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PubMed2004

Governance challenges and coalition building among urban environmental stakeholders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Rapid urbanization is arguably one of the most complex and important socioeconomic phenomena of the new millennium. It represents major and irreversible changes in production and consumption patterns and the way people interact with nature. The impact of urbanization will continue to bring about major changes especially in many countries in the developing world that are experiencing rapid urbanization. The serious environmental and development challenges facing Dar es Salaam, the largest commercial center of Tanzania, are highlighted in this report.

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

Urban biosphere and society: partnership of cities--introduction.

This paper reports on issues of conservation, equitable use of resources, and the improvement of quality of life for all persons living in densely populated cites. Case studies are presented that examine UNESCO's concept of biosphere reserve, demonstrating the elasticity and usefulness of the concept as a way to promote global sustainability and governance on local, regional and global levels.

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

Toward urban biosphere reserves.

The objective of this article is to outline the evolution in applying the biosphere reserve concept to urban areas and to present some of the potential benefits and possible difficulties in the design and management of urban biosphere reserves.

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

The UNESCO biosphere reserve concept as a tool for urban sustainability: the CUBES Cape Town case study.

The Cape Town Case Study (CTCS) was a multi-institutional collaborative project initiated by CUBES, a knowledge networking initiative of UNESCO's Ecological Sciences Division and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Cape Town was selected as a CUBES site on the basis of its high biological and cultural significance, together with its demonstrated leadership in promoting urban sustainability. The CTCS was conducted by the Cape Town Urban Biosphere Group, a cross-disciplinary group of specialists drawn from national, provincial, municipal, and civil society institutions, mandated to examine the potential value of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve concept as a tool for environmental management, social inclusion, and poverty alleviation in Cape Town. This article provides a contextualization of the CTCS and its collaborative process. It also reviews the biosphere reserve concept relative to urban sustainability objectives and proposes a more functional application of that concept in an urban context. A detailed analysis of key initiatives at the interface of conservation and poverty alleviation is provided in table format. Drawing on an examination of successful sustainability initiatives in Cape Town, specific recommendations are made for future application of the biosphere reserve concept in an urban context, as well as a model by which urban areas might affiliate with the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves, and criteria for such affiliation.

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

Managing the megacity for global sustainability: the new york metropolitan region as an urban biosphere reserve.

The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), while not originally conceived to include urban areas, was intended to include sites representing all significant ecosystems with the goal of support for sustainable development locally and globally. Drawing on the example of the New York Metropolitan Region (NYMR), which has a population of 21.4 million, it is argued here that the eventual inclusion of the largest of the world's cities in WNBR not only is within the logic of the biosphere reserve concept, but would also benefit the network and its goals. The ecological significance of the NYMR, its role as a driver for global environmental change, as well as the efforts under way in the city to improve urban environmental management and governance are all examined. Potential added value to the WNBR of including megacities such as the NYMR is considered, in particular, regarding the sharing of best practices, lessons learned, and the strengthening of links between megacities and their global natural resource bases.

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

Improving air quality in megacities: Mexico City case study.

The development and effective implementation of solutions to the air pollution problems in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area is essential to guarantee the health and welfare of its inhabitants. To achieve this, it is essential to have the active and informed participation of the civil society, the academic community, the private sector, and the government, because dealing with pollution requires the use of different strategies in multiple fields of action. The Mexico City case study brings together health, transportation, administration, and many other interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and defeating air pollution. Although focused on the Mexico City area, the work conducted under this case study has significance for developing nations generally. Although policies to reduce air pollution should be based on the best available scientific knowledge, political will and capacity must transform this knowledge into action. This case study has developed a series of recommendations emphasizing the interaction between different disciplines that have provided the foundation for the 10-year air quality management program prepared by the Mexican Metropolitan Environmental Commission.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2004

The application of the biosphere reserve concept to urban areas: the case of green rooftops for habitat network in Seoul.

