The urban environment: twenty-sixth report: 7009 (Cm.) - Softcover

Royal Commission On Environmental Pollution

9780101700924: The urban environment: twenty-sixth report: 7009 (Cm.)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 010170092X ISBN 13: 9780101700924

Publisher: TSO (The Stationery Office), 2007

More than half the world's population lives in urban areas with the growth of super-cities of tens of millions of inhabitants, and although cities only encompass two per cent of the world's land surface, they are responsible for consuming over 75 per cent of the planet's resources and produce 75 per cent of the world's waste. In the UK, over 80 per cent of the population already lives in urban areas, and the country is going through a new phase of urban expansion and regeneration that will affect the way we live for decades to come. This study, the Commission's 26th report, focuses on the environmental impacts of towns and cities, and considers the relationship between the urban environment and human health and wellbeing. The report finds that although there are many opportunities and attractions in urban living, there are also many environmental problems including contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, excess water consumption, traffic congestion and poor housing conditions. The report highlights the need for an over-arching urban environment policy to deliver environmental sustainability by co-ordinating the provision of key services and to create the institutional and social environment which encourages the uptake of existing technology to improve urban environmental performance. It calls for a new 'environmental contract' be established to forge partnerships between local and central government and the private and voluntary sectors, with high-level urban environmental targets that government regards as essential, while devolving to local authorities the responsibility for defining and prioritising action on environmental problems of local concern.

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Synopsis:

This Report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution examines the 'environmental footprint' of our towns and cities in the light of the government's Regional Spatial Strategies and the Sustainable Communities Plan, which will usher in a building boom that will shape the UK's built environment for centuries to come. The Report looks at the current context, with particular attention to urban expansion and regeneration. The Royal Commission also looks at environmental issues, including: tackling carbon dioxide emissions from urban areas; the role of the environment in health and wellbeing; maximising community benefits of the natural environment; and creating green infrastructure. The Commission concludes that the success of the project depends on getting the framework right, seeing a specific need for: public policy to promote the environmental component of sustainable development; and incentives and information to raise environmental standards over time. The Report also finds that any new infrastructure should contribute to environmental sustainability.

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