Sustainable and smart urban design
Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersDefine sustainable urban design.
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 12 Flashcards — Sustainable and smart urban design
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
Define sustainable urban design.
Answer
Planning a city to meet today's needs **without using up resources or harming the environment** for the future.
Question
Define a city's ecological footprint.
Answer
The area of **land and water** a city needs to **supply its resources and absorb its waste**.
Question
What is an eco-city?
Answer
A city designed to be **environmentally low-impact** — renewables, green space, recycling, compact form.
Question
What is a smart city?
Answer
A city that uses **sensors, data and digital networks** to run services (traffic, energy, waste) more efficiently.
Question
What is the 15-minute city?
Answer
A layout where residents reach work, shops, schools and health care within a **15-minute walk or cycle**.
Question
What is a superblock?
Answer
Grouping several street blocks and **removing through-traffic** to reclaim space for people and green areas.
Question
How does the 15-minute city cut emissions?
Answer
Homes sit near services, so people **walk or cycle** instead of driving -> lower transport emissions.
Question
Why can a small-population city emit a lot?
Answer
**High consumption, wealth, car ownership and fossil-fuel energy** raise the per-person footprint (e.g. New York).
Question
Sustainable vs smart design?
Answer
**Sustainable** = the low-footprint outcome; **smart** = the **data/technology tool** used to get there.
Question
Eco/smart-city case studies?
Answer
Barcelona (superblocks), Curitiba (bus rapid transit), Singapore (smart traffic + water), Masdar/Songdo (built eco/smart cities).
Question
One limit of eco/smart-city design?
Answer
**Cost, equity, privacy and retrofitting** existing megacities — Masdar and Songdo ran over budget and under-occupied.
Question
What does a top [10] Evaluate answer need?
Answer
Both sides (gains AND limits), **named cities/schemes**, accurate terms, and a justified judgement.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Sustainable and smart urban design
Topic 13.4 hub
Building sustainable urban systems for the future
More from Topic 13.4
All flashcards in this topic
Geography exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free