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24 country parks and 11 special areas occupy 40% in Hong Kong. In fact, Hong Kong is well-known for its hiking trail. According to "lonely planet', ‘Hong Kong Trail' is ranked the 10th place in best trails around the world. (Lonely Planet, 2013) However, in mid-2017, the government assigned the Housing Society to investigate whether it is viable to convert the country parks into residential use which causes a vigorous debate around the city. While some believe that exploiting 2.5% of country parks can satisfy the housing need for the public in the coming 10 years, others who are against it, thinking that development will violate the use of country parks. This essay will discuss the importance of conserving the country parks by analyzing reasons …show more content…
Country parks serve the objective of retaining area to preserve the sound ecosystem and conserve the water catchment area for reservoirs. For the former objective, country parks play an indispensable role to provide educational value and ecotourism resource. It grants each other room for getting exposed to natural habitats and further educates the public to conserve endangered species. In order to conserve the ecosystem, country parks shoulder the responsibility to act as a green belt due to restricting urban sprawl. Forceful large-scale urban development, not only violates the principle of country parks of prohibiting development but also causes the inevitable and irreversible destruction when clearing the forestry. According to a report, (Lee, Li, Shi, Cheung and Thornton 2006), the metal will be released to the soil in the course of urbanization. To be specific, "ecosystem is the fragile system". (Goldman, 1989)Once it is destroyed, we can seldom rehabilitate the ecosystem utterly; For the latter objective, Former Observatory director, Lam Chiu-Ying said that opening up countryside will give rise to the shortage of local water supply (as cited in Cheung, 2013). Country parks are fundamental in preventing the pollution of drinking water in reservoirs. Developing country parks inevitably may fill the reservoir with cement which affects the water quality and destroys animals' habitats. In …show more content…
The proximity of the city to the countryside contributes to being regarded as the most livable by the Economist in 2012. This is a stark contrast to the foreign country usually take hours to the countryside, whereas Hong Kong mostly takes less than one hour. One of the judges, Filippo Lovato claimed that "Hong Kong is a compact city which is able to achieve a close network of green area."(As cited in Yoo, 2012) As most country parks serve as a recreational function where are equipped with a ‘well-designed trial. These render a place for the public to relax and relieve stress. Hence, public's quality of life can be enhanced in the spiritual dimension. Moreover, no development be permitted within the area of country parks. Owing to low building density in the countryside, air quality will be relatively higher than highly-urbanized area. In this regard, country parks are of paramount importance to improve our quality of
Look at the civilized, beautiful capital cities in every developed country all around the world which is the central of high fashioned and convenience facility. To live in the city, it seems like the nature surrounding is not important to us anymore. In “The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature” David Suzuki presents the connection between human and the nature and how we depend on the surrounding environment. However, within the past century, most of our modern technologies have been developed in order to provide people needs of goods and products (63). Many of the products we made are causing much more harm to the environment than the value that products provide. Technological development has damaged our environment to the point
Since its creation in 1916, the National Park Service (NPS) has had to balance between its two goals, which are to preserve wilderness and nature and to provide the public with access to these wonders in a monitored environment. These two goals tend to create a conflict for the NPS because as soon as one goal is given more priority than the other, the administration of national parks is harshly criticized by the public. The accusation that by allowing people to experience the wilderness, the NPS is corrupting the natural environment is very common, as well, as the criticism towards the lack of government funding to preserve nature and history. However, regardless of arguable criticism and a certain need for improvement, after one hundred years,
She also introducing new urban building standards. This this article she talks about, the idea some people have of tearing it down and rebuilding. She also talks about ideas people have about some parts of towns. In Boston, she talks about the area of North End, and the change that it was over gone. During her second visit to this area, she discovered that it had changed. She talked to other about it, although the statistic were higher than the city, the people still saw it as a slum. They felt that they needed to tear it down in order to build something better. This leads to the conclusion that the urban planners to do understand that the people of the city need. They have ideas that were developed years ago that they are still using. These ideas do not take account what the people want. The author also introducing new ideas of a perfect city to live in and what it would look like. The idea of a garden city was introduced. This city would be built around a park. Although the new ideas sounded great they could not be put into place today. The idea of a Garden City is something that sounds nice, but it is not possible in society today. Today a city should reflect economic status, and in order to achieve this the city should be big, and convey an image of power. A city that has aspects of nature in it would not convey that image. That upkeep of a city of that kind would also be difficult. The do understand the author's point of view. The planners often times do not take into account the desires of the people. The town that I grow up in want to become more urbanized. In order to do this, they are building a large shopping center. This shopping center is located in the canyon rim. This canyon rim has been important the people for many years. We come to the area to walk, what bass jumpers, and enjoy the scenic views. This new shopping center took away this area. Many of the people
Vancouver is known as a city of booming economy and natural beauty. Both were highlighted by the 2010 Winter Olympic Games: the economy in the ability to host the games and nature in the advertisements for the games. These commercials focused as much on the soaring mountains and lush forests as they did on the city itself. “To the untrained eye, Vancouver is one of those rare cities which seems to have achieved a delicate balance between urban development and scenic preservation.”[2.9] However, this natural beauty can be viewed as causing issues for the development of the city. This essay will delve into how Vancouver has dealt with these problems from its inception until now and what issues still face this city.
