Urban Problems

1
Urban Problems
Geg309 Urban Geography
Instructor Jun Yan Geography Department SUNY at
Buffalo
2
Last Class

• Air Pollution in Cities
• Air pollutants and their effects
• Heat-Island Effect
• Acid rain
• Green House Effect
• Case study Asthma in Buffalo

3
Outline

• Downgrading of public urban infrastructure

4
Urban Public Infrastructures

• Facilities or services that support the
  functioning of urban communities
• including roads, highways, sewages, water
  supply, school, parks, library, fire stations,
  court, prisons
• These are special types of commodity
• Public goods where consumption has to be decided
  by the community as a whole rather than by each
  individual. ? how to set the price?
• Non-excludable Who should be the beneficiaries?

5
Urban Public Infrastructures

• Facilities or services that support the
  functioning of urban communities
• Natural monopolies where one provider is able to
  meet total market demand at a lower unit cost
  than two or more providers
• Government needs to involve the supply of public
  infrastructures market failure, externality
• This does not mean public infrastructures to be
  delivered by the public sectors alone
  public-private partnership in US (Chp 12)

6
Urban Public Infrastructures

• Facilities or services that support the
  functioning of urban communities
• The issue of equity some services, primarily
  social infrastructure services (education, health
  and welfare), are provided to all citizens as a
  matter of right, irrespective of their capacity
  to pay to cost of provision
• The issue of efficiency Getting the most for a
  given input competitive market does better than
  bureaucracy
• Again, public-private partnership in US (Chp 12)

7
Urban Public Infrastructures

• Major funding sources
• Tax property tax, sales tax
• Government debts bonds (long term)
• Subsidies from federal government corporate tax,
  income tax
• User chargers fares paid to the usage of
  facilities, e.g. tolls, bus fares

8
Downgrading Urban Public Infrastructures

• Decreased spending in public infrastructures
• Situation is much worse in central cities
• Aging of infrastructures about a century ago
• Declining capital investment
• Industrial/commercial decentralization
  suburbanization ? less tax
• New Federalism after 1970s ? less federal
  subsidies
• Lack of confidence in prosperities of central
  city ? less government debts

9
Blackout!
10
Blackout!

• One possible reason
• Outdated energy infrastructure aging electrical
  grid and heavily loaded systems. When a problem
  starts in one system, it spreads quickly through
  the rest of the system,

11
Traffic Congestion

• Traffic congestion most visible rush-hour
• Increased travel time, fuel consumption, air
  pollution
• The changing urban commuting patterns

12
Shortage of Roads?

• Shortage of roads?

13
Traffic Congestion Solutions

• Three possible solutions
• Build more roads?
• Alternative system?
• Better use of current system?

14
Build More Roads?

• Build more roads?
• 10-20 of urban land
• Huge investment
• Political issues
• Not feasible

15
Alternative Systems?

• Alternative system
• e.g. rapid transit system
• Sparse population unable to generate enough
  market in suburbs
• Automobile Gridlock
• Hard sell in US

16
Better Use of Current Systems?

• Make best use of the current systems
• Much of the congestion we are facing very day are
  caused by certain even accidents, construction,
  weather, special events
• Smart systems right on !!!
• Intelligent Transportation systems (ITS)
  applications of information and communication
  technologies in managing transportation systems
  and traffic

17
Intelligent Transportation System

• Examples
• Traffic control surveillances
• Electronic tolls
• Adaptive signal control
• Traveler information
• Intelligent vehicles e.g. On-Star

18
May Not Too Smart
19
Resources

• Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution
  http//www.electricity.doe.gov/
• USDOT http//www.dot.gov/
• USDOT ITS http//www.its.dot.gov/
• ITS online http//www.nawgits.com/icdn.html
• Intelligent Transportation Society of America
  http//www.itsa.org/

20
Next Class

• Foundations of Urban Governance and Politics
• Reading chp 12. pp 329336

21
Equity vs Efficiency

• Are they contradictory?
• If not, why efficiency is relatively easy and
  equity is so hard to achieve in our society?
• Rich vs poor, Black vs White, central city vs
  suburbs, home-owner vs homeless
• Politician must believe in Equity!!!