How do we redesign the cities that have emerged from the real estate boom?

Source:  theconversation.com

Metropolitan areas are currently undergoing a process of transformation. Their rapid development in recent decades has not always been planned. This results in alarming figures in terms of low density, isolated growth and speed of transformation.

As a result of this accelerated behaviour, the artificial surface area increased by more than 50% in Spain between 1987 and 2005. This means that it has grown in less than twenty years half of what it had grown up to 1987.

In other times, the construction of the metropolises followed new guidelines in the face of moments of strong transformation. After the Industrial Revolution, classic urban responses such as the Ensanches were given. And innovative ones such as the industrial colonies or model villages and other later ones that proposed new urban models.

Now we are once again in a moment of transition, in this case, ecological. To this end, there are different perspectives for responding to the metropolises that have emerged from uncontrolled urban expansion.

Increasingly populated cities

Today, uncontrolled urban expansion is a major challenge worldwide.

Last year, cities were home to 55.71% of the world's population. Cities, especially those in developing countries and emerging economies, will face unprecedented levels of urbanization.

In 1950, 30% of the world's population was urban. The United Nations predicts that by 2050, 68% of the population, more than two-thirds of humanity, will be urban. The world's urban population is therefore expected to double by 2050.

All this makes urbanisation one of the major challenges of our century.

Sustainability of urban expansion

An urban world has many consequences for sustainability. The consumption of natural resources will be concentrated around urban areas, especially those related to energy and land. In addition, the way in which new cities or developments are built will be key.

Urban sprawl is commonly used to describe physically growing urban areas. Dispersion is described as the physical pattern of low-density expansion. The development of large urban areas is irregular and dispersed with a tendency to discontinuity.

Uncontrolled urban growth is identified when the rate of urban growth is greater than the rate of population growth.

There are different drivers of this uncontrolled growth. Two key factors are the rapid growth in car use and the preference for single-family homes. This was reinforced by the emergence of mass consumption in the 20th century. The rigid separation of houses, shops and workplaces in so-called zoning also favours growth.

But the main reason why it has become a trend is that there are no restrictive regulations. Nor are sustainability criteria used for urban development.

Lack of adequate planning

Most land development is unplanned, informal settlements. And when planning does occur, it is characterized by weak or poorly applied land use. In other cases, it is directly due to a lack of coordination and collaboration in planning.

The expansion of cities is a critical issue because of its effects. Their uncontrolled growth threatens both the natural and rural environment and increases the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

There is agreement from international institutions on the prevention and containment of urban expansion, as indicated at the United Nations HABITAT III conference in 2016. Planning with sustainability criteria must take into account the challenge of urban expansion. This is why it is necessary to stop its increase and to study the dimension of the problem in each territory.

Strategies for the recomposition of Madrid

A paradigmatic case is the Metropolitan Region of Madrid. This area is unique at a European level because it does not have territorial planning and because it has undergone a very strong transformation in recent decades.

The Community of Madrid has gone from 64,808 anthropized hectares in 1990 to 126,220 hectares in 2018. This represents a growth of 94.76%, as the researchers Córboba and Morcillo point out. In other words, artificial areas have doubled in less than 30 years.

This exacerbated growth has been achieved with a small increase in population. The Metropolitan Region of Madrid therefore needs planning that allows for a new territorial configuration. This means establishing new strategies taking into account the current scenario of ecological transition.

Criteria for future planning

A first step is to go beyond the municipality when planning. It is a question of planning the metropolitan space, which has been forgotten in the last fifty years, with flexible and integrated responses.

The project of the future Metropolitan Region of Madrid should seek a greater economic balance. This means compensating the economic activities of the south and east, with respect to the north and west. It should also be committed to greater social sustainability, balancing the provision of facilities, equipment and green areas in these areas.

It should also mean greater environmental sustainability, especially by reducing air pollution, through limiting the use of private vehicles, and metropolitan contributions to climate change, which are related to the development model. The aim is to balance the environmental inequalities of the north and west with those of the south and east of the region.

In general, strategies to contain growth must be adopted and the precautionary principle used. This means protecting natural areas, preserving productive land for agricultural use and rehabilitating it before it grows.

It is also necessary to address the region's key planning issue: mobility. Public space and the city exist in relation to mobility. To improve mobility we need to promote all forms of soft mobility (pedestrians and cyclists), as well as public transport, reducing the role of the private vehicle.

In addition to this, we need to review ongoing developments in relation to the environment. Across the board, we need to rethink housing models and limit territorial inequalities at urban and metropolitan level.

An ecological transition towards new ways of living and consuming is essential, which, as we are seeing, means facing up to many challenges.

It is necessary to respond to climate change with energy and environmental planning. This requires a revision of current urban planning to include sustainability criteria. Especially when we are going to live in an increasingly urban world.