Topic 1

1
Topic 1 The Emerging Issue of Transport and the
Environment

• A Why Transport and the Urban Environment?
• B Transport / Environment Links
• C Environmental Issues of Urban Transportation

2
Conditions of Usage

• For personal and classroom use only
• Excludes any other forms of communication such as
  conference presentations, published reports and
  papers.
• No modification and redistribution permitted
• Cannot be published, in whole or in part, in any
  form (printed or electronic) and on any media
  without consent.
• Citation
• Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Economics
  Geography, Hofstra University.

3
Why Transportation and the Urban Environment?
A

• 1. Context An Urbanizing Society
• 2. Modes of Territorial Occupation
• 3. Economic Systems
• 4. Social Preferences

4
Context An Urbanizing Society
A-1

• An urban world
• The world is getting increasingly urbanized.
• Since 1950, the world urban population has more
  than doubled.
• In 1999, half of the worlds population of 6
  billions lived in urban areas.
• 75 were in developing economies.
• The majority of economic activities are taking
  place in cities.
• Cities are dominant attributes of the human
  landscape.

5
World Urban Population, 1950-96 with Projections
to 2050 (in billions)
A-1
6
Stages of Urbanization
A-1
Terminal Stage
Initial Stage
Transition Stage
100
Demographic transition
Rural to urban migration
Developed countries
80
Developing countries
Rural Society
Urban Society
60
Urban Population
40
Least developed countries
20
Urbanization
0
Time
7
of Urban Population, 1950-2030
A-1
8
Urban Population, 1950-2030 (in millions)
A-1
9
Context An Urbanizing Society
A-1

• Concentration
• An increasing share of the global population
  lives in megacities.
• Megacities (over one million).
• Supercities (over 4 million).
• Supergiants (over 10 million).
• 1950
• 83 cities of more than 1 million.
• 34 cities in developing countries.
• 1995
• 280 cities of more than 1 million.
• All new millionaire cities are in developing
  countries.
• 11 of the 15 largest cities are in developing
  countries.

10
Cities of more than 8 million, 1950-2000
A-1
11
Cities of more than 8 million inhabitants, 2000
A-1
Moscow
Paris
Beijing
Istanbul
Tokyo
Seoul
Teheran
New York
Tianjin
Delhi
Los Angeles
Osaka
Dhaka
Karachi
Shanghai
Cairo
Calcutta
Mexico
Bombay
Lagos
Manila
Bangalore
Bangkok
Lima
Rio de Janeiro
Jakarta
Sao Paulo
Brandt Line
Buenos Aires
12
The 15 Largest cities in the world, 1996, 2015
A-1
13
Modes of Territorial Occupation
A-2

• How can we link society / economy to the
  territory?
• The way a society uses its resources.
• Highly related to the way it occupies its
  territory its spatial imprint.
• Different societies have different modes of
  territorial occupation.
• Three major elements
• Mass production.
• Mass consumption.
• Mass distribution

Mass Production
Mass Consumption
Mass Distribution
Spatial Imprint
Environmental impacts
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Modes of Territorial Occupation
A-2

• Mass production
• Mass consumption requires mass production of food
  products on mechanized farms
• Use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
• Capital intensive agriculture.
• Large exploitations.
• Qualified, flexible and organized workforce.
• Mass consumption
• Consumption of resources part of social ideals.
• The availability of food requires a powerful
  agricultural system.
• Mass distribution
• Highly mobile society consuming vast amounts of
  energy
• The car is the foremost expression of status and
  freedom.

15
Modes of Territorial Occupation
A-2

• Environmental impacts
• Modes of territorial occupation have
  environmental consequences
• Overuse of resources and generation of wastes.
• Consumption of space.
• Destruction of natural habitats and pollution.
• Mobility has impacts on the way cities are built
  and organized
• Space is cheap and roads are available.
• Cities are generally of low density and extended.

16
Economic Systems
A-3

• Impacts of globalization
• International division of labor and production.
• Specialization of economic regions and
  international trade.
• Increasing reliance on transportation.
• High mobility levels of production factors,
  notably capital.
• Space is economically less relevant for location.
• Comparative advantages are exploited in terms of
  the distribution capacity of networks and
  production costs.
• Economic production and markets can be much more
  spatially separated and allow greater economies
  of scale.

