The Effects Of Urban Culture On Environment

Overview

Urbanization is closely linked to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization. It is most often the urban societies as well as the industries that take most from our natural resources. Urbanisation is not just a modern phenomenon, but also a large global transformation whereby large rural populations migrate to the cities in what is known as urban migration. Urbanization takes place whereby people make efforts to ease their lifestyle by ways of reducing time travel as well as efficiency to perform a specific task. Following the global trend, people from rural areas come to the city for reasons of seeking fortunes and better prospects. But the picture of urbanization is not so much glorious as it apparently seems. In recent times, modern cities have grown in an unplanned manner due to the rapid rate of industrialization. Cities and their corresponding agglomerations in developing countries have become over-populated and over-crowded partly as a result of the increase in population over the decades and partly as a result of migration, which will be discussed further.

Trends In Population Globally And In India

From the figure provided above, in 1960, the global urban population was 34% of the total; however, by 2014 the urban population accounted for 54% of the total and continues to grow. By 2050 the proportion living in urban areas is expected to reach 66% (UNDESA, 2014). It also shows the change in the rural and urban populations of the world from 1950 through to projected figures up to the year 2050. India is no stranger to the current trends of urbanization observed in the developing countries. It is the most significant phenomenon of 20th century which has almost affected all aspects of national life in India. The number of total population has increased from 23. 84 crores in 1901 to 102. 7 crores in 2001 whereas number of population residing in urban areas has increased from 2. 58 crores in 1901 to 28. 53 crore in 2001. The pattern of urbanization in India is seen in large cities, whereby continuous concentration of the masses and activities takes place. Since the mega cities have reached saturation level for employment generation as well as expansion otherwise, and to avoid over-crowding into the over-congested slums of its cities i. e. Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, India is required to build strong economic sector (Kundu and Basu, 1998) in the urban economy.

Effects Of Urbanisation

It goes without saying that urbanisation does come with its effects. Other than the ones which will be stated below, other problems include the water and sanitation issues linked to urban areas as well as the increase in crime which is a result of poor urban planning which also gives rise to lawless areas and slums. The rising demand for water from the population places unneeded stress on the already scanty resources. In addition to this, urbanisation affects land, water, air and wildlife in ways such as the worsening of water quality (As lack of sanitation and sewerage systems has a dramatic impact on urban watercourses as seen in the Yamuna), Solid urban waste (ineffective waste management), Air quality, etc. Other negative effects include;Slash and burn agriculture: A method of farming that involves the elimination (cutting and burning) of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field. Such activity reduces the biodiversity of a region, by eliminating forests and thereby the ecosystem in that area and converting it into farmland. Slash-and-burn fields are usually utilised and owned by a family until the soil is exhausted. After soil exhaustion, the group or family clears a new field and this cycle continues with every family taking part on the same. In India, Tribal societies in the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland refer to slash-and-burn agriculture as jhum or jhoom cultivation.

Sinking Cities: India’s biggest cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata—are slowly sinking. So are other cities such as Bengaluru and Kochi, amongst others. The upteen problem of monsoon disasters is uncontrolled urban population growth As well as the location. Migration, construction of bigger buildings and skyscrapers, ground sinking naturally in coastal cities built on river deltas, rising sea levels and depleting groundwater all contribute to these phenomena. As sea levels continue to rise due to global warming, a lot of Indian cities are definitely in the red zone. Over the next century, Mangaluru’s sea level will rise by 15. 98 cm and Mumbai’s by 15. 26. The Andaman and Nicobar islands are likely to be totally swallowed by the sea, said a 2017 World Bank report. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states that if proper measures are not taken, then Mumbai and Kolkata run the risk of being completely submerged by 2070. Although the situation is not as bad as other global emerging cities, India still has to focus on this and make sure that situations are not worsened to the point of no return.

Urban Migration: As mentioned before, the movement of people from the countryside into urban areas places extreme stress on local natural resources. The city of Delhi along with Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai, which were developed as port cities during the British era, moulded the regional pattern which would be seen in urban centres across the country.

There was a slight decline in the rate of migration to urban areas between the Census/NSS years of 1981–1983 and 1991–1991, owing to the economic crisis in which India suffered a serious balance of payment difficulty associated with declining investment, rising inflation and growing unemployment during this period. Since 1990 it is noteworthy to know that 23 major Indian cities or urban centres have crossed the level of dangerous limits due to various sources of air pollution, like vehicle exhaust and industrial pollution. Globally, India’s scale of urbanisation will be immense, with 68 cities having a population of more than 1 million, 13 cities having more than 4 million, and 6 megacities with populations of 10 million or more, with at least two (Mumbai and Delhi) among the top 5 largest cities in the world by 2030.

