The push for ‘sustainable’ urban development : assessment of modern urban models using GHG emissions data
Budiaki, Nabila Lugemba (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024051010807
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024051010807
Tiivistelmä
Cities have been deemed to be the main source of emissions by experts and government entities. Urban planners are looking to deal with this issue through restructuring of settlements using different urban development models. This thesis intended to assess the effectiveness of two popular urban development models in reducing GHG emissions by analysing available data. The primary source of data was EDGAR, a subsidiary of the European Commission.
The findings showed that restructuring of settlements would not be sufficient in reducing GHG emissions. The findings also showed that the urban models could potentially propagate other issues that undermined the aims of the individual model such as congestion and development of heat islands through gentrification or the risk of affecting biodiversity of animal species within the surrounding ecosystem. It also showed that economic activity acted as the main driver of emissions and suggests that policy implementation such as diversifying the economic sector in addition to urban plans would be most effective. However, the limitations with the datasets could skew the results obtained, requiring further research into this subject area. Monitoring of these urban structures as they are being implemented is essential to obtain up to date data for analysis.
The findings showed that restructuring of settlements would not be sufficient in reducing GHG emissions. The findings also showed that the urban models could potentially propagate other issues that undermined the aims of the individual model such as congestion and development of heat islands through gentrification or the risk of affecting biodiversity of animal species within the surrounding ecosystem. It also showed that economic activity acted as the main driver of emissions and suggests that policy implementation such as diversifying the economic sector in addition to urban plans would be most effective. However, the limitations with the datasets could skew the results obtained, requiring further research into this subject area. Monitoring of these urban structures as they are being implemented is essential to obtain up to date data for analysis.