Cities and Climate Change: The Challenge of Urban Resilience

Cities and Climate Change: The Challenge of Urban Resilience

Unimagined Communities

These are communities which according to the journal, Situation Sarnia: “Unimagined Communities” in the New National Energy Debate by Scott have extraordinary conditions that curtail their involvement in critical decision making processes by authorities. The unimaginative of given sections of the country are mainly based on notions that these communities are located in places whereby, if considered, they would limit the execution of the given project. The “Unimagination” can hence be used to mean ignorance associated with impact assessment protocols. Communities are hence ignored, or rather unimagined at the expense of project prosperity. The Aamjiwnaang First Nation is such a community in Canada that is given no consideration when the National Energy Board decides to approve the Line 9 energy Project. These communities demonstrate how irrational government authorities may get when making decisions that may have implications on the community dwellers. Unimagined communities are made to face the implications associated with the projects, like the case of the National Energy Board and the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and the Chippewas of the Thames. Communities are also unimagined based on the pre-existing de-legitimate rhetoric concerning these communities. This limits the voice of the communities exposing them to the effects that are associated with the project. These populations will often struggle with climate change problems as a result of the NEB decisions. These communities also demonstrate how harmful emissions implicate the health of the environment dwellers.

Adaptation and Mitigation

Mitigation and adaptation as described by Parenti represent the regulatory mechanisms that surround the talks about climate. It states that as we develop measures to mitigate the causes of climate change, so must we be able to adapt to the effects of the mitigation strategies we advance. According to Parenti, mitigation activities include reducing greenhouse gases emission into the atmosphere, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and embracing renewable energy sources, developing environmentally friendly energy grids and advancing and embracing technologies that enhance carbon sequestration from the atmosphere. According to Parenti, through adaptation, we should be prepared to live with the impacts of climate change. Some of these effects are described as being unavoidable and hence we can only develop adaptive ways of living with them. These adaptations are defined in two ways, technical and political. Technical adaptation involves people changing the way they relate and interact with nature as it undergoes changes conferred by climate change. These include the use of appropriate agricultural technologies that can maintain productivity even when the weather is greatly unpredictable. Political adaptation involves changing social relationships amongst people. Climate change creates some form of violence between people and hence the need for this to be contained and avoided. This violence includes the civil unrests advanced by environmentalists in response to the causes of climate change. States hence need to learn how to adapt to these impacts of climate change in a civil and just manner.

Eco-cities

Eco-cities are towns that are formed on grounds the aim at mitigating the greenhouse gas emission. According to Garcia, mechanisms like the use of public means of transport as opposed to private transport are effective in achieving eco-city statuses. There is a need for consideration of the sustainability of these cities, thinking from the perspective of the impending climate change effects and measure towards achieving the statuses. Without these, the cities will only exist in words and not in the actual world. The changing energy demands and the reliance on clean energy sources in eco-cities is also an issue of concern. In the face of climate change, renewable energy sources are prone to fluctuations. This limits the dependence and reliability of these sources and with impacts on the eco-cities. Freiburg in Germany was selected as an example of eco-city. As such, there is a general expectation of an observable reduction of carbon emission in the town over time. However, the realization of the goals of these cities is slow and is yet to actualize. Eco-cities are also expected to be able to be sustained by the resources available in their environments, Garcia (72). This would mean that the cities become part of the ecosystem, positively contributing to the environment as it benefits from it. There is limited information on how such status can be attained. Eco-cities, if implemented to completion will mark a great contribution towards the reduction of the climate change implication that is currently a major feature in most cities.

