per degree
celsius of global warming
● Air pollution also affects food access → farmers have reduced workdays as breathability worsens and
daily heat rises, limiting income and increasing price of food
● By 2030, we should reduce cities’ adverse per capita environmental impact particularly PM2.5 and
PM10
● 22 Sep 2021, WHO updated their guidelines on air pollution.
● White pollution stemming from plastic is rising in recent years.
● Plastic production since 1964 has increased 20 folds, reaching 311 million metric tonnes in 2014
● Between 1950 to 2015, more than 6,700 million metric tonnes of plastic was produced.
● Plastic packaging accounts for 26% of all plastic used.
● Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean, spanning
from the US West Coast to Japan and bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical gyre
● The gyre rotates around 20 million square kilometres
● 80% of plastics in the Garbage Patch comes from land-based sources and 20% comes from boats
and other marine sources
● Synthetic fishing nets made up nearly half of the mass of the giant patch
● Researchers studies shows that humans consume more than 100,000 microplastics particles a year
● There is currently no standardisation in approaches or an internationally agreed protocol to measure
plastic pollution
● UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) is developing a methodology using citizen science data to
measure marine plastics on beaches and shorelines
● The threat by plastic pollution is still not legally recognised by many countries and corporations
 ● Multinational organisations are pushing for recyclability as priority and ducking their responsibility to
tackle plastic pollution → ignoring waste reduction strategies in favour of less sustainable strategies
● In developing countries, sachet economy is created → Coffee and Instant noodles are the most
extensive plastic pollution
● In 2019, > 8 million tetra packs are sold in Vietnam but a tiny portion are recycled as recycling
infrastructure is overwhelmed by growth
● In 2021, SG plastic recycling rate is 4% → lowest of all the waste streams like metal and wood.
● Noise pollution is also an issue.
● In Singapore, there were 15,000 noise complaints → 3 times that of 2019
● Average outdoor sound level in SG was 69.4 decibels compared to NEA recommendation of 67
decibels
● Mature estates in SG have higher noise pollution due to frequency of roads used and how the estates
are designed
● A 2021 study shows that most Singaporeans are at risk of adverse non-auditory health effects →
metabolic effects, mental health and cognitive effects.
● Tinnitus is a sign of damage to the inner ear → hearing test is advised
● Anti Noise Control Windows developed by NTU promises to cut noise levels by at least 10 decibels
● 5 to 10 years is needed before the tech is improved and viable for commercial and residential
applications
● Australian Pobblebonk Frogs can usually hear up to 800 metres but in noisy areas, only 14 metres.
● Highway noises make it difficult for prairie dogs to find food, hear predators and communicate.
● Rising levels of intense underwater sound are produced by shipping traffic, military sonar, seismic
surveys and oil and gas explorations
● This can cause hearing loss in cetaceans like dolphins, whales and porpoises
● High-intensity sonar can travel thousands of km in deep waters and interfere with cetaceans
communication and navigation systems and affect their ability to find food.
● Light pollution by humans is increasing in range and intensity by 2% per year according to a team in
the UK
● Light pollution is usually correlated to other threats to wildlife like urbanisation adding to a sum to
environmental stress like interference with animal behaviours, reproductive success and survival.
● Light pollution affect insect behaviours unnaturally which affects the pollination cycle and them as a
food source for birds

Video Quiz Ans:

Week 8 - Waste Management:

