Urban Sustainability: Measuring Cities and Sydney's Future

This essay delves into the critical aspects of urban sustainability, establishing key criteria for measuring a city's environmental health and resilience. It investigates factors like public resource accessibility, urban renewal initiatives, reduction of CO2 emissions, ethical consumption practices, and waste management through recycling and reuse. The study then applies these criteria to the Greater Sydney Region, Australia, evaluating its current sustainability status. It highlights Sydney's commitment to preserving its natural landscape, managing biodiversity, and implementing green infrastructure. The essay further explores how population growth, government policies, and technological advancements might impact Sydney's sustainability in the future, considering both the potential benefits and challenges associated with these factors. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for continuous adaptation and strategic planning to ensure the long-term sustainability of urban environments in the face of evolving challenges.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY OF CITIES
Sustainability of Cities
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1SUSTAINABILITY OF CITIES
As described by Xuemei et al., (pp. 72), a city is termed to be sustainable in the terms
and conditions that the management practices and the growth of the urbanisation sector in the
cities. The sustainability in the cities helps preserve the cultural heritage and the identification
of a city through the ideologies it adopts towards the renovation and restoration of the
resources. With the help of the examination of the study, it was analysed that 50% of the
population of the global world prefers to reside in cities (Michael and Phillipe). The
migration of the significant number of the community has become a crucial and complex
problem for the management of the cities to maintain and meet the demand and the basic
needs of the same. The terminologies of overpopulation, the increasing consumption, the
devastating pollution as well as the depletion in the natural resources have degraded the
quality of the cities and also led to complex challenges in environmental as well as health
challenges in the cities (Dimitris N). In this connection, the given study tends to investigate
the necessary criteria through which the sustainability of any city is measured.
As implied by Jonathan, in order to measure if a city is sustainable or not there are
many vital areas of undermining the same. In this connection, the first criteria recognised as
opined by Boyd and Pablo (pp. 90), is the access of the city towards the public resources.
This means the comfort level of the citizens of the town is a critical factor in order to estimate
whether the city is sustainable or not. Specifically, the opportunities the residents of the city
get towards the quality of education sector, the health care centres, the ease in the access of
public transportation, the cleaning services and also the safety and quality of the air are the
factors that are termed to highly required for a city to be sustainable. In the modern era of
urbanisation and globalisation, the tastes and preferences of the population change within
their stay in the cities and so it turns out to be a significant need for the cities to adapt to the
solutions that would help to sustain the resources and therefore the city.

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The next vital criteria investigated in the context of measuring the sustainability of
the cities is termed as the urban renewal actions (Ayyoob, pp. 12). The same means the
renovation of the public spaces in the cities is termed to be a fundamental trait in the
measurement of the sustainable cities. The public streets, the squares, the parks of the cities,
the modern irrigation as well as the urban areas and spaces all are the vital factors of the
sustainable living that measures the civic renewal action of the cities. The same helps in the
perseverance of the cultural heritage and identification of any city that is heading towards the
ideology of restoration and renovation to maintain itself. To ideally specify, an urban renewal
city is the one which is changed in an entire integrated way that designs the incentivise to
adopt the sustainable practices resulting in the effective and efficient use of resources of
energy as well as water.
The third criteria examined is the reduction in the harmful emission of the CO2
gases. In this connection, as stated by Gary W and Stephen J, the decline in the CO2
emissions as well as others harmful and poisonous gases towards the ozone layer are perhaps
measured to be the most recognisable measure for a city to be committed to the sustainability
of its environment. Therefore, the factor of lowering and taking steps to reduce the CO2
levels can be achieved by means of shifting towards the long-term use of renewable energies,
the vertical gardens as well as an adequate supply and adaption in the alternative means of
transport such as bicycles, trains and electric buses that would reduce the elimination of
harmful gases in the environment of the city. Along with this, the commitment of the
household sector towards the saving of water and energy is also needed for sustaining the city
and its resources. Thus, the management sector of any city should focus on implementing the
usage of eco-friendly vehicles as introduced in the innovated technology of science and thus
becoming the largest city of the zero-emissions city in the global world.

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The fourth measurable criteria recognised towards measuring the sustainability of a
city is recorded as the favourable ethical consumption. This means explicitly to reduce the
over-consumption of natural resources. As stated by Alan, Keith and Kathryn (pp. 372), the
excessive use of natural resources leads to an increase in wastages and the harmful by-
products that are associated in the manufacturing process. Thus, it becomes critical for the
cities to promote and encourage the ethical consumption of the resources, local food
production as well as fair means of trade in order to turn itself into a sustainable city
supporting the eco-friendly environment.
Last but not the least, the essential criteria for measuring the sustainability in the
cities is the factor of reduction, reuse and the recycle process (Valerio, Maria Grazia, and
Fabiana, pp. 2748). This means that the responsible managers towards the sustaining of a city
must ensure to raise awareness amongst the public about the necessity of recycling and
adhering to responsible consumption and therefore create an infrastructure that allows the
minimal wastage of resources and products. As opined by Joe, this change is only possible in
a short span of time if the cities dedicated to sustainable development shows the leadership
attribute of the management of the cities.
Based on the above pieces of illustration, the study hereby tends to analyse the sustainability
level of the Great Sydney region, Australia. In this connection, as described by Evelyne and
Jean, the Greater Sydney’s plan towards gaining sustainability started with a city within its
landscape. Great Sydney at present is termed to be the most beautiful and liveable regions
across the globe. This is because the concerned district is significantly recognised to indulge
a diversified, appealing as well as an iconic natural landscape that adheres the unique
coastlines, waterways, mountains and rocks, adequate vegetation and a favourable climate as
well. This became possible because the plan for sustaining the natural environment of Great
Sydney involved a long-term approach of managing the biodiversity, the waterways, the rural