Growing up in the Bay Area next to San Francisco ha slead me to become fascinated by the complexity of the cities of the world and how they affect so many people. I love the idea that these cities were all planned and thought up of by individuals working together for a larger goal. The planning of cities affects all its inhabitants in ways that they probably do not even realize which makes these plans and the planning process even more compelling. I am also interested in what makes cities unique. Cities are all made up of roughly the same things: blocks, big buildings, parks, cars, and people. Even though the basic elements of cities are the same they all still have there own unique character. I think one of the most distinguishing factors of cities is how they were designed to accommodate certain needs of their inhabitants outside of where they live or work. Cities can easily be overwhelming or a harsh place to live, which is why certain areas need to be set aside to offer some kind of escape. In addition to being a place to withdraw, parks and recreational areas can be a distinguishing characteristic of a city. In San Francisco, the Golden Gate Park, Union square, the Presidio, the wharfs and many other areas set it apart from all of the other cities of the United States and the world. How the planners of San Francisco thought about the areas that the inhabitants needed outside of work and home helps give it its individuality as a major city. Just like how someone must plan all cities, people planned all the parks and recreational areas of cities that have such a widespread effect. By looking at Fredrick Law Olmsted and the Urban Design and Social Context approach he represents, one can learn more about landscape architecture in...
Environmental conservancy efforts protect the environment and provide farmers with ways we can contribute to restore the productivity of farms and by reducing pollution. The article describes why it is important to plant trees. It is believed that planting trees on the grassland may result in the destruction of the land since it affects soil’s ability to store nutrients (Vence, 2016). As mentioned before, scientific research is needed to study activities regarding environment conservation so that we do not cause more damage, even though we started with good
These motives are behind the current world’s 50% urbanization rate. Among all countries, Canada heads the urbanization process with 80% of its total area (Snell par.7). The ever-increasing urbanization rate is characterized by human-related destructive activities, which lead to creation of urban centers by destroying inherent biodiversity. The rate is increasing each passing day. However, one thing to note is that destructive activities embody the causes of urban biodiversity wicked problem. The easy way of identification provides land conversion, climate change, consumerism, land fragmentation, and invasive species as the main causes of the wicked problem of urban biodiversity. These causes constitute every aspect of urban life. For instance, there is no way that people living in urban areas can do without proper infrastructures (such as houses, roads, and communication lines). All kinds of infrastructure need space, and, in creating it, there is clearance of all natural vegetation and conversion of land to other uses. The result is annihilation of nature and predisposition of climatic changes. The only easy approach to identify an appropriate solution to the wicked problem of urban biodiversity is to decrease the rate of urbanization by
Urbanization has to deal with the construction of new modernized construction and the use of technology, in total it means advancing from the local to make modernized place and an industrial site. Also it includes the construction of infrastructural buildings, infrastructural buildings are buildings that are constructed for the betterment of the country for the people it includes hospital, schools, bridges, water supplies and different other buildings. Most of the land were covered by the trees, and they only few people living there, in order to develop a modernized place, or an urbanized place, construction needs to be made. In the determination of making an urbanized place where factories and all could be done, practice such as deforestation is done. Lands that were filled with tees are then cutting in order to satisfy the project of urbanization. The urbanized places are still developing which increases the rate of
With more needs for nature experience and sustainable development in urban areas, increasing importance has been attached to urban open spaces since they play a crucial role to support the ecology system and form a natural network in the cities (Chiesura, 2004; Tzoulas et al., 2007). Urban open spaces include plazas, parks, campus, greenways and other green spaces. They serve as islands of nature, enriching urban landscapes, adjusting the microclimate, promoting biodiversity and providing habitats for other species (Chiesura, 2004; Do, Kim, Kim, & Joo, 2014; Morimoto, 2011). Apart from these benefits, they also show a great impact on urban dwellers’ health, since open spaces offer places for outdoor activities and opportunities for contact with nature (Chiesura, 2004). Tyrväinen et al. (2014) indicated that even short-term visits to urban green spaces have positive psychological and physiological effects on perceived stress relief. People were attracted to urban open spaces for physical activities, social interactions, and a relief from daily life, which benefit their mental and physical health (Thwaites, Helleur, & Simkins, 2005). A large epidemiological study in Britain looked at mortality and morbidity among three income levels in relation to urban residents’ access to green open space (Mitchell & Popham,
Sustainability is becoming a much more common approach to many parts of society, a major one being urban planning. This technical and political process is concerned with the use of land and design of the urban environment. Transportation networks, housing, and preservation and conservation of natural systems are all considered in urban planning. Though many ideas about sustainable living communities and urban planning have been proposed, most people are still hesitant to build a working model due to the expenses, change, and lack of interest in environmental health. This relatively new idea is still being developed and has much controversy around it, but there are ethical and biological theories that propose we should proceed in this direction of life. Holism suggests the idea of caring for nature as a whole, and it agrees with the ideas of biophilia and sustainability. Holism supports the idea that humans have an obvious biofilic nature, confirms the need for sustainability, and proves that environmental theories should be considered in urban planning and other development.
