The ________ drives the move to the suburbs from cities.
desire to live in less stressful, more peaceful park-like conditions
The greatest general problem with suburbs is ________.
that they spread environmental impact over a larger area
The world’s urban populations are ________.
growing faster than the population as a whole
In developing nations, such as India and Nigeria, ________.
rural people are moving to the cities in large numbers
American cities in the northern United States, such as Chicago, Illinois, ________.
have steadily lost population over the past 40 years
Around the world, most major cities are situated ________.
along rivers, oceans, roads, or train routes
Over the past 50 years, most U.S. citizens who could afford to do so ________.
left the cities for the suburbs
How does an urban growth boundary attempt to limit sprawl?
by limiting future growth into already urbanized areas
What is the greatest negative environmental impact that occurs when people live in suburbs instead of living in cities?
Suburbanites take up many times as much space as city dwellers.
What is true about the importance of location for cities that were founded over 100 years ago versus the cities that are rapidly growing today?
Older cities were founded along waterways or rail hubs so that goods could be easily transported.
In this graph, urban population density is used as an indicator of sprawl (lower density = more sprawl), and carbon emissions per capita provide some measure of the environmental impact of the transportation system or preferences for each of the cities represented.
Which city on the graph has both low to medium density (between 10 and 30 persons per hectare) and low carbon emissions?
Copenhagen
Describe the relationship between carbon emissions and urban density as shown on the graph.
As urban density increases, per capita carbon emissions decrease.
Compare the population densities of the most and least dense cities on the graph. What is the population ratio of the most- to least-dense cities?
7:1
Calculate the average population density of the cities on the graph. Does the city that has average population density also have average carbon emissions?
No, carbon emissions are actually lower than average in the city with average density.
You work for the city planning agency in Houston and successfully pass ordinances designed to double population density. Based on the graph, predict the approximate change in carbon emissions.
50% decline
Air travel, the Internet, cheap fossil fuels and television all have allowed people to ________.
live in less centralized communities
Any consideration of the true costs of sprawl must include ________.
increased use of fossil fuels
One of the things that contribute to sprawl is ________.
the trend toward increasing land area per capita
Which of the following would be characteristic of sprawl?
widely spaced homes spread evenly across a vast tract of land
What are two components of sprawl?
human population growth and per capita land consumption
What occurs as sprawl increases in, or adjacent to, a city?
the need for cars increases
This graph compares the degree of urban sprawl to the rate of gasoline consumption in U.S., Australian, Canadian, and European cities.
What information is provided on the x-axis?
area per person, in square meters
What do the orange dots represent?
European cities
In which nation or region do cities have the highest degree of urban sprawl?
United States
In which city do individuals have the highest rate of gasoline consumption?
Houston
How do the rates of land use and gasoline consumption in Australian cities compare with those in U.S. cities?
At any level of per capita land consumption, people in U.S. cities use more gasoline than those in Australian cities.
Is the following statement supported or not supported by the data shown in the graph?
The amount of gasoline used by each person generally decreases as per capita land consumption increases.
not supported
Which of the following statements is supported by the graph?
As urban sprawl increases, automobile use also increases
Oregon’s strong policy of enforcing UGB’s (urban growth boundaries) to create livable cities has been exemplary for many years, but between 2004 and 2007, voters ________.
passed a bill giving property owners the right to ignore UGB’s
Then, in 2010, Metro Portland made a historic agreement between landowners and citizens which ________.
included a regional plan to identify exactly where urban growth would be allowed
A city planner needs to consider ________ as a first priority.
optimal land use strategies for different areas of the city
The practice of classifying areas for different types of development and land use is referred to as ________.
zoning
L’Enfant’s 1791 Plan of the U.S. capital represented the first ________.
thorough city planning program
A military base a few miles from a medium-sized city is being decommissioned. The base is a large one, sited along a coastline, and includes some small hills, pristine woodlands and wetlands, streams, a river, and a small lake. There is a railroad spur that connects the base with the nearby city, as well as a four-lane highway. The base contains housing, schools, a hospital, shops, and recreational areas for a population of 10,000. The city’s options for using, selling, or leasing the land are numerous, and many groups come forward with proposals.