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lands and the connected green spaces to them. The infrastructure of the concerned region is
focused on evolving with greening streets as well as neighbourhoods with the increase in the
number of canopy tree cover (Nicholas et al.). It was investigated that for more than ten and
thousands of years the indigenous people in Great Sydney have fostered their care and
protection to the natural landscape of the region. At present, over half of the area of the Great
Sydney is protected with the national parks and reserves the part indulges with. The natural
environment of the concerned region supports and leverages a high hand to the biodiversity
as well as the enhancement of the economic conditions and also the quality life and well-
being of the residents. In this context, the study examined that the significant landscape types
that foster the sustainability in the Great Sydney are recognised as the Protected Natural
Area, the Metropolitan Rural Area, The Urban Area and the Coast and Harbours of the same.
The protected natural areas of the region frame the city to the entire north, west as well as the
south including the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The same is also known to
include the coastal sandstone plateaux as well as the estuaries of the Royal National Park,
Sydney that is considered as the oldest national park across the globe. The Metropolitan
Rural Area has a diversified area of farmland, the resources of minerals and the distinctive
towns and villages that support the value of biodiversity in the region. The Urban Area
includes the mosaic of places that merges the vibrant business environment and districts as
well as the industrial areas that are located to the neighbourhoods. The national parks and
reserves, the protected water and airways intersperse the sustainability of the urban areas and
are termed crucial for the habitats of the region. Thus, the concerned part has successfully
maintained the same in its urban areas and has steeped towards its effective, sustainable
factor.
Hence, based on the above shreds of evidence, the study tends to state that the
Greater Sydney has evolved itself within the criteria of maintaining a high standard and

5SUSTAINABILITY OF CITIES
outstanding natural as well as scenic landscape area. Not only this, with the passing days,
the more the region grows, the more the strategic plans and processes are implemented to
manage and retain the sustainability of the Great Sydney. The efforts of the management to
protect and restore the beauty of the landscapes, the waterways as well as all the concerned
areas by means of implementing the newest and modified form of technologies as well as
eco-friendly resources to continue with the daily works and not hampering the beauty and
resources of the natural environment. Delivering these outcomes is the careful management
of the environmental, social as well as economic values by the concerned department of the
Great Sydney region (Marc J). Thus, both the metropolitan, rural area and the natural area is
protected in the same. The maintenance of the healthy natural environment has leveraged to
the liveability and creating healthy places to live in. It also mitigated the disastrous effects of
the climatic change by maintaining the greenery in the nation. Not only this, the region of
Great Sydney is fostering itself in new approaches and methodologies towards the
management of water resources and the design of the urban areas to be a part of the climate
aspects of the region and move towards the cooling of the region. This proves the
management of the old and new environmental sector in the concerned area that directly
leverages to its effective management of sustainability.
However, on the examination of the study, it was also investigated that the growth in
the population, the plans and policies of the government and the frequent change in the
technologies, is recognised to affect the sustainability of the concerned region of Greater
Sydney in its near future. This is because the same needs a lot of modification and changes
at a constant rate. As opined by Donella, the more the rate of growth in the birth rate, the
higher the number of resources required to be leveraged to them. This results in a conflict to
manage a high number of resources and to result in the use of a high amount of the same.
However, the changes in the plans and policies implemented by the government at a constant

6SUSTAINABILITY OF CITIES
rate may bring to better management in the sector of sustainability because of the more the
strictness of the laws and orders, the more the concentration of the management department
in sustaining the environment resources and not being causal towards the same. The
management would stay under the pressure of the government and would continue to work
with effectiveness and efficiency. Coming to the technological factors and the frequent
changes in the same may prove to be both a positive and negative aspect to the future of the
sustainability of the Great Sydney. This is because the technological changes may surely help
to gain a competitive advantage in the sustainable nature of the region and manage the same
with ease of the technology and less workforce but on the other side will also result in the
increment of the cost of implementing and changing the same frequency.
Thus, on the basis of the above-presented study it can tend to conclude that
maintaining the sustainable nature of a city involves many crucial and complex issues and
challenges. In order to sustain the natural and environmental resources of a region the
management of the same needs to study the need for supporting the same in depth. It takes a
lot of technological and innovative advancements to maintain the natural resources of a
region. In this connection, the reuse and recycle process should be increasingly implemented
to reduce the wastages and increase sustainability.

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