Sustainable urban infrastructure

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Sustainable urban infrastructure expands on the concept of urban infrastructure by adding the sustainability element with the expectation of improved and more resilient urban development. In the construction and physical and organizational structures that enable cities to function, sustainability also aims to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the capabilities of the future generations. [1]

Contents

SDG 9, of the international Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly, deals with infrastructure, however, infrastructure is a building block for the rest of the SDGs. Therefore, the achievement of sustainable infrastructure is of significant concern in multiple areas of society. [2]

The sustainable development of urban areas is crucial since more than 56% of the world's population lives in cities. Cities are in the lead of climate action, while being responsible for an estimated 75% of the world's carbon emissions. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Concept

A bibliometric study, published in 2019, of the evolution of research regarding sustainable urban infrastructure emphasizes that this concept continues to grow in the research community and change in scope as technology improves. [7] According to the College of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Colorado Denver, urban infrastructure refers to the engineered systems (water, energy, transport, sanitation, information) that make up a city. Not solely based on evaluating utilities, sustainability efforts in urban infrastructure seek to combat global warming and municipal waste, as well as encourage economic prosperity. Socioeconomic implications of these efforts often involve policy and governance in the implementation of sustainable infrastructure, and their variation results in different programs sized on national, regional, or more local scales. [8] Challenges resulting from increasing population growth have generated a need for sustainable infrastructure that is high performing, cost-effective, resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly. [9]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency maintains that the planning process of sustainable design can lead to the development of a community that is ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable. [10] The design for a sustainable urban infrastructure emphasizes localization and sustainable living. According to the principle of sustainable development, the aim is to reduce an individual's ecological footprint in areas with a high population density.

The criteria for what can be included in this kind of urban environment varies from place to place given differences in existing infrastructure and built form, climate, and availability of local resources and talents.

Generally speaking, the following could be considered sustainable urban infrastructure:

A more systematic view of sustainable urban infrastructure has grown in popularity. Instead of just focusing on housing and space, experts now incorporate ideas regarding urban resource metabolism, the interconnectedness of citizens, and the complex vulnerabilities that cities develop over time. [8] Green infrastructure is a subset of sustainable urban infrastructure, and mostly considers ecological implications, water resources, and nature-based solutions. [7]

Global Initiatives

Generalized

When comparing volume of research and developments, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China are the most involved in generating solutions for infrastructure. Different national priorities often result in different sustainability foci among countries. According to a review of available projects and research, the United States and United Kingdom prioritize sustainable solutions towards culture, water, disasters, and urban planning. The United States especially has made progress with green infrastructure initiatives (e.g. Green Alley Programs). [11] China and Australia have similar priorities, but Australian tourism takes larger precedence as opposed to disaster prevention, while China is significantly involved in governance, electricity, and land development. [7]

Africa

Existing infrastructure and governance challenges in general can slow progression towards sustainable urban practices. The United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, applicable for a multitude of African countries, seeks to deal with these challenges while working towards sustainability. According to the UN, only 40% of the African population lives in urban areas, but these urban areas, and their interconnectedness, are quickly growing, requiring the consideration of sustainability. In light of this, the African Union (AU) began its own sustainability and infrastructure initiative in Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. African discourse with the UN has notably referenced the ethical extraction of resources and equitable access to resources as measures of sustainability within the infrastructure of a society's urban culture and metabolism. However, a lack of consistent government regulation and socioeconomic conditions continue to hinder attempts to establish a resilient and sustainably motivated network of cities across Africa. A national movement to create integrative urban policies, which have been adopted by many African countries, gives hope to the idea of governmental commitment to cooperatively developing land in the best interest of growing urban areas. [12]

Australia

In contrast to the increasing Chinese population, the population in Australia faces threatened resiliency due to decreasing population growth rates. More efficient land development, also carried out by an integrated group of bureaucratic bodies throughout Australia, and multiuse utility systems can maximize the social, environmental, and economic benefits of a country regardless of whether the population is increasing or decreasing. [13]

Canada

Sustainable urban infrastructure is also called sustainable municipal infrastructure in Canada. It is an infrastructure initiative that facilitates progress towards the goal of sustainable living in a place or region. [14] Attention is paid to technological and government policies which enable urban planning for sustainable architecture and sustainable agriculture.

