GGR124H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Cuyahoga River, Urban Sprawl, Toxic Waste
12 Jan 2017
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Lecture #11 Notes
Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River
-Toxic waste river
-easily flammable, caught fire multiple times
Flint’s Water Crisis
-Water system made to be toxic to cut costs
-Environmental injustice
-Emergency management
-When a second group takes over the power of the local government
-politicians moved out of office
-occurring in Flint
-happened in Detroit
-Majority black cities usually experience this
-lack of democratic rights
Urban Nature
-“The city is an entirely human construct; there is nothing ‘natural’ about it- it exists in
opposition to nature and at the expense of it.”
-“Since the Industrial Revolution, at least, urban dwellers have tended to see nature as
being external to the city.”
-Communities used to be embedded in nature
-physical differences form the uniqueness of communities
-relationship with nature has become troubling
-city historically understood as opposite to nature
-nature are escapes from the city, return to nature
-e.g. Central Park, New York
-The birth of capitalism and the organization of social life around the profit motive
-The rise of factory production and the industrial city
-Toxic levels as a threat to urbanisation
-City was a problem for and outside of nature
Auto-centric development and the carbon economy
-Creating toxic environments
-Economy deeply anchored on the car (vehicles, gas, electricity)
Urban sprawl and mass produced landscapes
-Cities as mass produced environments
Urbanization and Nature
-Does the city count as an ecosystem?
Environmental Impacts of Urbanization
1. Consumption of land for urban development
2. Fragmentation of natural habitats
-becoming very business heavy
-e.g. wetland laws being less strict for developers
-disaggregate wetland uses
3. Resource consumption in cities
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Water system made to be toxic to cut costs. When a second group takes over the power of the local government. The city is an entirely human construct; there is nothing natural" about it- it exists in opposition to nature and at the expense of it. Since the industrial revolution, at least, urban dwellers have tended to see nature as being external to the city. Communities used to be embedded in nature. Physical differences form the uniqueness of communities. City historically understood as opposite to nature. Nature are escapes from the city, return to nature. The birth of capitalism and the organization of social life around the pro t motive. The rise of factory production and the industrial city. Toxic levels as a threat to urbanisation. City was a problem for and outside of nature. Economy deeply anchored on the car (vehicles, gas, electricity) Environmental impacts of urbanization: consumption of land for urban development, fragmentation of natural habitats.
