Challenges of Urban Changes

Urban areas rarely stay the same throughout time. Changes in political, economic, cultural, and environmental conditions shift people around and create new urban landscapes. These landscapes must contend with new and old residents, jobs, services, and interests—in other words, urban change. Urban change brings up an array of problems that require a diverse range of stakeholders and solutions to address them. Let's take a look at what urban changes are and the kinds of challenges that can arise.

Challenges of Urban Changes in the US

There are urban changes going on all over the world. As cities grow, jobs change, and policies change, people will move around. This can change the needs for urban infrastructure and services the government and businesses must provide. For instance, if many families decide to have children in one district, the need for schools and parks may grow.

However, if many people decide to leave a place at once, there won't be as much of a need for public and private services, so funding may be cut and businesses may go elsewhere. This can cause problems for the remaining residents.

In the US, there are some unique challenges urban changes can bring. Although these are not exclusive to the US, they can be best understood within the US context.

Housing

Issues that arise with housing are very common in urban changes. For instance, when many people move into a city, prices may go up due to higher demand. Cities must ensure enough housing is available for all the people that want to move in. When there isn't, issues like housing affordability may arise.

Housing affordability is a measurement of whether housing is deemed affordable (i.e. reasonably priced according to income) for families and individuals. In the US, housing affordability has increasingly become a greater issue. In recent years, a combination of decreased housing construction and an increase in home-buying has reduced available homes. This can also affect rental prices, leading to higher prices throughout the housing market.

Fig. 1 - Percentage of people living in different types of residency in the US (2020); the majority of people in the US are homeowners

As slavery became outlawed globally in the 1800s, many former enslaved people (and other racial minority groups) began to integrate into the Western housing market. These groups often experienced intense discrimination and were left with second-rate housing, jobs, and education. In the US, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 made these practices illegal, but many patterns of discrimination still exist to this day.

Redlining, segregation, and blockbusting have historically limited minority groups from the ability to create wealth in their communities. This continues to be an issue as many US cities continue to be highly segregated with prevalent inequalities in education, jobs, and housing.

Accessibility to Services

Accessibility is a growing concern in both urban planning and transportation. This is because the location of your home and how you travel to get to locations can indicate a lot about how accessible things are to you. Accessibility is, therefore, the ability and means to access goods and services.

For instance, high car dependency in the US can make some services difficult or impossible to access if someone is from a lower-income group and can't afford a car, is too young or too old, or is disabled. A lack of public transportation options increases car dependency even more, leaving few options for people to access services.

Furthermore, some districts or neighborhoods which have historically been underserved may also experience lower access to services. For instance, especially in lower-income areas in the US, food deserts are a major issue. A food desert is an area with limited access to affordable and healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables.

Challenges of Urban Growth

Urban growth is occurring all over the world. Urban populations are increasing rapidly, especially in developing countries. This is largely due to the fact that there are generally more economic and educational opportunities in cities, leading to both rural-to-urban migration and migration in general. Rapid urban growth in developing countries creates unique urban challenges.

Challenges of Urban Changes in the Developing World

In developing countries, squatter settlements are a major issue. Squatter settlements are residential areas that have developed without legal rights to the land. Squatter settlements may not have proper infrastructure, sanitation and sewage systems, or access to other basic services. These settlements arise out of a lack of affordable housing and rapid population growth that outstrips housing availability.

Urban land tenure also becomes an issue as all countries have their own land tenure rules and ways they allocate and give rights to the land. Some countries have traditional or customary measures, where unwritten or verbal agreements are made. This can become an issue as urban land becomes more valuable, putting pressure on people and governments to increase land security.

Fig. 2 - Rodrigo Bueno in Buenos Aires; a squatter neighborhood in one of South America's largest cities

Disamenity zones, usually the poorest parts of a city which are undesirable due to poor access, high crime, or poor accessibility can also turn into zones of abandonment. Zones of abandonment are areas which have been deserted due to poor economic and/or environmental conditions. These zones can also be sites for squatter settlements, adding to worsening conditions for residents living in these areas.

Some areas may experience high crime rates as a result of rapid urban growth. Particularly in disamenity zones or squatter settlements, living conditions and quality of life may not be high. Access to education, jobs, and other services may be limited or not available. This can lead to higher crime rates, as people have restricted options for how they can provide for themselves and their families.

In many cases, cities try to change these areas through urban renewal projects, by clearing squatter settlements, taking over land, and handing it over to developers to build new housing and services. The goal of urban renewal projects is usually to bring new life to cities, especially areas which are not well-connected or are run-down.

Unfortunately, in many cases urban renewal projects have destroyed and displaced communities, adding more problems for original residents who tend to be low-income. Urban renewal projects don't usually provide adequate support such as increased access to education or jobs for these original residents

Fig. 3 - Disamenity zone in the Ng'ambo district of Zanzibar City, Tanzania. These zones can be areas with squatter settlements and targets for urban renewal and gentrification

Gentrification creates similar issues. Gentrification is a sequence of urban changes when middle and upper-class individuals and real estate companies move into traditionally working or lower-income areas, renovating, building, and raising property values. Like urban renewal, the intention is to elevate the previous conditions of an urban area. However, it pushes out the original residents, resulting in their displacement to other areas outside cities.

Impact of Urbanization on the Environment

As cities grow, the impact of building housing and infrastructure for residents can be costly not only for people but for the environment. Loss of farmland and green areas to urban sprawl and a higher ecological footprint from greater energy and resource use can threaten everything from biodiversity to air and water quality.

A major issue is environmental injustice, which occurs when some people are disproportionately impacted by negative environmental factors due to historical discrimination. For instance, certain unfavorable infrastructure for residential areas (i.e., sewage facilities, polluting industrial facilities) is more likely to be located in lower-income and minority areas. This leads to poorer environmental conditions for some minority groups, exacerbating inequalities even at an environmental level.

City Problems and Solutions

Possible solutions to urban change challenges include urban sustainability, inclusionary zoning, and local food movements. By adhering to urban sustainability principles, the negative effects of urban change challenges can be mitigated, minimized, or prevented. Especially as cities grow, farmland protection policies, greater regional planning, and creating urban growth boundaries can minimize environmental damage.

Fig. 4 - Suburban sprawl in San Francisco. Urban sustainability can help guide cities to build more sustainably and reduce environmentally harmful sprawl

Inclusionary zoning can be a useful tool by urban planners to combat things like discrimination and housing affordability issues. Inclusionary zoning is usually a planning practice of requiring a part of new construction to be affordable for low and middle-income residents. This allows space for both new and old residents and increases diversity in income.

Local food movements are meant to address the issue of inaccessibility to food and nutrition. By connecting local farmers and food producers to local residents, greater access to food is available. This can take the form of local food markets or food trading.

Current and Future Challenges that Affect Urban Planning

Some major challenges to urban planning as cities continue to grow and change are any economic, political, social, or environmental shifts that can drastically change urban landscapes. For instance, climate change is currently a major issue for cities. Climate change can threaten the stability and infrastructure of a city, especially as environmental disasters are more likely to occur and with greater intensity.

The fragmentation of urban governments, especially in the US, is a major challenge to urban planning. Government agencies are spread through neighborhood, city, county, state, and federal levels. Differing interests, political shifts, and lack of communication can create major issues in the planning process. To create cohesion in the planning process, greater cooperation at all these levels is required.