In Canada, several organizations related to the FCM InfraGuide project, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, National Research Council of Canada, and Canadian Public Works Association, seek to achieve sustainability in municipal infrastructure, especially large scale urban infrastructure. These organizations advocate environmental protocols, and inclusion of ecological and social indicators and factors in decision making at the earliest possible stage. There is little focus yet on sustainable rural infrastructure, though, this is a stated goal of the project, as is the achievement of sustainable rural development in developing nations.

In their view, sustainability concerns apply to all of "maintaining, repairing and upgrading the infrastructure that sustains our quality of life" including at least:

These and other Canadian official entities, including the Auditor General of Canada and Service Canada, are focused on related efforts such as municipal performance audits, information technology, communications technology, moral purchasing and sharing of "data, information, common infrastructure, technology," and the need to "integrate their business processes." In particular, this integration further reduces duplication and waste, especially e-waste and greenhouse gas emissions that were a concern under Kyoto Protocol targets that Canada committed to achieve. In 2011, Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol due to economic concerns. [15] [16]

China

The increasing population of China has significantly impacted the ratio of resource consumption to resource production, which has put pressure on the Chinese government and economy to establish a more efficient way of using resources to permit sustained longevity of Chinese society. The Circular Economy Policy has already begun to address this issue by enforcing repeated analysis and reuse throughout a product's entire life cycle. To solve this problem, first of all, China will improve to promote the progress of science and technology and business management and improve labor efficiency. The second is to guide enterprises to optimize the combination of production factors following market needs and achieve the interface between production and demand. Thirdly the government will allow competition and the mechanism of eliminating winners and losers among enterprises to enhance the ability to produce and operate goods. Last but not least, the Chinese government plans modern urban centers in completely different areas. A modern framework includes open transportation, water supply, and distinctive private regions and mechanical regions dissemination. [17] First-world and developed countries, such as some parts of China, often seek to grow exponentially in economic productivity and consumerism, but this exponential growth must be matched with an exponential drop in resource consumption that may be achieved through an integrated system approach. This systematic approach of incorporating consumerist and lifestyle changes on many societal levels, reflects the systematic dynamic of sustainable urban infrastructure. By treating sustainability as a function of interconnected systems (e.g. transportation, land development, community formation, etc.), the impact of any change in one system can be amplified without causing a sector of infrastructure to singularly fail. [13]

Indonesia

The redevelopment of North Jakarta was the subject of a 2012 project to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing sustainable design, as well as public knowledge about the benefits of such design. City areas along the coast particularly suffer from large socioeconomic gaps, high density slums, and poor development planning. Results from the Structural Equations Model (SEM) revealed that, although sustainable redesigning would help uplift coastal areas, public efficacy towards sustainable urban infrastructure was lacking significantly. [18] Public surveys conducted in Jakarta emphasized the following priorities:

By applying sustainable technology and methods to these components of infrastructure, the government seeks to reinvigorate the socioeconomic wellbeing of North Jakarta. However, in order to effectively create a wholly resilient society, the project stresses that the design process must be shared between government initiatives, the commercial sector, and public opinion. This mutual relationship is reflected in the project philosophy, which viewed cities as an ecosystem of the aforementioned priorities shared effectively among different levels of society in order to thrive. [19] One of the biggest challenges faced when implementing sustainable design is expected to be the quantification of future operational costs and maintenance, which are ideally offset by the benefits of increased sustainability. [18]

Switzerland

The Swiss Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) supports various stakeholders, such as governments, banks, and cities, in designing, implementing, and financing sustainable urban infrastructure projects at all stages of the project cycle. [20] Currently, GIB has developed, in cooperation with the French bank Natixis, the SuRe® Standard – The Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, [21] which is a global voluntary ISEAL standard. [22] GIB has also developed the SuRe® SmartScan, a simplified version of the SuRe® Standard that serves as a self-assessment tool for sustainable infrastructure projects. It provides project developers with a comprehensive analysis of the various themes covered by the SuRe® Standard, offering a solid foundation for green infrastructure projects that are planning to become certified by the SuRe® Standard. [23]