Shack/Slum Dwellers International

Shack/slum dwellers international as highlighted by Dobson is a federation of people who live in informal or poor urban areas. These are people characterized by low income and low social statuses. They experience a magnitude of hardships daily, with a special concern about the environmental status in these regions of cities. The organization was formed with a mandate of improving the lives of people living in slums and creating environments that would be enabled for them. These groups engage in community-based activities like savings and enumeration. Slum-dwellers international has made positive steps towards making cities resilience in various aspects, as well as contributing to reduced dependence on carbon energy. Uganda has already experienced a considerable amount of global warming. The use creation of low-carbon energy sources among members of these groups is pointed out as a major contribution towards cities’ resilience and climate change. Cities are majorly polluted by the combustion of fossil fuels from industries and vehicles. This has increased the amount of carbon emission and hence contributing to fast global warming. For instance, in Uganda, the group members are involved in making and using briquette as sources of energy. These are both low cost and with low carbon content. This is hence a great contribution towards ensuring that the levels of carbon emission in cities are reduced to manageable levels.

Sacrifice Zones

According to Harvey, sacrifice zones are areas that are more prone to environmental degradation. The areas are economically neglected, hence being naturally predisposed to these climate change-related catastrophes. The Lower Ninth Ward of Orlean is a remarkable example of a sacrifice zone. These zones have weakened civil societies that cannot effectively undertake climate change mitigation practices, and neither are they economically empowered with the ability to adapt to climate change. The environmental agencies present in these regions are a clear indication of the sacrifice zone’s disregard. They have a great favor for industries which are quickly contributing to the environmental degradation in these areas. The political class also gets favors from the industries as a reward for their silence on matters related to environmental degradation. There have since been established very many petrochemical industries within a very small radius in the Lower Ninth Ward. In addition to the industrial plants, sacrifice zones are also marked with waste disposal pits and dump sites for toxic wastes. As a result, the people in these zones experience high incidences of cancer. Air and soil qualities in these zones are greatly compromised. With the regions being marked with high populations, especially from low-income backgrounds, they appear to be sacrificed by the nations for their exposure to toxic wastes. In cities and climate change, these zones are universally present in many cities across the world. The dwellers of these zones are put at risk by the deliberate activities of the authorities.

Part Two

What are the unimagined communities? How can the concept help explain indifference to blatant signs of environmental degradation?

Unimagined communities are communities that exist in places with certain conditions that limit their consideration in critical decision-making processes. According to Scott, these communities are largely ignored in the national debate are the implications they face are merely considered unintentional. This notion is based on what the decision-makers perceive the communities and the people within them. People have imaginative limits, which, according to Scott incorporates the aspects of convenience. The national energy board does not consider communities they deemed to be an inconvenience in advancing their narratives.

Most government organizations have continually ignored to pay attention to the lingering environmental concerns related to given projects. There has always been a keen consideration of the profitability side of these projects, with little consideration of what the people dwelling in surrounding communities will experience. According to Scott, governments have given keen attention to the physical relocations of populations from main project sites. The community, however, does not only consist of the people being relocated. Rather, the air, water and soil factors also need to be conserved and hence the need for their consideration. The art of unimagining communities hence exposes these aspects to adverse degradation activities.

Environmental degradation can be signified by massive carbon emissions, great changes in traditional land use, change in water quality and habitat distortion. Increased greenhouse emission can have a health implication on the populations that dwell within the environment. Most authorities are in knowledge of these implications and the causes. They are however more driven by the perceived agenda of championing for what is good for the economy of the country and the citizens. This is a sign of blatant disregard. Unimagined communities are hence predisposed to these implications of environmental degradation. For instance, the issues the members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation raise to the National Energy Board concerning the perceived increase in emissions were disregarded by the board. This is a demonstration of ignorance.

The use of prior rhetoric in judging a community as unimagined is also strongly used by environment assessment corporations. Through this, the issues raised by the communities about environmental degradation are not emphasized unless people can prove to be directly affected by the project in question. The communities are thus denied the authority to decide on issues that will have direct implications on their lives. At the same time, they are expected to bear the total costs of the environmental degradation impacts resulting from the execution of the projects. It is however notable that the unimagined communities are making efforts to save their environment. To uphold the notion of “public interest,” there has been the necessity to actively keep the unimagined communities unimagined. This bars them from all essential considerations, with no attention to their cries on environmental degradation.