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Economic Systems
A-3

• Management and operations
• Rely on the fast distribution of goods, people,
  and information over vast territories.
• Just-in-time and door-to-door strategies.
• Logistical distribution.
• Interdependencies created by new management
  alternatives within a space-time collapse of
  global proportion.

18
Fragmentation of the Production System and the
Logistics Industry
A-3
Emerging
Conventional
Region A
Logistics
Distribution
Inputs
Outputs
Region B
Factory
Region A
Region C
19
Distribution Strategies for Production Systems
A-3
Country A
Country B
Centralized Production
Regional Production
Country C
Country D
Regional Specialization
Vertical Integration
20
Social Preferences
A-4

• The appeal of the car
• The individual car as the main mode of
  transportation.
• 81 of all cars are found in developed countries.
• New spatial environments where personal mobility
  is required to perform most activities like
  working, shopping and entertainment.
• Land use pattern and density is such a
  consequence to the social ecology of cities and
  regions.
• Decision making behavior behind the design and
  allocation of infrastructure in urban and
  inter-urban areas.

21
World Automobile Production and Fleet, 1965-2004
A-4
22
People per Automobile, 1950-1998
A-4
23
Sport Utility Vehicle
A-4
24
Transport / Environment Links
B

• 1. Environmental Systems
• 2. Transport Systems and the Environment
• 3. Environmental Impacts of Transportation
• 4. Modal Impacts

25
The Environmental System
B-1

• Concept
• Set of interactions between the elements of the
  biosphere.
• Includes the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the
  lithosphere and the ecosphere.
• Atmosphere
• Constituents
• Nitrogen (78), oxygen (21), and traces
  (remaining 1) of carbon dioxide, argon, water
  vapor and other components.
• Approximately 1,100 km high.
• Stratosphere (10 to 50 km) and the troposphere
  (less than 10 km)
• Main atmospheric interactors of the biosphere.
• Prime mean for the spatial diffusion of
  pollutants and a temporary mean of their
  accumulation.

26
The Environmental System
B-1

• Hydrosphere
• Accumulation of water in all its states (solid,
  liquid and gas).
• Elements dissolved it in (sodium, magnesium,
  calcium, chloride and sulfate).
• 97 of the water forms the oceans.
• 2 is ice (north and south poles).
• 1 in rivers, lakes, ground water and atmospheric
  vapor.
• Water covers around 71 of the earth's surface.
• Important accumulator of pollutants and a
  significant vector of diffusion.

27
The Environmental System
B-1

• The lithosphere
• Thin crust between the mantle and the atmosphere.
• Around 100 km thick.
• 1 km of it can be considered in interaction with
  the biosphere.
• Main constituents
• Oxygen (47), silicon (28), aluminum (8), iron
  (5), calcium (4), sodium (3), potassium (3)
  and magnesium (2) in a crystalline state.
• Main source of pollutants and a permanent
  accumulator.
• Some are naturally released through sources like
  volcanic eruptions.
• Others like fossil fuels are the result of
  artificial extraction and combustion.

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The Environmental System
B-1

• Ecosphere
• Set of all living organisms, including animals
  and vegetal.
• Temporary accumulators (like lead).
• Sources for pollutants (natural forest burning).
• Very complex set of relationships with the
  atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

29
The Environmental System
B-1
Atmosphere
Ecosphere
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
30
The Environmental System
B-1

• Cycles
• How energy and elements flow from one
  constituent, like the atmosphere, to others where
  they are accumulated (permanently of temporarily)
  or passed on.
• Well-known cycles are the ones of carbon,
  nitrogen and water.
• Carbon cycle
• Transportation contributes to different
  geographical scales of the carbon cycle.
• Only one link in the environmental chain.
• Several aspects of the carbon cycle are
  ill-defined and difficult to evaluate.
• Growth of carbon dioxide emitted by
  transportation may imply for elements of the
  environmental system.