Infrastructural aspects

Roadway materials

Roadside and urban infrastructures such as signposts, bollards, and street furniture are prone to damage and deterioration. As infrastructure deteriorates, it requires either replacement or enhancement. Existing public funding sources are inadequate to meet these needs. [24] Self-healing technology could protect surrounding paving and foundations from damage when items of infrastructure are impacted, which can reduce maintenance and improve the sustainability of urban developments. [25] [26] Self-healing developments result in zero waste and zero-landfill from maintenance on items of urban infrastructure for the life of the development.

Net-zero energy building using passive design and renewable energy Net-zero energy building (NZEB) icon copy.png
Net-zero energy building using passive design and renewable energy

Renewable energy

Policy and technology are key factors in the implementation of renewable energy sources, which not only improve energy efficiency, but also the electricity demand of communication networks and the self-sufficiency of a city in the instance of disaster. Projects that involve zero-energy buildings, reduced cooling and heating demand, and greater understanding of occupant behavior achieve a greater holistic perspective of wasteful energy sourcing. [27]

Smart grid

Distributed generation and energy demand management are components of the smart grid, a term for an electrical grid that uses renewable and energy efficient means of generation. An optimized city might also use the smart grid for communication networks, the Internet, and other electronic signals that build the electronic and cultural infrastructure of urban communities. Electric vehicles and substations link transportation with the grid, and commercial transactions over the Internet directly link the economy. As cities grow larger and more electronically dependent, reliability and security become significant concerns for institutions and private citizens. By using a renewable and efficient system, a city can reduce the threat of a collapse of power and information services. [7]

Transportation

To reduce overall footprint, transportation infrastructure requires a localized consumer base made accessible by integrative design within neighborhoods. This design, which results from effective land development, is ideally overseen by competent governance. Consistent funding and effective investments also allow public transportation to maintain stable services, keeping the city itself more stable as a result. These aforementioned concepts are one interpretation of the "4 Pillars of Transportation" known as

Automobile emissions associated with urban congestion directly correlate with a decline in urban citizen health, making public transportation more optimized for maintaining resilient public and environmental health. Once again, cost-effectiveness is important, in that maintenance costs must be exceeded by benefits (monetary and/or societal), but oftentimes state-owned public transportation suffers significant losses. [28]

Resources

A common governance and administration method subjected to studies, such as from the Complex and Sustainable Urban Networks (CSUN) Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the control of resource supply and demand. When supply and demand are manipulated, it may be possible to steer an urban society toward resources and forms of infrastructure that are more conservatively used and conducive towards sustained use. In addition, by systematically designing interdependencies and multifunctionality among forms of urban infrastructure, a society ensures that, if one part of infrastructure fails, other parts can help remediate the loss in service. This references back to integrative design as well. [29]

Life cycle assessments of resource materials can also help calculate the environmental footprint of a city. In 2017, at least 84 sampled cities from around the globe had a projected footprint increase of 58%-116% by 2050. If the cities reduced resource consumption on a social and technical basis, and adopted energy efficient practices, the projected footprint improved dramatically. Unfortunately, these statistics are often difficult to compare because the exact conditions, resources, and assets of the cities all differed. The countries are more relatable, however, when globally valued resources are used, thus encouraging international dialogue, planning and foresight. [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infrastructure</span> Facilities and systems serving society

Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and private physical structures such as roads, railways, bridges, airports, public transit systems, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications. In general, infrastructure has been defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions" and maintain the surrounding environment.

Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint by altering their home designs and methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet. Its proponents aim to conduct their lives in ways that are consistent with sustainability, naturally balanced, and respectful of humanity's symbiotic relationship with the Earth's natural ecology. The practice and general philosophy of ecological living closely follows the overall principles of sustainable development.

Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environment of particular areas. Classical prudent design may have always considered environmental factors; however, the environmental movement beginning in the 1940s has made the concept more explicit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable transport</span> Transport with sustainable social and environmental impacts

Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport. Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system. Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of the emissions, almost 97%, came from direct burning of fossil fuels. In 2019, about 95% of the fuel came from fossil sources. The main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union is transportation. In 2019 it contributes to about 31% of global emissions and 24% of emissions in the EU. In addition, up to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions have only increased in this one sector. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green building</span> Structures and processes of building structures that are more environmentally responsible

Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building also refers to saving resources to the maximum extent, including energy saving, land saving, water saving, material saving, etc., during the whole life cycle of the building, protecting the environment and reducing pollution, providing people with healthy, comfortable and efficient use of space, and being in harmony with nature. Buildings that live in harmony; green building technology focuses on low consumption, high efficiency, economy, environmental protection, integration and optimization.’

The climate in urban areas differs from that in neighboring rural areas, as a result of urban development. Urbanization greatly changes the form of the landscape, and also produces changes in an area's air. The study of urban climate is urban climatology.

An eco-city or ecocity is "a human settlement modeled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems", as defined by Ecocity Builders. Simply put, an eco-city is an ecologically healthy city. The World Bank defines eco-cities as "cities that enhance the well-being of citizens and society through integrated urban planning and management that harness the benefits of ecological systems and protect and nurture these assets for future generations". Although there is no universally accepted definition of an 'eco-city', among available definitions, there is some consensus on the basic features of an eco-city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental planning</span> Considering environment in developing land

Environmental planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to achieve sustainable outcomes. A major goal of environmental planning is to create sustainable communities, which aim to conserve and protect undeveloped land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable habitat</span>

A Sustainable habitat is an ecosystem that produces food and shelter for people and other organisms, without resource depletion and in such a way that no external waste is produced. Thus the habitat can continue into the future tie without external infusions of resources. Such a sustainable habitat may evolve naturally or be produced under the influence of man. A sustainable habitat that is created and designed by human intelligence will mimic nature, if it is to be successful. Everything within it is connected to a complex array of organisms, physical resources, and functions. Organisms from many different biomes can be brought together to fulfill various ecological niches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zero-energy building</span> Energy efficiency standard for buildings

A Zero-Energy Building (ZEB), also known as a Net Zero-Energy (NZE) building, is a building with net zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site or in other definitions by renewable energy sources offsite, using technology such as heat pumps, high efficiency windows and insulation, and solar panels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable city</span> City designed with consideration for social, economic, environmental impact

A sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for the social, economic, and environmental impact, as well as a resilient habitat for existing populations. This is done in a way that does not compromise the ability of future generations to experience the same. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 defines sustainable cities as those that are dedicated to achieving green sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. In accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11, a sustainable city is defined as one that is dedicated to achieving green, social, and economic sustainability. They are committed to this objective by facilitating opportunities for all through a design that prioritizes inclusivity as well as maintaining a sustainable economic growth. Furthermore, the objective is to minimize the inputs of energy, water, and food, and to drastically reduce waste, as well as the outputs of heat, air pollution. Richard Register, a visual artist, first coined the term ecocity in his 1987 book Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future, where he offers innovative city planning solutions that would work anywhere. Other leading figures who envisioned sustainable cities are architect Paul F Downton, who later founded the company Ecopolis Pty Ltd, as well as authors Timothy Beatley and Steffen Lehmann, who have written extensively on the subject. The field of industrial ecology is sometimes used in planning these cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green infrastructure</span> Sustainable and resilient infrastructure

Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature. The main components of this approach include stormwater management, climate adaptation, the reduction of heat stress, increasing biodiversity, food production, better air quality, sustainable energy production, clean water, and healthy soils, as well as more anthropocentric functions, such as increased quality of life through recreation and the provision of shade and shelter in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings. More recently scholars and activists have also called for green infrastructure that promotes social inclusion and equity rather than reinforcing pre-existing structures of unequal access to nature-based services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of sustainability</span> Overview of and topical guide to sustainability

