UP100 Environment I Mark Wilson Overview • Environment • Water and Waste • Reading • Cities A-Z • City: • Eco-Cities pp302-311 • Brown: Landmarks in American Civil Engineering History • • • • Philadelphia Waterworks Croton Aqueduct Reversal of the Chicago River Chain of Rocks Water Treatment Environment • Cities and the environment • • • • • Human desire to find safety and security by controlling the world around them Early settlements provided safety and domesticated agriculture provided food security Cities seek to control their environment Manage water, remove hills, build in difficult locations Ecological footprint of our environmental impact • Cities occupy 2% of the earth’s surface but consume over 75% of the earth’s resources • BUT, urban residents in dense cities often efficient per capita in use of some resources • Equity and social justice issues of uneven resource distribution Environment • Choosing a place to live/attractive urban environments • Those with little labor market power often forced to accept poor conditions • For those with skills in demand, amenity value of locations important • Developed economies place a priority on environmental quality • Is environmental quality a superior good only to be attained with higher incomes • Some urban environments encouraging to trees and vegetation, others deny the presence of nature Environment • Context – How to conceptualize the environment? • Resource • Economic • Aesthetic • Management issues • Social and economic impacts Sources of Pollution • • • • • Air Water Waste Noise Natural events • Dust storms • Fires • Volcanic eruptions • Light California Fires Pollution Costs • Social costs as a concept • Externality not included in the market • Health • Damage to property • Increased maintenance • Reduced property values • Increased processing costs • Cleaning water • Cleaning air Sustainability • Increasing urbanization/industrialization demands more resources for production and daily life • Change energy consumption • Use planning to develop more efficient cities Sustainability • Renewable energy sources Sustainability • Transportation Sustainability • Urban design: energy use, microclimates, construction materials, proximity • Compact landscapes A to Z Air 1 • • • • “City as a place of smells and fumes” “We abuse the air and the air abuses us in return” Drivers need to be exhaust aware Paris 2014/15 Air 2 • Average air quality, table p5 Xian, China Dust 1 • Modern city shown as it is without dust (le Corbusier) • Desire for ‘brighter and cleaner’ spaces • Connection between dust and disease, concern with preventing dust from settling Floods • • • • • • Boston 1918 Outbreak of influenza, followed by winter with a warm January January 15, tank at Purity Distilling Co exploded spilling 2 million gallons of molasses 40 foot wall of molasses Led to the worst infestation of flies in the Summer 21 killed, 150 people injured Noise • Noise is not sound; noise is produced by the city • Musical avant-garde seek inspiration from urban noise • Increasingly, noise is dampened by design or by intent (urban design) Noise • Headphones • Individual soundtracks or urban isolation? • Inattention blindness • Listening, texting, talking • Mobile device distraction • 2004-11: 116 deaths attributed to inattentive pedestrians using headphones Chongqing no-phone pedestrian lanes Link Vinyl • PVC, polyvinyl chloride, commonly used in construction, for shelter, trash bags, packaging • Degrades slowly, lingering when discarded • “Vinyl signals the changing material culture of poverty” in its use in poor countries Water 1 • • • • Political significance of London’s water supply Mid 19th century realization of the need for clean water as a public health issue Also a metaphorical association between water supply and nature Popularity of mineral water, seeking purity Weeds • “What makes a weed a weed?” • Anti weed agenda of cities due to their being out of place • “Weeds, then, represent impurity, disorder – the wild”… “They are nature out of place” Water and Waste Water Supply • • • • Concern for supply, quality Only largest cities in US had central water supply systems in mid 19th century Mainly private funding with government contracts Conflict over profits vs public services • Who do water systems serve? Owners or consumers? • Growth of water privatization Water Supply • Philadelphia • 1799-1801, response to yellow fever epidemics and need for fire control • A major engineering project, became a public utility • Used classical architecture to reflect its significance • New York • Response to disease • Private initiative • Croton system started in 1830s, continues to serve the city • Los Angeles • Water rights • London cholera outbreak London: John Snow 1854 Drainage/Sewerage • • • • As water use increases so does waste water Cesspools not healthy and unable to handle growing levels of waste water Drains and gutters unpleasant and seen as a health hazard 1870s patents for water closets Drainage/Sewerage • What does our waste show? • Sewage reveals drug use • College campus spike with Adderall and Ritalin especially during finals (760% higher) • Potential trends in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drug use on a college campus: wastewater analysis of amphetamine and ritalinic acid. Link • Shows what drugs commonly used and when • Weekend use of cocaine and ecstasy • Changes over time Chicago Case Study • • • • • • Water from Lake Michigan but problems with waste Contaminated ground water a public health hazard Led to a public utility in 1855 Sewers laid and ground level raised 2-6 feet Waste flowed into Chicago River, which became a health hazard itself Water tower and pumping station to provide pressure Chicago Case Study • • • • Canals built to flush contents to south Flow of Chicago River reversed No benefit seen to processing waste as the city would not benefit Advances in science about disease led to changes in management of waste water; anti-contagionist replaced by germ theory The American Bathroom • Toilets • How Stuff Works Link • Buffalo Statler Hotel, 1908, first private bathroom in hotel • 1920s films; bathroom as shrine Refuse/Trash • Growing consumption led to waste disposal problems • Trash, dung, dead animals piled in streets or on vacant land; disposal left to the individual • Late 19th century trash disposal a municipal responsibility • Call for cleaner streets Trash Disposal • • • • • Tipping on vacant land Dumped at sea Incineration and reduction Landfill as land reclamation (Boston) Sanitary landfill, 1930s method to manage waste by layering trash and earth A to Z • Services • Contract cleaning multinationals • Global standards for buildings/facilities used by international firms • Sewage • Disease and plumbing in London • 1865 plan for sewers to reduce cholera • Privatization of water/sewer services A to Z • Public toilets • Installed at Crystal Palace in 1851 • Not accepted as part of public culture at the time • Once a sign of socialized urban space, now hard to find Plumbing • Modern Marvels – History of Plumbing Study Guide • • • • • • What is inattention blindness? Why did US cities build water supply systems in the early 1800s? What does sewage reveal about a city? What is the origin of the term ‘plumbing’? What are the major water borne diseases? What is the origin of the term ‘fireplug’? UP100: The City -- Spring 2017 A-Z Essay 10% of grade The textbook for the second half of the course, Cities A-Z, is filled with short essays that focus on one aspect of urban life. This assignment asks that you write a short essay on any topic that captures one feature about cities. The goal of the assignment is to thoughtfully consider one aspect of the city. Feel free to choose your own topic as long as it is not the same as one of the essays in the book. Pick elements of the city you hate, enjoy, or can’t understand; be creative! The essay should be 500-750 words long, to be submitted via dropbox before 3pm on April 6. Include citations if appropriate.
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