The idea of national development is hence demonstrated by Scott as being narrowly formed. National planners and environmental assessors do not have any values for the future of the environment when advancing what they deem as national development projects. As such, environmental degradations remain an issue, which from a point of unimagined communities; can be termed as a blatant and deliberate action. Mainstream discussions are mainly centered on the economic opportunities that align the implementation of projects. Little do they consider the pollution effects, wince the communities that are to bear the pollution burden do not have any share in the precedes of the projects.

Environmental degradation has impacted not only to the unimagined communities but also to the country as larger. The impacts are however felt greatly by these communities for their direct interaction with the environment. Areas considered imaginable are well factored in the national energy debates, with considerably high environmental regulatory mechanisms. This creates a difference in environmental degradations observed in Canada. The difference is hence a blatant decision by the National Energy Board. The environmental degradation issue should hence be viewed with a perspective of its implication on the project, and the country at large.

What are the components of the “catastrophic convergence,” according to Christian Parenti? Outline his concept and Illustrate with reference to at least one other source

According to Parenti, Catastrophic convergence is the event when the effects of climate change interact with one another to result in a much greater problem at once. For instance, climate change confers political, economic and environmental problems. Through catastrophic convergence, these problems closely related to one another, with each one implying the intensity of the other one. As a result, the effects are felt in a much greater way on the populations. Considering there are already existing problems in the society, the introduction of more high-intensity problems that are due to climate change creates a crisis. Parenti describes the interaction of different climate change effects and their occurrence in a simultaneous manner the catastrophic convergence.

Parenti highlights poverty, violence and climate change as the main components of catastrophic convergence. Climate change is posing a bigger threat in the present than it could have been expected or predicted. As a result, the weather patterns are no longer predictable, with widespread desertification been manifested in most parts of the world. Global warming has also been widely discussed with great implications on the ways of life. People’s economic activities are hence greatly dictated by the changes in climate demand. The implications, however, supersede the remediation and mitigation strategies. From such a perspective, climate change has a negative implication on the economic practices of people.

Climate change discussions have significantly been politicized. Climate-related issues have in the past years demanded a lot of humanitarian interventions. Climate change can be attributed to floods, droughts, and new types of diseases especially skin diseases. All these have increased the call for humanitarian support. The cases are ever-increasing creating an alarm to governments and non-government organizations. These political problems are also manifested through civil wars in some adversely affected countries. People have been forced to leave their homes in the face of climate-related problems like floods and drought. This comprises a major component of catastrophic convergence.

According to Parenti, societies have engaged in activities that seem not to strategically prepare them to face the challenges posed by climate change. As a result, societies are greatly hit by climate change effects. Climate change brings along a new set of challenges that most societies have not faced before. Thus, societies have no idea to prepare and mitigate these effects before they cause great implications. Parenti highlights the inequalities that exist between the “Global South” and the “global North.” The inability of societies in the Global South addresses social crises resulting from climate change and related issues are directly linked to economic sabotage exercised by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Reduced economic empowerment in these states has led to the emergence of failed states, with limited economic capacity. Harvey (867) describes Orleans’s catastrophic convergence as more symbolic in Lower Ninth Ward, with environmental degradation, extreme weather conditions, and global emission.

Parenti relates climate-related problems to social and economic problems in societies. The effects of climate change act in a way to amplify the existing social problems like war. He gives an example of Nepal, where violent groups are more associated with drought, and become nonexistent during rainy seasons. For such a state, climate changes resulting in changes in rainfall patterns have a potential implication of introducing civil wars. The use of this concept justifies the intensity of catastrophic convergence in Global South societies. Violence patterns are shown to follow changes in weather patterns. Violence has broad impacts on the stability of a society, and in the face of climate change, intensified violence activities pose a greater impact.

Climate change offsets economic, social and political problems in most societies. Parenti highlights a study by the Swedish government which shows that 46 countries where violent conflicts are commonly associated with an interaction of climate change with political and social problems. Some countries, in the Global North, can foresee these forms of violence and strategically plan for counteractive measures. With the economic endowment, they avoid the impacts of catastrophic convergence through timely planning for climate-related issues.