The effects to rapid and unchecked industrialisation needs no introduction. Being one of the main causes of climate change today and, not to mention a slew of other problems, industrialisation has been a boon to mankind, and also it comes with a price on the environment. These industries include, transportation and manufacturing, which are exhausting the earth’s resources, but also causing a lot of stress on the environment and the ecological system. The basic functioning and basically the productivity of an industry is directly linked to the resources available. The impact of industrialization on the environment has its own merits and demerits, the likes of which the latter outweighs the former. Commonly, natural factors like, water, air, soil and fisheries, considered long to be crucial, lso serve as valuable assets. It is predicted that if unchecked for the next 30 years or so, the world would actually move onto a phase of no return, when the planet is almost uninhabitable.

Excessive use of synthetic products: It is evident that plastics bring many societal benefits and has great potential to aid in further advancements in science as well as all of progress as a whole. Around 4 per cent of world oil production is used to manufacture plastics and a similar amount is used as energy. Yet over a third of current production is used to make items of packaging, which are then almost immediately discarded. Given our declining reserves of fossil fuels, and limited capacity for disposal of waste to landfill, this exponential use of polybranched hydrocarbons via packaging and other short-lived applications of plastic, is simply not sustainable. The solutions include reduction in the overall material usage, the concepy of which plastics are made to sustain us for incredibly longer periods of time, increased recycling capacity, development of environmental friendly alternatives, and enforcement of law which would reduce the overall litter.

Such measures will be most effective through the combined and unwavering efforts of the public, industry, and government officials. It is the urgent need of the hour, as plastics produced in the first 10 years of the current century is likely to go beyond the quantity that was produced in the previous century, or lesser. However, problems still arise when it comes to social problems such as uncontrolled waste accumulation which often even affects the natural habitats and repective wildlife. However, perhaps the elephant in the room is the fact that our current usage is still not sustainable. Priority of cheap products over environmental friendly products: Although green products have been known to be environment friendly, however, consumer usage as well as the rate by which they are used have been very disappointing. Instead, the utility of products with adverse effects on the environment is gaining further momentum. Such an occurrence is unadvisable for a healthy environment and it demands immediate attention as well as rapid amelioration.

Environmental degradation is such a huge concern in the modern times, such that a new concept– green marketing, has been introduced. Green marketing refers to a set of marketing efforts designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occur, with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment. However, the fact that for some corporate and businesses, the green approach is also seen as unfavourable due to factors such as lack of understanding, ignorance, low customer delivered value, and environmental solution or marketing opportunity. Industrialisation, Climate change, and its effects on health: Development roughly implies industrialisation, which when goes unchecked, implies climate change. Climatic changes are irregular due to a slew of factors, one of them being green house gases. Urban people are still being exposed to very high levels of toxic pollutants, and India hosts some of the most polluted cities worldwide. Further, forests are being negatively affected by effects caused by industries, and greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere.

Civic Amenities

Social and economic inequality: The positive effects include economic development, and education. However, rapid urbanization brought on by industrialization typically leads to general deterioration of workers' quality of life and many other problems for society, such as crime, stress and psychological disorders. Long working hours usually lead to a greater risk of having many diseases as well as bodily side effects. In developing countries, about 35 per cent of the urban populace live in impoverished slums and dingy settlements. Violent crime is more visible in the cities than in rural areas and it affects people’s everyday life, their movements and the use of public transport. This feeling generates about a further division of the higher-income and lower-income groups, which reduces the sense of collective belonging and forms areas with unequal incomes, costs and security levels. [VII]Government Policies: The damaging effects of economic development on environmental destruction can be lessened by the intervention of government as well as judicious bodies in the implementation of hard laws to bring about a greener lifestyle.

Some government policies to reduce pollution which have been seen in other countries but not in India are

1. Insistence of Tax. e. g. Carbon tax, which makes people pay the social cost of pollution.
2. Government Subsidy. e. g. subsidy of alternative energy sources.
3. Distribution of Pollution permits, e. g. carbon trading schemes where firms are given the right to pollute a certain amount; these permits can be traded with other firms.
4. Regulation. Limits on a number of pollutants that can be discarded into the atmosphere.
5. Changing consumer behaviour – e. g. through advertising, nudges. A few will be discussed below The very concept of a tax is to make consumers and producers pay the full price of contributing to pollution.

In this case, the social marginal cost (SMC) of producing the good is greater than the private marginal cost (PMC) The difference is the external cost of the pollution. The tax shifts the supply curve to S2 and therefore, consumers are forced to pay the full social marginal cost. This reduces the quantity consumed to Q2, which is the socially efficient outcome. If the government subsidies alternatives, then manufacturers and consumers will be more willing to switch on to greener alternatives. For example, solar power is an alternative to burning coal. A government subsidy can make solar power competitive and encourage its development. Subsidy= P0-P2. The supply curve shifts to S2 and price falls from P1 to P2. People will now consume more; the quantity increases from Q1 to Q2. The output (Q2) is social efficient: because here Social marginal cost (SMC) = Social marginal benefit (SMB).