Cities and Sustainability: Challenges, Growth, and Impacts Essay

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of cities and sustainability, examining the challenges and impacts of urbanization. It explores the evolution of urban living, from the rise of different city types based on transportation technology to the environmental consequences of automobile dependence and climate change. The essay delves into the issues of urban planning, the impact of "slums," and the consumption of resources associated with urban growth. Furthermore, it investigates the link between urban activities and greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the vulnerability of urban populations to climate change. The essay also touches on the social impacts of urbanization, emphasizing the need for sustainable solutions and a balanced understanding of the complexities of urban life. The author reflects on the learning from various journals, offering a comprehensive overview of the subject and its significance in the present day.

Running head: CITIES AND SUSTAINABILITY
Cities and sustainability
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1CITIES AND SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
The aim of the article is to evaluate and reflect the learning from thee journals
provided. It has been divided into five distinct parts while the first four parts of the essay
deals with the reflection on the individual issue and the last part of the essay deals with the
personal outcome of the issue.
The first article questions the requirement of studying issues like urbanisation and the
need of dwelling into the understanding of urban living. It is highlighting the fact that it is
crucial for the human substance to know about the issue attached to sustainability due to the
fact that we are living in a time where people have become the new urban species. This is the
overview of the issue of the challenges faced by the urban population (Davis, 2004). This
further discusses the issue of importance of planning and visions for the sustainable growth of
the cities and the urban dwellings. This also highlights the issue of sustainable cities without
the proper planning.
The second journal discusses the origin of the western cities from the period of 12th to
20th century. It also highlights the issue of transport technology shaping the nature of the
urban living. It mentions the growth of the types of cities, the walking city, the transit city
and the automobile city (Davis, 2004). This is the classification of cities on the basis of the
transport technology however it also mentions the issues of clearly differentiating between
these three types of cities. What is more striking in the discussion is the central focus on the
issue of automobile dependence on automobile with the increasing level of car use. It is also
argued that the dependence on automobile do have negative impact on the social life of the
city dwellers (Worldwatch Institute, 2009). It is significant to note one of the key features of
the journal which is the central theme for discussion. The author has pointed out that there is

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a need to develop further concern regarding the automobile dependence and the impact of the
same on the living of the urban population (Saunders, 2010).
This particular journal highlights the issue of cities and the issue if sustainability.
This article discusses the issue of growth of the cities in the urban population at the fast pace
which is leading to the issues of sustainability. The author points out the issue of the
sustainability problem arising out of the dependence of people on automobile. This article has
highlighted one of the issues of “slums” and the attempt of people to turn themselves into
urban species with the emphasis on the deteriorating impact on the living (Davis, 2004). As
Girardeet mentions in the body of article, the dramatic growth of urbanisation is actually
contributing to the significant impact on the life in terms of the consumption of the volume of
resource. This further discusses the issue of growth of the private motors and the emerging
dependence of people on the same. It is further explained by the social impact of the same on
the sustainability of people. Hence it is argued by the author that the urbanization has certain
issues like the deteriorating sustainability of the city dwellers (Schiller et al.,2010).
Considering the discussion of nuances of the city life and the impact of urban
substantiality is also associated with the environmental factors like climate change, this
chapter is the focuses upon the issue of the green house gas emission due to the human
activities of the urban dwelling (Schiller et al., 2010). It is also argued that the process of
climate change is intricately related to the activities of the urban population and the primary
victims of climate change is also the urban city dwellers. In order to substantiate the impact
of climate change, the author has mentioned the UN Habitat reading which mentions that the
impact of climate change is even severe for the people who do not share the equal privilege in
society (UN HABITAT, 2011). It is mentioned that the harmful impact of climate change
accentuates the process of suffering for the disadvantaged people and certain groups in the
society. Hence it is crucial to remember that the urban areas experience different set of

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challenges due to the way of living. What is interesting to note is that the growth of urban
cities has taken place in different phases and each of it is associated with the multiple set of
challenges. The paper through the structured analysis have tried to portray the nuances
attached to the urban cities and the way of living.
It is imperative to note that the essay helps us to analyse and understand the issues of
the new way of living into the life of the urban lifestyle. This essay also provides the detailed
analysis of the evolution of the process of urbanization which is essential for developing the
historical understanding of the issue (Zeiderman, 2017). Another important outcome of the
learning about urbanization is the development of critical understanding of the issue. This is
focused on developing the balanced understanding of the issue from a diverse perspective
since it mentions the issue of urbanization from different perspectives. This learning is
essential develop the understanding of the issue in a holistic manner.
Conclusion
It can be summarised that the issue of urbanization is one of the burning issues of the
present day living. This article tried to analyse the reasons for the development of large
number of cities and the challenges associated with the problems of urbanization. This is not
to deny that the understating is unidirectional since it does not take into consideration some
of the important perspective, it is not to deny the fact the problem of urbanization and the
development of three type of cities have impacting the social life of the people.

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References and bibliography
Davis M. (2004) Planet of Slums. In New Left Review. 26. MarchApril. pp. 5-17
Saunders D. (2010) Arrival City. How the Largest Migration in History is Reshaping our
World. Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest.
Schiller P.L., Bruun E.C., Kenworthy J.R. (2010) An Introduction to Sustainable
Transportation. Earthscan, London. pp. 25-29.
UN HABITAT (2011) Cities and Climate Change. Global Report on Human Settlements
2011. Earthscan, London.
Worldwatch Institute (2009) State of the World 2009. Into a Warming World. W.W. Norton
and Company, New York.
Zeiderman, A., Kaker, S., Silver, J., Wood, A., Ramakrishnan, K. (2017) Urban Uncertainty.
Governing Cities in Turbulent Times. LSE Cities, London.