Blackboard Reading, The Conundrum Of Urban Sustainability, William E. Rees

The Conundrum Of Urban Sustainability, William E. Rees
a. the majority of mankind will be living in cities
b. most of the human environment will be “built environment.”
c. human beings are dependent on the environment
d. cities are major drivers of global ecological change
e. sustainable cities > required for sustainable rural communities
f. cities are the problem & key to “global sustainability”
g. transition to a higher plane of civilization?
h. rural: inferior peasant culture?
i. city: 1) engine of economic growth, 2) seat of government, 3) center of culture, 4) wellspring of new knowledge, 5) repository of cumulative learning
j. urbanization > human ecological transformation > 1) dramatic in spatial relationship of human populations to the land, 2) humans are materially dependent on the land & biophysical services of the land
k. paradox: 1) distance humans physically/psychologically from the ecosystems that support them, 2) low incentive to conserve local ecological resources, 3) agricultural land near sprawling cities is lost to food production, 4) dependence on imports > low awareness of ecological & social consequences of the production process, 5) social pressures & high income increases the propensity & capacity of urbanites to consume, 6) urbanization can speed up the loss of local & global carrying capacity
m. conundrum: 1) urbanites lose direct connection to nature, 2) cities require more food, more material commodities, more energy, 3) processing & consumption of resources returns a lot of degraded/toxic waste back to the environment with a high cost on local ecosystems and global ecosystems, 5) modern cities draw on global resources and dump their garbage globally 

 Upping The Urban Ante
a. world is 50% urban
b. world’s population increased 200M to 2B
c. 1.1% of the 1950 level was added each year
d. 1990s: rate of urbanization increased
e. world’s urban pop. grew 50%
f. 2025: 5.1B will live in cities, up 70% from beginning of 1st quarter of the century
g. there are more cities
h. cities are getting bigger
i. By 2015, 23 of 27 cities will be 10M or more
j. 1990s: 25% of urban dwellers didn’t have proper water, 50% didn’t have proper sewage
k. millions of dwelling units, stores, offices, schools, hospitals, water treatment, waste treatment, roads, parking facilities, transportation, communications, urban infrastructure is required

Cities & Sustainability
a. can we become sustainable the way cities are growing?
b. the economies of scale & agglomeration economies of the city might enhance the future of humanity 
c. human use already exceeds global carrying capacity
d. more prosperous nations have been ignored on the sustainability hook
e. 80% of populations in high income countries live in cities
f. high income cities: heavy burdens on nature
g. the wealthiest 25% of humans consume 80% of the world’s economic output
h. 64% of world’s production/consumption/pollution is associated with rich countries