31
The Environmental System
B-1
Atmosphere
Respiration and assimilation
Respiration
Respiration and assimilation
Respiration
Emission
Ecosphere
Animal activities
Human activities
Transportation
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Limestone
Fossil fuels
Decomposition
32
Transport Systems and the Environment
B-2

• Relationships
• Concomitant contribution.
• Additional contribution.
• In some cases, it may be a dominant factor, while
  in others its role is marginal and difficult to
  establish.
• Geographical scales of relationship
• Local (noise and CO emissions).
• National / regional problems (smog and acid rain)
• Global (global warming).

33
Transport Systems and the Environment
B-2
34
Transport Systems and the Environment
B-2

• The network
• Influences the spatial distribution of emissions.
• Centralized networks concentrate the traffic and
  emissions, but are using less energy.
• Dispersed networks may are more environmentally
  friendly, but are consuming much more energy.
• The traffic
• Induces the level of emissions since it is
  related to the utilization level of a transport
  system.
• The mode
• Impels the nature of emissions.
• Different transport modes have different energy
  requirements and levels of efficiency.
• A transport system related to the usage of cars
  has different environmental problems than one
  related to public transit.

35
Transport Systems and the Environment
B-2

• Economic / industrial processes sustaining this
  system
• Production of fuels, vehicles and construction
  materials, some of which are very energy
  intensive (e.g. aluminum).
• Disposal of vehicles, parts and infrastructure.
• They all have a life cycle timing their
  production, utilization and disposal.
• Consideration of cycles in the environment and in
  the product life alike.
• May lead to incorrect appraisal and policies.

36
Environmental Impacts of Transportation
B-3
37
Environmental Impacts of Transportation
B-3

• Atmosphere
• Large scale diffusion of pollutants.
• High growth on a short term basis of the
  concentration of pollutants because of local
  conditions (e.g. smog).
• Photochemical reactions caused by ultraviolet
  rays, notably over ozone, sulfur dioxide and
  nitrogen dioxide.
• Climatic changes (global warming).
• Acid rain.
• Synergetic effects when pollutants are combined
  (e.g. smog and greenhouse gases).

38
Environmental Impacts of Transportation
B-3

• Hydrosphere
• Diffusion of pollutants in a dissolved of
  colloidal state.
• Acidification and loss of neutralizing potential
  of ground and underground water.
• Drops of pH following snow melting (aquatic
  organism are particularly vulnerable).
• Growth in the solubility of several metals
  because of acidification.
• Additions of organic compounds, aluminum,
  manganese, calcium, magnesium and potassium by
  runoffs.
• Contamination of ground and underground water by
  nitrates.

39
Environmental Impacts of Transportation
B-3

• Lithosphere
• Acid depositions.
• Liberation of toxic metallic ions (aluminum,
  cadmium, etc.) through acidification.
• Loss of nutrients, notably calcium and magnesium.
• Inhibition of the miniralization of nitrogen.
• Modifications in the compositions and the depth
  of decomposition gradient.
• Inhibition of decomposition.
• Loss of the soil flora and fauna.
• Fixation by plants of heavy metals (e.g. lead)
  and contamination.
• Removal and consumption of land.
• Extraction of raw materials like mineral products
  and energy.

40
Environmental Impacts of Transportation
B-3

• Aquatic ecosphere
• Alteration of ecosystems in unforeseeable ways.
• Disappearance of vulnerable species and
  proliferation of tolerant ones.
• Reduction of bacterial treatment of organic
  matter by nitrification.
• Reduction of available nutrients to aquatic
  species.
• Reproductive impediments.
• Land ecosphere
• Damages over the vegetation modifying
• hydric cycles.
• the level of underground water resources.
• soil erosion.
• air purification capacity of the ecosphere.
• food sources (agriculture).
• entertainment and tourism.

