Key Idea: Topic 13.4 is about how cities can be made fit for the future — low-impact, liveable and able to cope with shocks. It pulls together two micros: 13.4.1 — sustainable & smart urban design: sustainable design shrinks a city's ecological footprint (compact form, renewables, green space, recycling), while a smart city uses data and sensors to run services efficiently. Key models are the 15-minute city, superblocks and eco-cities (Barcelona, Curitiba, Singapore — and the built-from-scratch Masdar and Songdo). 13.4.2 — resilience, infrastructure & governance: urban resilience is a city's ability to absorb shocks; infrastructure is its transport, water, energy and waste backbone; governance is who plans, funds and runs it. Upgrading infrastructure is hard (land in use, ageing systems, cost, opposition); growth and infrastructure shape each other (Lagos strained, Curitiba steered, Detroit shrinking); and resilient design protects cities but is costly and uneven. This is Option G content, examined on Paper 1: a short structured question plus a [10] Examine or Evaluate extended answer (SL answers 2 options, HL answers 3 — same questions at both levels).
🏙️ 13.4.1 — Sustainable & smart urban design
Sustainable urban design plans a city to meet today's needs without using up resources or harming the environment for the future — it aims to shrink the ecological footprint (the land and water needed to supply resources and absorb waste). A smart city goes further, using sensors, data and digital networks to run traffic, energy and waste more efficiently. The data-response often shows an urban-sustainability figure — a 15-minute-city travel-time chart or a footprint-vs-population data set. Estimate or State a value, Determine a mean or total, or Identify the highest/lowest — always quoting the units (minutes, people, Mt CO2).
[Diagram: geo-bar-chart]
Example: Barcelona groups nine blocks into a superblock and removes through-traffic, reclaiming road space for plazas, trees and cycling. Curitiba built its city around fast Bus Rapid Transit decades ago, so a high share of residents use public transport — a low-cost, low-footprint model. Singapore uses sensors and data for traffic (electronic road pricing), water recycling and energy, with strict green-building rules. Songdo was built as a smart city with pneumatic waste collection and city-wide sensors — though critics note the high cost and under-occupancy (as at Masdar).
🏗️ 13.4.2 — Resilience, infrastructure & governance
Urban resilience is a city's ability to absorb shocks and stresses (floods, heat, decline, rapid growth) and keep recovering. Infrastructure is the transport, water, sanitation, energy, waste and housing backbone, and governance is who plans, funds and runs it. Growth and infrastructure are two-way: growth drives demand for infrastructure, and existing infrastructure shapes where a city can grow. The stimulus is often a bar chart of infrastructure provision: Estimate a value and Describe how far services lag behind growth, before being asked to Explain the challenges of upgrading.
Example: Singapore uses the Marina Barrage and ABC (Active, Beautiful, Clean) Waters programme to manage floods and store fresh water, plus green roofs to cool the city. Barcelona's superblocks reclaim road space for pedestrians and greenery, cutting pollution and adding shade and rain-absorbing surfaces. Both work — but both are wealthy, well-governed cities, so resilient design's cost and unevenness is the key limit in fast-growing, low-income cities.
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- Option G is examined on Paper 1: a short structured question + a [10] Examine/Evaluate essay per chosen option (SL does 2, HL does 3 — same questions).
- Sustainable = low-footprint OUTCOME; smart = the DATA/SENSOR tool. A good city is usually both.
- Always give the mechanism: design → how → smaller footprint (15-minute city → homes near services → less driving → lower emissions).
- Data-response: read each bar with its UNITS (minutes, % access, Mt CO2); the 15-minute target line is 15 minutes.
- Upgrading infrastructure is hard — name the challenge (land in use, ageing systems, cost, opposition) + DEVELOP the mechanism; growth strains it (Lagos), infrastructure shapes it (Curitiba).
- On the [10] essay, weigh both sides with a NAMED city (Barcelona, Curitiba, Singapore, Masdar, Songdo, Lagos) and finish on a justified judgement — one-sided or no example caps mid-band.