One group proposes to convert the base to a new city suburb, with low-cost housing for several thousand of the current inner-city residents. A possible major problem with this might include ________.
the lack of jobs and lack of transportation to jobs
A development group wishes to turn the area into a recreational facility, including an RV resort, a major-league sports arena, a small-craft harbor for water sports, a hunting lodge, and off- road activities, including motocross racing and dune buggy areas. An important concern ecological about this proposal would be ________.
the impacts on the woodlands, wetlands, and waterways
Members of several local environmental groups propose that nearly all of the buildings be removed and the area turned into a regional hiking and camping area, with very limited vehicle access. This will preserve the natural areas while providing recreation for the city dwellers. One issue that is raised by opponents is ________.
will revenue generated from users pay for the changes and the maintenance of such a facility
As an ecological resource manager, your preliminary environmental studies should include inquiry into whether ________.
the wetlands include oyster beds and shallow estuaries that are habitats for shrimp, crabs, and fish which are supporting many local industries
Which of the following follows the philosophy of “building up, not out”?
smart growth
Which of the following types of transportation consumes the most energy (in BTU per passenger mile)?
automobiles
Which of the following consume the bulk of the electricity used in the United States?
buildings
What are green buildings?
buildings constructed out of sustainable materials, which limit the use of energy and water, minimize health impacts, control pollution, and recycle waste
Which of the following approaches best helps congested cities deal with the problems related to transportation?
provide access to rail and bus transportation in the inner city or other high-density areas
What is the goal of “new urbanism”?
to create functional neighborhoods in which most of a family’s needs can be met close to home without the use of a car
According to the graphs, the energy consumption per passenger mile ________.
is higher for all types of road use than it is for rail use
The operating costs for transportation ________.
indicate that, when all operating costs are included, rail is the most sensible means of transport
Given the energy consumption and operating costs per passenger-mile, one of the best overall strategies for cities to consider is ________.
to create or improve a convenient, affordable, rail transit system
Gasoline prices have doubled in a large Midwestern city and may continue to rise in the future. What may happen in this situation?
B, C, and D may all take place in this situation.
Of the following, ________ is a method that governments use to improve urban transportation.
constructing light rail and expanded bus systems
The original purpose of parks in eastern U.S. cities was to ________.
provide a European style experience of the beauty and intimacy of formal landscapes
A resource sink is ________.
an area that produces almost none of the things that it needs
People who live entirely within an urban environment ________.
may become disconnected from nature and from the true costs of their needs and activities
LEED-certified buildings could be described by all of the following, except ________.
construction costs much less than for conventional buildings
The urban heat island effect is caused by ________.
heat-generating buildings and dark, heat-absorbing surfaces
How does the existence of densely-packed cities help preserve wilderness and rural areas?
The fact that populations are unevenly distributed across the face of the Earth allows for areas that are basically empty to exist.
Which of the following is a positive effect that cities have on the environment?
Cities give people places to live with smaller land use.
From where does the food that most city-dwellers consume originate?
farms surrounding the suburbs and from long distances away from the city
While Kayla is driving along a busy highway just outside a major city, she suddenly comes to a standstill in traffic. For the first time ever, she notices that alongside the highway are stretches of forest and wetland. She hears the noise of frogs and insects and birds that she never would have noticed if not trapped in traffic. Why does Kayla never notice these natural wonders on her route?
noise pollution
One of the speakers in the video made an analogy between a city and a very large tree. In this analogy, the root system of the tree was compared to __________.
the way soils, air, and water are needed to sustain people in the city
Which of the following best summarizes the future plans for cities?
Make cities self-sufficient.
How do the speakers in the video hope to treat waste generated by cities of the future?
They plan to rely more on recycling and upcycling.
Which of the following ideas was suggested by speakers in the video?
Future cities should repurpose compacted metal as building blocks for buildings.
- Urbanization The shift from rural to urban living
- suburban communities Residential/commercial communities that ring cities just outside city limits
- Sprawl The spread of low-density urban or suburban development outward from an urban center
- New Urbanism Designing neighborhoods on a walkable scale
- Zoning The practice of classifying areas for different types of development and land use
- Regional planning Broad land use studies that may include several cities and adjoining non-urban areas
- mass transit Includes public systems of buses, trains, subways, and light rail
Read this New York Times article and then answer the questions.
A Ghost Town, Going Green (4/30/2014)
Which of the following is the town of Nipton, California currently using to generate the bulk of its renewable electricity?
solar power
You wish to compare various transition towns around the world. Visiting which of the following would be least likely to help you in your quest?
China
In addition to decreasing its dependence on fossil fuels, if Nipton wanted to become water-independent, which of the following would be most promising?
underground lake
Your cousin is interested in learning how to use plants as a renewable energy source. Which of the following plants will she learn about in a visit to Nipton?
eucalyptus