41
Environmental Impacts of Transportation
B-3

• Reduction of the vital space.
• Reduction of the genetic potential of species.
• Reduction of the food supply and alteration of
  the food chain.
• Consumption of resources.
• Human ecosphere
• Odors and noise.
• Cardiovascular and respiratory problems.
• Susceptibility to infection.
• Drops in life expectancy.
• Injuries, incapacity, hospitalization, death.
• Damage to structures
• Loss of useful life. (amortization)
• Loss of property values.
• Corrosion of metal structures (bronze, steel,
  etc.).
• Destruction of historical and cultural monuments.

42
Modal Causes
B-4

• Modes concerned
• Road.
• Main support of passenger and freight movements.
• System-wide distribution.
• Rail.
• Impacts mainly around terminals and major lines.
• Maritime.
• Air.
• Transportation activities affecting the
  environment
• Infrastructure construction, maintenance, and
  abandonment.
• Vehicle and parts manufacture.
• Vehicle travel.
• Vehicle maintenance and support.
• Disposal of used vehicles and parts.

43
Transportation activities affecting the
environment
B-4
Activity
Mode
Traffic
Infrastructure
Road
Vehicle manufacture
Rail
Passengers
Vehicle travel
Maritime
Freight
Vehicle maintenance
Air
Vehicle disposal
44
Modal Causes
B-4

• Road Construction and Maintenance.
• Habitat disruption and land take for road and
  right-of-way.
• Emissions during construction and maintenance.
• Releases of deicing compounds.
• Highway runoff.
• Motor Vehicle and Parts Manufacture
• Toxic releases and other emissions.
• Road Vehicle Travel
• Tailpipe and evaporative emissions.
• Fugitive dust emissions from roads.
• Emissions of refrigerant agents from vehicle air
  conditioners.
• Noise.
• Hazardous materials incidents during transport.
• Roadkill.

45
Modal Causes
B-4

• Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Support
• Releases during terminal operations tank truck
  cleaning, maintenance, repair, and refueling.
• Releases during passenger vehicle cleaning,
  maintenance, repair, and refueling.
• Leaking underground storage tanks containing
  fuel.
• Disposal of Motor Vehicles and Parts
• Scrappage of vehicles.
• Improper disposal of motor oil.
• Tire disposal.
• Lead-acid batteries disposal.

46
Modal Causes
B-4

• Railway Construction, Maintenance, and
  Abandonment
• Habitat disruption and land take.
• Emissions during construction and maintenance.
• Rail Car and Parts Manufacture
• Toxic releases.
• Rail Travel
• Exhaust emissions.
• Noise.
• Hazardous materials incidents during transport
• Rail Car Maintenance and Support
• Releases during terminal operations car
  cleaning, maintenance, repair, and refueling.
• Emissions from utilities powering rail.
• Disposal of Rail Cars and Parts
• Rail car and parts disposal.

47
Modal Causes
B-4

• Airport Construction, Maintenance, or Expansion
• Habitat disruption and land take.
• Emissions during construction and maintenance.
• Releases of deicing compounds.
• Airport runoff.
• Aircraft and Parts Manufacture
• Toxic releases
• Aviation Travel
• High altitude emissions.
• Low altitude/ground level emissions.
• Noise impacts.
• Hazardous materials incidents during transport.
• Airport Operation
• Emissions from ground support equipment involved
  in aircraft loading, cleaning, maintenance,
  repair, and refuelling.
• Disposal of Aircraft and Parts
• Airplane and parts disposal

48
Modal Causes
B-4

• Construction and Maintenance of Navigation
  Improvements
• Direct deterioration of habitats and water
  quality from dredging or other navigation
  improvements.
• Habitat disruption and contamination from
  disposal of dredged material.
• Habitat disruption and land take for ports and
  marinas.
• Manufacture of Maritime Vessels and Parts
• Toxic releases.
• Maritime Vessel Travel
• Air pollutant emissions.
• Habitat disruption caused by wakes and anchors.
• Introduction of non-native species.
• Hazardous materials incidents during transport.
• Wildlife collisions.
• Overboard dumping of solid waste.
• Sewage dumping.

49
Modal Causes
B-4

• Maritime Vessel Maintenance and Support
• Releases of pollutants during terminal
  operations.
• Disposal of Maritime Vessels and Parts
• Scrappage of old vessels and dilapidated parts.