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainability:

This page is an index of sustainability articles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zero-carbon city</span> City that has no carbon footprint

A zero-carbon city is a goal of city planners that can be variously defined. In a narrower sense of energy production and use, a zero-carbon city is one that generates as much or more carbon-free sustainable energy as it uses. In a broader sense of managing greenhouse gas emissions, a zero-carbon city is one that reduces its carbon footprint to a minimum by using renewable energy sources; reducing all types of carbon emissions through efficient urban design, technology use and lifestyle changes; and balancing any remaining emissions through carbon sequestration. Since the supply chains of a city stretch far beyond its borders, Princeton University's High Meadows Environmental Institute suggests using a transboundary definition of a net-zero carbon city as "one that has net-zero carbon infrastructure and food provisioning systems".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computational sustainability</span>

Computational sustainability is an emerging field that attempts to balance societal, economic, and environmental resources for the future well-being of humanity using methods from mathematics, computer science, and information science fields. Sustainability in this context refers to the world's ability to sustain biological, social, and environmental systems in the long term. Using the power of computers to process large quantities of information, decision making algorithms allocate resources based on real-time information. Applications advanced by this field are widespread across various areas. For example, artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are created to promote long-term biodiversity conservation and species protection. Smart grids implement renewable resources and storage capabilities to control the production and expenditure of energy. Intelligent transportation system technologies can analyze road conditions and relay information to drivers so they can make smarter, more environmentally-beneficial decisions based on real-time traffic information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green growth</span> Economic growth that is environmentally sustainable

Green growth is a concept in economic theory and policymaking used to describe paths of economic growth that are environmentally sustainable. It is based on the understanding that as long as economic growth remains a predominant goal, a decoupling of economic growth from resource use and adverse environmental impacts is required. As such, green growth is closely related to the concepts of green economy and low-carbon or sustainable development. A main driver for green growth is the transition towards sustainable energy systems. Advocates of green growth policies argue that well-implemented green policies can create opportunities for employment in sectors such as renewable energy, green agriculture, or sustainable forestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green urbanism</span> Practice of creating communities beneficial to humans and the environment

Green urbanism has been defined as the practice of creating communities beneficial to humans and the environment. According to Timothy Beatley, it is an attempt to shape more sustainable places, communities and lifestyles, and consume less of the world's resources. Urban areas are able to lay the groundwork of how environmentally integrated and sustainable city planning can both provide and improve environmental benefits on the local, national, and international levels. Green urbanism is interdisciplinary, combining the collaboration of landscape architects, engineers, urban planners, ecologists, transport planners, physicists, psychologists, sociologists, economists and other specialists in addition to architects and urban designers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable urbanism</span> Study of cities and the practices to build them

Sustainable urbanism is both the study of cities and the practices to build them (urbanism), that focuses on promoting their long term viability by reducing consumption, waste and harmful impacts on people and place while enhancing the overall well-being of both people and place. Well-being includes the physical, ecological, economic, social, health and equity factors, among others, that comprise cities and their populations. In the context of contemporary urbanism, the term cities refers to several scales of human settlements from towns to cities, metropolises and mega-city regions that includes their peripheries / suburbs / exurbs. Sustainability is a key component to professional practice in urban planning and urban design along with its related disciplines landscape architecture, architecture, and civil and environmental engineering. Green urbanism and ecological urbanism are other common terms that are similar to sustainable urbanism, however they can be construed as focusing more on the natural environment and ecosystems and less on economic and social aspects. Also related to sustainable urbanism are the practices of land development called Sustainable development, which is the process of physically constructing sustainable buildings, as well as the practices of urban planning called smart growth or growth management, which denote the processes of planning, designing, and building urban settlements that are more sustainable than if they were not planned according to sustainability criteria and principles.

Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) is an independent, not-for-profit foundation under Swiss law active in the field of sustainable urban infrastructure. The CEO of GIB is Louis Downing.

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