Part 1:
● Historians championed five periods of modern consumerism
○ 1st: 1500-1800s where adoption of new luxury goods tea, coffee, spices and silks, cotton,
ceramics, plants, drugs and exotic goods by sea or by land
○ 2nd: 1800-1880s where the rise of large urban middle class and spread and use of
manufactured goods.
○ 3rd: 1880s-1930s where consumerism became an economic strategy that stimulated an
increase in production of consumer goods to improve the living standards of countries.
■ An idea popularly seen in the Great Depression
○ 4th: 1930s-1970s where consumerism in the democratic society requires economies to base
mainly on production and distribution of consumer goods to improve living standards, avoid
social conflicts and increase prosperity for all
■ “I shop therefore I am” by Victor Lebow 1955
○ 5th: 1970s-Now where consumerism is associated with globalisation and digitalisation
■ Individual consumer goals are reset to market terms, rhythm and needs
● Consumerism is heavily linked with excessive consumption of resources when you don’t need them
necessarily
● In Singapore, amount of waste disposed has increased seven folds in the past 40 years
● In 2017, 7 million tonnes of waste was generated and an amount that will fill 15,000 Olympic sized
swimming pools
● The global material footprint rose from 43 billion metric tonnes in 1990 to 73 Billion in 2010 and 86
billion in 2017 → 100% increment since 1990
● In 1990, 8 metric tonnes of natural resources were used to satisfy an individual needs
● In 2017, it rose to 12 metric tonnes → 50% increase
● E-waste such phones, toys or anything with a power or battery supply are growing in amount (38%
growth) but only 20% are recycled
● Greenhouse gases like CFC damages the ozone layer and trap heat in the low atmosphere →
causing earth to warm and climate change
● Rich northern countries continue to rely on ten of billions of tonnes of raw materials and hundred of
billions of hours of human labour every year from the southern countries
● The global south is a dumping ground for the world’s e-waste legally or illegally
● The handling of e-waste puts many workers in extreme danger
● Production-consumption chain
○ Extraction → Production → Distribution → Consumption → Disposal
● This system is backfiring now on health, natural resources, economy and economic prospects
● 5 major driving forces of consumption
○ Economic factors → income
■ Growing middle class in China
○ Social factors → human interaction like family members, friends, celebrities
○ Demographic factors → age
○ Cultural factors → fundamental values: needs, wants, preferences, perceptions and
behaviours
○ Psychological factors → behaviour
■ Consumer attitude towards a product and brand image
● Circular economy approach builds upon value retention loops
● Reducing by design affects all stage of the life cycle of a product or service
 ● Other retention processes include:
○ Refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose and recycle
● Three significant gains to be worn from reducing waste of food, energy and water
● Reducing food waste will increase food availability, food system’s efficiency, food security and nutrition
situation
● Energy conservation can be simple as switching off lights when not in use
● Reduce chemical release or waste to all water sources to reduce adverse impact on human health
and the environment.
● In 2019, Singapore mapped the Zero Waste Master Plan to build a sustainable, resource efficient ,
and climate resilient nation.
● NEA introduced mandatory packaging reporting in 2020 and targets implementing a framework for
managing packaging waste including plastics by 2025.
● Stores that go without packaging reduce their product cost by 10%.
● NTU announced its 15 year sustainability emission plan to half the campus carbon emission and
halve its energy, water use by march 2026 compared to 2011 baselines
● In 2019, NEA and NTU built the waste to energy research facility to turn domestic waste into energy
● NTU campus stopped issuing plastic bags for free in October 2018 → saving a million plastic bags a
year

Video Quiz Ans:

Week 9 - Sustainable Cities:

● “Our struggle for global sustainability will be won or lost in cities.”Former UN

Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon
● Proportion of the urban population globally:
○ 2018: 55%
○ 2050: 68%
● Urban loans use globally projected to increase 1.2 million Km^2 by 2030
● Dense Urban Life:
○ Population of cities with at least half a million inhabitants:
■ 2018: 1 in 5 people
■ 2030: 1 in 3 people
● Megacities (>10 million):
○ 43 Megacities by 2030 (majority in Asia and Africa)
○ However, some cities are shrinking
● Urban life drives Our Culture, Our Economy
○ Urban Population tend to have higher standard of living:
■ Electricity access
■ Access to improved sanitation and drinking water
■ Access to clean fuels for cooking and heating
■ Note: Not true for slum households
○ Higher living standards result in a change in lifestyle which results in more consumption
● Going beyond GDP; Doughnut Economics
○ Compass for human prosperity in the 21st century -> Surely applicable to cities
○ Consists of:
■ A social foundation -> To ensure that no one is left falling short on life’s essentials
■ An Ecological ceiling -> To ensure that humanity does not collectively overshoot
planetary boundaries
○ Between those 2 boundaries lies a doughnut-shaped space that is both ecologically safe and
socially just- a space in which humanity can thrive.
● Cities’ interaction with the broader Natural Ecosystems
○ Urban growth impacts natural ecosystems (cities may grow by 1.2M km^2 by 2030, mainly on
forest and agricultural land), and urban life leads to direct impacts on the environment: Air
Pollution, Waste Management, etc).
● Urban life depends on healthy ecosystems and their benefits (or “ecosystem services”):
○ Water, food, energy provision
○ Less visible benefits, eg., carbon sequestration, pollination, cultural heritage
● Cities vulnerable to climate change and are vulnerable to Climate Hazards
○ Cities account for between 60 and 80% of energy consumption and generate as much as 70%
of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
○ Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change and natural hazards due to the
concentration of people and infrastructure .
● Examples of Environmental Hazards: Urban Heat Island
○ Urban heat island: Phenomenon by which a city experiences warmer temperatures than
surrounding rural areas
○ Temperature difference due to how well the surfaces in each environment absorb and retrain
heat
● Examples of Environmental Hazards: Urban Flooding
○ Urban flooding: Flooding experienced in urban areas due to the lack of drainage (lots of
built-up areas mean rainwater cannot infiltrate or be stored)
○ Increase in rainfall intensity, which is expected in many regions, may increase flooding
● Other important Urban Challenges
○ Providing infrastructure for access to basic needs: housing, education, health,...
○ Inequality in rising in cities, both in developed and developing countries
○ 1 billion people live in slums
○ Migration adds to the challenge, with most migrants being found in urban areas.
● Sustainable cities
○ A city that manages all resources it is dependent on in ways that guarantee the well-being of
current and future generations, ensuring distributional equity.
● Example: international Standard Organisation
○ Sustainability Dimensions:
■ Attractiveness
■ Environment
■ Resilience
■ Resource use
■ Social Cohesion
■ Well-being
● SDG 11: Make Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable
○ Eg.s of targets:
■ Target 11.6: By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities,
including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste
management
● 11.61: Proportion of municipal waste collected and managed in controlled
facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
● 11.6.2: Annual mean level of fine particulate matter (e.g PM2.5 and PM10) in
cities (population weighted)
■ Target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green
and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons
with disabilities
■ Target 11.a: Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban,
peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development
planning
● Protecting Cities with Blue and green infrastructure
○ Blue and green infrastructure is an area or system made of naturally occurring or engineered
ecosystems (e.g., forests, green roofs, road trees) and managed to provide benefits for people
and the environment.
○ For eg: Reducing the urban heat island effect
○ Blue and green infrastructure is an area or system made of naturally occurring or engineered
ecosystems (e.g forests, green roofs, road trees and managed to provide benefits for people
and the environment
○ For e.g :
■ Reducing the urban heat island effect
■ Reducing urban floods
● Example: Amsterdam
○ Everything is connected: housing policy relates to many urban dimensions through the local,
global, social, ecological lenses
○ Technology is part of it (e.g rooftop solar panels) But NOT the only part!
○ It takes time, collaboration and engagement with different stakeholders and communities to
identify the most relevant strategy
● There is NO ONE recipe for sustainable cities:
○ Cities are complex systems:
■ Multiple Actors, Structures, Processes, Functions
○ But some common opportunities:
■ Cities can help change individuals’ behaviour
● :e.g Improving public transport so that people use their cars less
■ Cities are innovation and Creativity hubs
● Social or technological progress
● Concentration of financial resources
■ Cities can benefit from scaling effect
● Economies of scale (lower per capita resource use, e.g, efficient use of
infrastructure)