Outline the idea of “the ecological precariat”. How can this concept help us understand the effects of climate change on cities?

“Ecological precariat” is used by Harvey (864) to define the people who dwell in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The residents live in an environment with adverse environmental degradations which inflict a lot of consequential sufferings to them. As a result of their inhabitation in these environments, their ways of life are greatly changed, forced to see things differently s compared to other people. Environmental effects conferred by climate change to this region are attributed to increasing social problems in the society, with little or no attention from the political community. For instance, the people in the ecological precariat are forced to live with degrading conditions like oil spills and toxic emissions. They are engaged in frequent fights with the federal government operatives in the region, signifying the social implications.

The concept of the ecological precariat is an ideal definition of zones ignored during decision making but is bound to feel the environmental implications of the decisions. Most cities are surrounded by such regions, which are disregarded in the national discourse of environmental issues. The dwellers are hence subject to the impending environmental implications. The adverse climatic impacts felt in such regions have attracted attention from researchers who seek to understand the environmental state in the regions. Social and economic inequalities are prominent in the ecological precariats. The act of not considering them in the discussions on environmental impacts could be as a result of the unfavorable environmental impact assessment bodies and political decisions.

Effects of climate change a widespread among the dwellers in these ecological precariats. For instance, Harvey highlights that the locals refer to Lower Ninth Ward as a Hurricane Highway and Cancer Alley. The ever-increasing levels of harmful emission into the atmosphere in these regions have made cancer incidences a common feature. The region was largely hit by Hurricane Katrina. Both are defined implications of climate change, an act that can be related to the activities in the city. Being an ecological precariat, they face these consequences at the expense of the city. The concept can hence provide an outlook of how cities inconsiderately contribute to climate change and confer the impacts to a rather innocent population.

Political policies that pertain to these areas are considered in terms of the economic benefits they near to the country, and rather not the pollution implications and the surrounding populations. For instance, Harvey describes the Lower Ninth ward as having a considerable number of petrochemical industries within a very small radius. This is an indication that the ecological precariats are strategically preferred for their locations close to the cities. Policies enable the concentration of companies in these areas. As a result, during the Hurricane, oil spills are widespread in the region, contributing to massive oil contamination. This conferred a significant implication on the lives of residents.

Ecological precariat, as Harvey describes it, can be used to simplify the notion that exists about a place. Lower Ninth ward is considered as being socially lower in status compared to other parts of the city. As a norm, the lower classes in the city are the least regarded. Residents of ecological precariats are generally from low social classes. They are hence considered less important on matters concerning cities. This kind of discrimination contributes to what is witnessed in most ecological precariats. People live with great uncertainties, not knowing what may befall them nest. For instance, after the Hurricane, the residents are hesitant to rebuild, for the reason of not knowing whether the same would happen shortly. Despite the knowledge of the degraded environment and the effects, this could cause, relevant authorities choose to ignore the issue, further marginalizing the communities.

Catastrophic convergence is well demonstrated in these ecological precariats. Environmental degradation, extreme changes in weather patterns and degradation of the global status are much as a result of climate changes. Cities have contributed to this by the deliberate location of industries, not considering the environmental impacts.

Part Three

Are cities to blame for climate change?

Cities are majorly characterized by numerous manufacturing industries and many vehicles. This can be easily translated to increased greenhouse gases emission. Most industries use fossil fuels and as a result, their production processes release a considerable amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Vehicles also rely on petrol and diesel for energy. The two are largely attributed to the emission of carbon gases into the atmosphere. From the perspective, cities are the main contributors to climate change. With the increasing intensity of these activities in cities, climate change is inevitable.

Cities have employed active mechanisms of economic segregation. According to week 11 lecture notes, this is where given communities in towns are treated in a better way as compared to what is regarded as low class. This is characterized by the emergence of slums and ghettos in towns. The rich in the cities are known to dwell in environments which are well protected with little evidence of environmental degradation. The slums and other low-class zones in cities are characterized by high environmental degradation activities. Most industrial effluents are directed through these zones. Through these means, the contributions of cities to climate change in these slum areas cannot be ignored. They have to face the negative impacts of environmental degradation at the expense of the whole city.