Indeed, many global cities face compelling urban planning issues like urban sprawl, population, low density development, overuse of non-renewable natural recourses, social inequities and environmental degradation. These issues affect the cities themselves, the adjacent regions and often even globally. The resulting ecological footprint upsets the balance in adjacent rural and natural areas. Unplanned or organic development leads to urban sprawl, traffic problems, pollution and slums (as evident in the case of Mumbai city). Such unplanned development causes solid waste management and water supply to fall inadequate. Urban sprawl gives rise to low density development and car dependent communities, consequently leading to increased urban flooding, low energy efficiency, longer travel time and destruction of croplands, forests and open spaces for development.
First of all, overpopulation drastically affects the land. Possibly the most prominent example of the depreciating health and amount of land is the need for developments. Due to the exploding population in the United States, about 1.2 million acres of land every year is being converted to subdivisions, malls, workplaces, roads, parking lots, resorts, and many other developments (“Overpopulation,” Internet). That is a substantial amount of land being overturned to satisfy human desires. To put it in better perspective, between 1982 and 1997, the land mass lost to development is equal to the size of Maine and New Hampshire combined, which is approximately 25 million acres (“Overpopulation,” Internet). While soil is being ruptured for human preference, the number of cities has remarkably modified. In 1975, Mexico City, Tokyo, and New York City were the only cities considered as megacities (“Special,” Internet). In today’s world, that number is considerably small. Now, there are 21 megacities in the world. A megacity is when the population of that city becomes greater than 10 million people (“Special,” Internet). Therefore, the 21 megacities that are currently in the world holds more than 21...
If there are more people, more, density, and a good mixture of uses, it will be a safer city... You cannot find a single city that does not wish to make the city center more vibrant or livelier.” This quote from Jan Gehl, the principal of Gehl Architects, illustrates the importance of having a sustainable city. The Central Park project has showcased to the world on how the landscape we design or occupy, can affect our daily activities and surrounding neighborhood. It sets an example of how design must be appreciated as a crucial factor in sustainability and emphasized on the fact the connection of people and nature should not be ignored. All in all, landscape architects are the ones to determine the physical characteristics of the public realm environment, to decide whether a city is attractive to people and whether people will choose to live in the city in the long
Pollution can have an impact on our health, not only affecting people with impaired respiratory systems such as asthmatics, but very healthy adults and children too. Plants can be a benefit for pollution in the air, trees, bushes and other greenery growing in the concrete-and-glass canyons of cities can reduce levels of two of the most worrisome air pollutants by eight times more than previously believed. The more trees we can plant the less pollution we get and more air than just having a huge land and having abandoned buildings taking up space. To solve water pollution is to conserve soil, the best way to combat soil erosion is to keep the banks of waterways well-covered with soil-retaining plants.
Today talking about environmental issues lately to be like a common topic discussion until people take it for granted. However, the world facing a complex environmental problems related to each trouble that connected to one another and come out with greater impacts to the environment and humans. This is because the effects of environmental only can be seen in long term period rather than immediately result show up. Environmental issues must become one of the controversial matters in the society in order to make people know the truth what the world currently facing. There were a lot of environmental disaster happened such as climate change, global warming, various of pollutions, earthquake and etc. the rise of environmental issues begin with this urban development occur through several countries following with the technologies equip along. For sure, development will cause a huge negative impact to the environment if it deals without a care. Besides, the environment is the place in the ecosystem to hold and use in finding resources to continuously survive in this world. Thus, the finding and digging for the resources which happening extensively without preservation will not restore the surrounding similar with before. But then, the change cannot be refuse and people need to take an action to save the threaten the world and the ecosystem from being extinct. If each country has own output in causing an environmental problem, then consider the world to hold all the damage occurred. Exposing the effects of environmental issues throughout the world, make people realize the important to take care the environment.