This article consists of two parts. The first shows how the principles of the ecosystem approach can be applied to green rooftops, and the second attempts to illustrate it through a case study. In particular, it suggests new approaches and techniques for creation of green rooftops in a perspective of urban habitat network and urban biosphere reserve. To endow urban rooftops with the roles and functions of urban habitat network and urban biosphere reserve, it is necessary to apply "an ecosystem approach to urban management." In this article, an ecosystem approach to urban management is illustrated with Seoul as an example. The Habitat Network in Seoul will be reviewed with a focus on the model suggested by MAB Urban Group. Then, the roles and functions of Myeongdong UNESCO Green Rooftop and its possible contribution to building the Seoul Urban Biosphere Network will be described. The UNESCO Green Rooftop is 628 m(2) and was created on the 12th floor rooftop of UNESCO Building in Myeongdong 2-ga, Jung-ku, Seoul. In the green rooftop, which was created with goals of securing green areas and biotopes in downtown, creating an urban econetwork, securing a base for urban ecosystem study and environment education, and disseminating an idea of coexistence between nature and humankind, wetland, meadow, scrub and woodland, wall revegetation, and a vegetable field are created. Also, rainwater recycling facilities and a solar energy water circulation system were set up. Rest facilities including observation and education facilities were built. Based on the Seoul example, as well as urban biosphere reserve models suggested by the MAB Urban Group, we suggest several principles to be applied for a green rooftops to qualify as a category of urban biosphere reserves.

Architecture↗
PubMed2004

Application of the biosphere reserve concept to urban areas: the case of São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve, Brazil--São Paulo Forest Institute: a case study for UNESCO.

This report attempts to bring together contributions from technicians and scientists studying and dealing with the manifold aspects of the São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve. It will highlight the understanding by UNESCO of the important role that biosphere reserves can play in the urban setting.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2004

Sustainability, survivability, and the paradox of New Orleans.

Some precepts of the urban sustainability movement derive from the premise that economic expansion, population growth, and physical sprawl lead to a decline in quality of life, ecological damage, and eventual unsustainability. But what about cities that are failing-losing population, losing investment, losing infrastructure, even losing land? This article challenges conventional sustainability concepts, usually derived from the experiences of ascending cities, with the notion of survivability that confronts declining cities. Should troubled cities, such as New Orleans, located on the eroding Gulf of Mexico coastal region of the state of Louisiana, be held to different sustainability standards? Could urban expansion, in some cases, actually stem environmental degradation and enhance survivability?

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

The dynamics of social-ecological systems in urban landscapes: Stockholm and the National Urban Park, Sweden.

This study addresses social-ecological dynamics in the greater metropolitan area of Stockholm County, Sweden, with special focus on the National Urban Park (NUP). It is part of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and has the following specific objectives: (1) to provide scientific information on biodiversity patterns, ecosystem dynamics, and ecosystem services generated; (2) to map interplay between actors and institutions involved in management of ecosystem services; and (3) to identify strategies for strengthening social-ecological resilience. The green areas in Stockholm County deliver numerous ecosystem services, for example, air filtration, regulation of microclimate, noise reduction, surface water drainage, recreational and cultural values, nutrient retention, and pollination and seed dispersal. Recreation is among the most important services and NUP, for example, has more than 15 million visitors per year. More than 65 organizations representing 175,000 members are involved in management of ecosystem services. However, because of population increase and urban growth during the last three decades, the region displays a quite dramatic loss of green areas and biodiversity. An important future focus is how management may reduce increasing isolation of urban green areas and enhance connectivity. Comanagement should be considered where locally managed green space may function as buffer zones and for management of weak links that connect larger green areas; for example, there are three such areas around NUP identified. Preliminary results indicate that areas of informal management represent centers on which to base adaptive comanagement, with the potential to strengthen biodiversity management and resilience in the landscape.

City Planning↗
PubMed2004

Regreening the metropolis: pathways to more ecological cities: keynote address.