Industrial revolutions have implied the rapid development of cities. Increased greenhouse gasses emissions have hence been attributed to the industrial revolution. Climate change in its definitions comprises the implications of the increase in amounts of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Notably, some cities and urban centers have advanced mechanisms to curb the effects of climate change. This, however, does not change the narrative of urban centers and cities being directly implicated with climate change. According to Dodman (192), cities are responsible for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. This goes a long way above the emissions released from non-urban places; hence a greater attribution goes to cities.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has an advanced mechanism to enable member countries to take responsibility for their emissions. Countries are required to make reports on all human economic activities that directly contribute to the emission of gases into the atmosphere. In collaboration with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, the institutions provide mechanisms through which nations can assess their emission based on specific sectors. Most of the defined methods are based on activities carried out in cities, outlining the impact of urban centers on climate change. The introduction of greenhouse gas inventories to determine the emissions fro cities shows significant levels of Carbon gases from cities.

Most developed cities like London and Barcelona have embraced mechanisms that have enabled them to reduce the number of greenhouse emissions. These mechanisms are however not universal and hence cannot be effective in all cities. As such, most cities still have a remarkable amount of emission, with a great potential of contributing to climate change. Cities like New York have reduced amounts of dwellers, hence reducing the energy requirements. Through the reduction in energy needs, some cities can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some have decentralized industrial activities, making the cities’ contribution towards the emission low. This factor makes cities not fully liable for the climate changes observed.

Shanghai and Beijing towns of China are significant examples of towns with a remarkable number of industries in towns. The towns hence display greater emission percentages of greenhouse gases. However, this trend is changing, with the increasing shift in urban centers like in Brazil and Tokyo. Over the decades, most cities have embraced service provision rather than production and manufacturing practices. This has seen most cities limit the development of production plants in their centers. As a result, there have been observed drops in the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions in these cities, hence reducing their contribution towards climate change.

Transport sectors in cities are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Most cities are densely populated and hence the high demand for energy consumption for the modes of transport. Most cities utilize air and road transport. Both means involves the combustions of fossil fuels. With the large urban populations, a considerable amount of fuels need to be burned. These processes actively produce large amounts of carbon gases into the atmosphere. As a result, from this aspect, cities make tremendous emissions, with great potential for climate change. The IPCC has attributed the aviation industry to 3.5 percent of climate change as a result of human activities.

Urban centers generate a lot of wastes (Dodman, 194), both organic and inorganic. Wastewaters are mainly from households and company sewerages. These in most cities are openly discharged into the stream and hence exposing the environment to degradation. The wastewater treatment plants are a significant contributor to greenhouse gases emission. Solid wastes also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, most cities have garbage dumping sites, where solid wastes are accumulated as they await treatment processes. According to reports to IPCC, these dumpsites contribute greatly to climate change. There is however a variation in this contribution due to the difference in waste production and dumping mechanisms adopted by different cities.

Sattlewaite (5), in his editorial, highlights the need for all stakeholders to participate in realizing sustainable cities. Sustainability in cities would mean that they reduce the emissions that have the potential of causing climate change. This follows the emphasis of the IPCC on cities to develop and implement greenhouse inventories. The IPCC gives special attention to developing mechanisms that would curtail greenhouse emissions in cities. The step demonstrates the role cities have in contributing to climate change. Terming cities as places where environmental sustainability can be well-achieved highlights the role cities have in degrading environments. It highlights the collaborative need for governments and urban dwellers in eliminating environmental impacts that would cause climate change.

The emergence of cities is often associated with the development of low-income neighborhoods, as evidenced by the Lowe Ninth ward in New Orleans town. The communities in these parts of cities are greatly implicated with the negative environmental impacts as a result of activities by other, more affluent parts of the town. Cities introduce the factor of economic inequality among the dwellers. This determines how environmental decisions are made, and the concentration of industries with a potential harmful environmental impact located in one given place. As a result, the patterns of climate change and environmental degradation are well manifested in these parts. In the same case, unimagined communities are also disregarded in urban planning for the reason of social inequities.

