Urban environmental and social stresses

The **damage city growth and living do to the local environment** - to air, climate, water, land and green space.

A city being **warmer than the rural land around it**, especially at night.

How much sunlight a surface **reflects**. Dark concrete and tarmac have **low albedo**, so they absorb and store heat.

A city's own **local climate** - its temperature, wind and rainfall - changed by buildings, surfaces and activity.

Low-albedo concrete absorbs and re-releases heat, tall buildings trap it, less vegetation cools it, and traffic/industry add **waste heat**.

**Hard surfaces** (lower albedo -> hotter) and **emissions** (thicken the pollution dome and trap heat); also tall buildings + waste heat.

**Economic** (high land value -> built over for profit) and **political** (weak planning protection) pressure as the city grows.

Environmental: cleaner air / cooler microclimate. Social: fewer accidents, less noise, more walking and cycling.

An **Ultra Low Emission Zone** charging dirty vehicles to enter; central roadside nitrogen-dioxide fell, though pollution shifted to some edges.

Groups of blocks closed to through-traffic, turning road space into greenery - cuts emissions, noise and heat but displaces some traffic.

Heavy smog from traffic, coal and industry; tackled by **coal-to-gas switching, factory relocation and traffic limits**.

Two+ strategies developed with a **named city** + data, a weighing of how **successful** each is, and a clear **judgement**.

Concentrated lack of the things needed for a decent life — **secure work, income, housing, health, education and safety** — in part of a city.

Measures used to map deprivation: **unemployment, low income, poor health, overcrowding, low qualifications and high crime**.

Several deprivation problems occurring **together** in the same place, reinforcing one another.

A self-reinforcing loop: **few jobs -> low income -> poor housing/health -> few qualifications -> low skills + no investment -> still no jobs.**

It concentrates in particular neighbourhoods (old inner-city, social housing, informal settlements), not spread evenly — so cities show sharp rich/poor contrasts.

Steep slopes, marshy/flood-prone or contaminated land — cheap, hazardous land the poor are pushed onto (e.g. hillside favelas in Rio).

It is an **economic** factor (land values fall with distance), so it scores nothing on an Outline asking for a **physical** site factor.

Few legitimate jobs, poor lighting and neglected space, and low policing/investment combine to raise offending.

Low-income: rapid migration -> informal settlements (Mumbai, Lagos). High-income: deindustrialisation + planning (Detroit, Glasgow). Same underlying cycle.

Residents, local/national **government**, **police**, **businesses** and **community groups** — with very different power.

It can renew housing but **displace** residents and destroy informal jobs/communities (e.g. evictions in Lagos) — a key essay tension.

Named cities as evidence, a balanced/weighed argument (causes across development levels, or stakeholder roles), accurate terms and a justified conclusion.