Sustainable Development between two Cities: Newcastle and Birmingham

A-Level: Geography

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Executive Summary
Cities, home to half of the world’s population, are at the forefront of the battle to implement sustainable development. As economic and cultural powerhouses of nations, cities provide an abundance of benefits that are essential to meeting our development aspirations. However, they are the most significant consumer of ecosystem resources and services and thus, ‘in most cities there are contradictions between the goals of ‘sustainability’ and ‘development’.’ (Pacione, 2001; 580).

The Government’s design watchdog CABE has been assigned the task of advising local authorities of their duties to move cities towards a ‘greener’ future and reaffirm their commitment to sustainable development and growth. CABE reports and Government white papers for sustainable development and environmental policy can form the basis for local authority reviews and strategies.

I am going to look at how two different city’s local authorities tackle the subject of sustainability.

2.0 Sustainability
CABE promotes the idea of ‘sustainable cities’, however the notion of sustainability involves the consideration of the many factors, such as:
• The environment: land, air, water, fire, noise.
• Infrastructure: Buildings, communications, statutory services, transport routes.
• Socio/political factors and philosophy
• Social factors: Culture, heritage, ambience, aesthetics, beliefs, work, leisure, prejudice, appraisal.
• Economic factors: Economic growth, globalisation, inflation, trade, lending, taxation, poverty.

Unfortunately attempts to satisfy the sustainable growth of a city must encompass all aspects of the city as highlighted above. This is due to the highly dynamic relativity of these aspects. Anyone of these influences can create a positive or negative effect on another. This is in many ways the basis for philosophical, political and economic idealistic differentiation.

Sustainability may be considered as an ideal in itself. Sustainable policies have avoided much political dispute by not conflicting with many of the contemporary political and economic notions of the late twentieth century. However, sustainability taken to an extreme could create a calculation idealised and resistant to democratic election or economic policy. Attempts to reach sustainable utopianism could lead to wider social and ethical disputes and reforms.

Despite the best intentions of the CABE report, are the issues and actions raised in the report realistic on a local basis baring in mind the current economic clime? I am going to concentrate on two Cities and their local authorities approach to sustainable development.
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