Eighty percent of the American population now lives in metropolitan regions whose geographic extent continues to expand even as many core cities and inner-tier suburbs lose middle-class populations, jobs, and tax base. Urban sprawl and the socioeconomic polarizing of metropolitan America have been fostered by public policies including (1) federal subsidies for new infrastructure on the urban fringe; (2) tax policies that favor home ownership over rental properties; (3) local zoning codes; and (4) federal and state neglect of older urban neighborhoods. In the face of diminished access to "nature" outside of metropolitan areas, locally based efforts to protect and restore greenspaces within urban areas seek to make older communities more habitable and more "ecological." Some pathways to more ecological cities include the following: (1) the notion of rus in urbe ("the country in the city"); (2) the "usable outdoors"; (3) garden cities and eco-villages; (4) green buildings and green roofs; (5) urban biodiversity; (6) ecological services; and (7) space, nature, and place.

City Planning↗
PubMed2000

Implementation and evaluation of church-based health fairs.

From a comprehensive, community health-needs assessment based on the Neuman Systems Model (Neuman, 1995), cardiovascular disease was identified as the priority health concern in one quadrant of a small Midwestern city. The Plan, Do, Check, Act program planning model (Dees & Garcia, 1995) was the basis for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a mini cardiovascular health fair held at 3 churches. Congruence of the program planning model with the roles of the clinical specialist in community health nursing is discussed, followed by a discussion of the health fair goals and objectives, implementation, and formative and summative evaluations.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMed2006

The role of built environments in physical activity, eating, and obesity in childhood.

Over the past forty years various changes in the U.S. "built environment" have promoted sedentary lifestyles and less healthful diets. James Sallis and Karen Glanz investigate whether these changes have had a direct effect on childhood obesity and whether improvements to encourage more physical activity and more healthful diets are likely to lower rates of childhood obesity. Researchers, say Sallis and Glanz, have found many links between the built environment and children's physical activity, but they have yet to find conclusive evidence that aspects of the built environment promote obesity. For example, certain development patterns, such as a lack of sidewalks, long distances to schools, and the need to cross busy streets, discourage walking and biking to school. Eliminating such barriers can increase rates of active commuting. But researchers cannot yet prove that more active commuting would reduce rates of obesity. Sallis and Glanz note that recent changes in the nutrition environment, including greater reliance on convenience foods and fast foods, a lack of access to fruits and vegetables, and expanding portion sizes, are also widely believed to contribute to the epidemic of childhood obesity. But again, conclusive evidence that changes in the nutrition environment will reduce rates of obesity does not yet exist. Research into the link between the built environment and childhood obesity is still in its infancy. Analysts do not know whether changes in the built environment have increased rates of obesity or whether improvements to the built environment will decrease them. Nevertheless, say Sallis and Glanz, the policy implications are clear. People who have access to safe places to be active, neighborhoods that are walkable, and local markets that offer healthful food are likely to be more active and to eat more healthful food-two types of behavior that can lead to good health and may help avoid obesity.

Child↗
PubMed2006

Incorporating green-area user groups in urban ecosystem management.

We analyze the role of urban green areas managed by local user groups in their potential for supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services in growing city-regions, with focus on allotment areas, domestic gardens, and golf courses. Using Stockholm, Sweden, as an example cityregion, we compile GIS data of its spatial characteristics and relate these data to GIS data for protected areas and "green wedges" prioritized in biodiversity conservation. Results reveal that the three land uses cover 18% of the studied land area of metropolitan Stockholm, which corresponds to more than twice the land set aside as protected areas. We review the literature to identify ecosystem functions and services provided by the three green areas and discuss their potential in urban ecosystem management. We conclude that the incorporation of locally managed lands, and their stewards and institutions, into comanagement designs holds potential for improving conditions for urban biodiversity, reducing transaction costs in ecosystem management, and realizing local Agenda 21.

Biodiversity↗