Urbanization &
Sustainability

The actions that are taken regarding how waste is
managed throughout the area.
Incineration: The destruction of waste material by burning.

Urbanization develops rapidly and
things such as industrial waste and
incineration can cause pollution

When planning out an urban area, recycling centers must be built. They are a great and efficient source of the three R's. Generally, recycle recyclable things to prevent them from ending up in landfills.

Instead of throwing food waste in the garbage make sure to compost it, this is an efficient and useful source. This can lead to more greenspaces.

This can have an impact on land
pollution and water pollution
because of the garbage that
ends up in the Great
Pacific garbage patch.

Managing waste generally is important and doing it in a sustainable and efficient way is even more important

Water Pollution is the contamination
of water bodies such as rivers,
streams, lakes, aquifers, and the ocean.

Water Pollution is caused by waste,
air quality, and loss of greenspace.

Polluting water can impact things like
species that live in these river bodies
and contaminate freshwater in aquifers
with saltwater. Freshwater is a need for
everyone but if we extract too much from
underground aquifers and without
greenspaces the polluted water will
contaminate the aquifer as well.

One way is to construct water treatment plants that purify the wastewater by going through a long process. This would be the most efficient way as we are hitting the issue right at the source.

Reducing plastic. Nearly 8 tonnes of plastic is released into the ocean annually. Not just littering but the mass production of plastic we are creating. This is affecting the species in water bodies.

Lastly the most basic rule. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Everyone following this can reduce plastic ending up in the water bodies. To add on we should find alternate things to use on a daily basis other than plastic.

Around 70% of earth is water and within
the 70% there is 96% saltwater (not safe
to drink) and 4% of freshwater (safe to drink).
Polluting the bare minimum fresh water there
is, there is nothing left for us to drink.

Most of the plastic waste ends up in the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch due to ocean
currents called "gyres". Gyres usually pull
things towards it's center in a patch.

Land Pollution is the contamination
of the earth's surface at and below
ground. Usually polluting the soil
and causing solid waste on land.

This is caused by two basic things Littering
and waste. Waste in the landfill still
contributes to pollution and littering
is something to be stopped.

Land pollution can not only pollute
the soil which affects greenspaces but
also the solid waste going into the
water bodies and ending up in the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Adding more plants and greenspace can manage these pollution emissions. This also benefits other things and helps prevent deforestation.

Toxic chemicals play a role in land pollution. Cutting or reducing toxic chemicals such as pesticides will also reduce the contamination of soil.

Build waste treatment plants which cut the toxicity of the waste if before being exposed to land.

This is impacted by urbanization and
construction as large groups of people
living density in one area causes production
of waste and littering which leads to land
pollution. Construction takes a major part,
with construction in developing cities
produces a lot of waste which we don't
do much with.

Greenspace: Any piece of natural developed or
undeveloped land that is separated or is
surrounding residential and industrial lands.

Greenspaces include: Parks, gardens, playing
fields, children's play areas, woods and other
natural areas, grassed areas, and farmland.

Urban areas aren't the best planned and are
constructing more and more residential,
commercial, and industrial land in terms of
horizontally taken land. So in developing
urban areas gray space (buildings & paved
surfaces) takes the majority over greenspace.
This reduces vegetation which can impact
other topics.

Before starting the development of urban areas everything must be planned out to make the atmosphere sustainable. Such as planning the ratio of land uses, gray space, and greenspace.

Start constructing buildings more vertically to take up less space which can leave more for greenspace.

Things such as vertical farming, roof top gardens, and vegetation are the basic first step to a sustainable area.

Greenspace is shown to have many benefits
such as health, vegetation, managing the
environment, and even on animals. Eliminating
this can result in the opposite of what is listed.

Forest areas and farmland are two major
greenspace areas. Forests being habitats for
various species and farmland is the source
of fresh produce and vegetation. Eliminating
these lands for urban development can put
wildlife at risk and no plants & vegetation can
lead to types of pollution.