The design of towns, according to Garcia (88) should put into consideration the reliance on non-renewable sources of energy. Non-renewable sources of energy bear great implications in terms of environmental degradation to the dwellers and hence the need to be minimized. Cities that fully rely on non-renewable sources of energy are prominently displayed as major contributors to the high emission rates and hence climate change. Some cities are developed for a specified purpose. Such cities have great potential for inflicting climate change. Cities formed from coal mining activities pose a greater environmental risk, which cannot be regularized, in as much as the activity remains the main economic activity.

Urban areas in developing countries have a significant threat to climate change effects. According to Chelleri, Schuetze and Salvati, (124) flooding and landslides are a major risk in developing countries. As exemplified by Mexico City, renewable sources of energy in urban areas are facing a threat of fast depletion while the waste generation rates increase rapidly with time. In developing countries, urban centers experience radical increases in the number of inhabitants. As a result, the pressure is exerted on the already limited energy sources. There is overutilization, which creates pressure on the natural environmental resources. This contributes to fast depletion and hence rendering the cities unsustainable, with exposure to factors that contribute to climate change.

Air pollution remains a major cause of global warming, through the release of greenhouse gases. With increasing consideration about developing urban centers with low emissions, most countries have developed strategies for placing industries in distant localities. Such is a case of the implementation and location of Sarnia. The resultant air pollution in the environment as a result of the projects is much evidence, with oil spills and massive smoke observable, Atari, Luginaah and Baxter (496). Increased emissions in these areas are contrary to the narrative of urban resilience, as no mechanisms are employed to mitigate these implications. These implications rapidly contribute to climate changes in the communities, with the residents having to bear these daily.

The adoption of sustainable and renewable energy sources by a town can go a long way in preventing climate change. Some cities are demonstrated to have effectively employed these mechanisms in their early stages with a considerable positive implication on the climate of the area. For instance, the Akureyri town in Iceland is a classic example of how the adoption of sustainable sources of energy by a town can impact climate change positively (Kristjansdottir and Busch, 3). However, in such settings, the use of fossil fuels in transport systems and wastewater still makes a given amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Most urban settings have failed to meet the resilience levels required to render them sustainable. Urban resilience can be measured in its capacity to curb the emissions released form activities within the cities. Globally, all urban centers are engaging in decarbonization activities. With the realization of their role in climate change, cities now feel the importance of regulating the high amounts of carbon emission witnessed in various practices in the cities. According to week 11 lecture notes, there is a need for cities to gain some resilience in terms of the physical structures and built environment that will enable it to adapt to changes in climate. This can also highlight how prone cities are to climate change, and hence the need for preparedness.

Week 11 lecture slides suggest that cities are the causes and cure to climate change. As such, most activities in urban areas have a direct correlation to adverse environmental implications and as a result, climate change. Parenti describes political adaptations as a way of adapting to the effects conferred by climate change. Through these mechanisms, it is evident that the social problems related to climate change are commonly manifested in cities.

According to Singer, Hasemann, and Raynor (453), global warming has a greater impact on temperatures in urban areas than in rural areas. Urban temperatures are observed to increase more especially during evenings. The “heat island effect” is used to define the condition as it localizes the impact of climate change on urban areas. The cosmopolitan nature of cities keeps cities more vulnerable to climate change effects like an increase in temperatures. Concentrated buildings are implicated with trapping more heat, and limiting radiations from the earth’s surface back to the atmosphere. The results id elevated temperatures on the surfaces during evenings.

Climate change is high as a result of urbanization. With unfavorable government policies, activities of industrialization are being more concentrated in low-income neighborhoods. This pre-exposes these people to the negative effects of environmental degradation as well as resultant climate change. Efforts to make cities resilience through reducing carbon emissions are however well undertaken in these low-income neighborhoods as demonstrated by the efforts of slum dwellers international, Dobson (612). It will, however, require input from all stakeholders to ensure fully resilient urban areas.