Sustainability and the post-modern city: some guidelines for urban planning and transport practice in an age of uncertainty

Summary Sustainability is one of the key concepts that is associated with post-modernism. The old world with its modernist assumptions was based on increasing consumption of fossil fuels and other resources, reducing the natural and the diverse to simple, American-style mass production, with a strong state-based, large-scale approach to providing infrastructure. That old way no longer works but no way forward is obviously apparent. This paper looks at how the uncertainties produced by post-modernism can be put to advantage in providing a more sustainable postmodern city. It is suggested that the key principles are recognizing values, maximizing diversity and crossing boundaries. These are developed into some guidelines for urban planning and transport practice.This paper was delivered at the Global Forum '94 Academic Conference, Manchester, UK.     

Insecticide pollution of Indian rivers

Summary Rivers are the main source of water in India, and are particularly used for agricultural irrigation and drinking water supply. As most of the rivers pass through agricultural fields, they are subject to contamination with the different insecticides used for crop protection. Residues of persistent organochlorines, which are still used in large quantities in India, are found in water from many Indian rivers. In certain rivers, the concentrations of DDT, aldrin and heptachlor are often present in excess of their guideline limits. Although the concentration level of gamma-HCH is well below the guideline limit, the accumulation of the carcinogenic beta isomer is a matter of great concern. A few organophosphorus insecticides have also been detected in river water. Recently, some organochlorine insecticides have been banned from use in India. The use of new, readily biodegradable insecticides and biocides in agriculture and public health programmes offers some optimism.Drs Satya P. Mohapatia, Vijay T. Gajbhiye and Narendra R. Agnihotri all work within the Division of Agricultural Chemicals at the above address. Dr Manju Raina is employed by the Ganga Project Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi 11003, India.     

Forestry policy and woodfuel markets in Malawi

Forestry and energy policies in Malawi place the blame for the country's high rate of deforestation on the demand for woodfuel. The government has been involved in a range of questionable supply-side initiatives, as well as in a number of interventions in woodfuel markets, with the objective of slowing rates of deforestation. It seeks to encourage farmers to grow woodfuel to meet market demands, and has provided subsidies to do so. The Forest Department has kept prices for firewood from its plantations low, both in order to discourage the market for wood from free resources and because of concerns about the impact of high producer prices on the urban poor. In doing so, the government is less able to rely on the market to provide producers with the incentive to plant trees to meet market demands. In any event, the market accounts for a relatively small proportion of total woodfuel demand. Policies do not distinguish between rural household demands and the specific market demands which are having the greatest impact on deforestation: woodfuel for urban markets, for tobacco curing, and for small industries. These, coupled with the expansion of the estate sector, have had afar greater impact on woodland clearance than rural, subsistence woodfuel demands. Rural household energy demands need to be addressed from a much broader perspective which considers the household's larger needs for tree based products or outputs: income, food, fibre, fodder, soil fertility, as well as for fuel .     

Environmental management in Mainland China

Summary The author was a consultant, assigned from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to provide technical assistance to China's environmental pollution research and control. His assignment in China from September 1 through October 8, 1983 was filled with visits and meetings at key research institutes, universities, and regulatory agencies in the cities of Beijing (Peiking), Shanghai, Hangchow, Zhuji and Zhiaxing (Fig. 1). Trips to famous historical sites and scenic points in and around those cities were squeezed in between the heavily scheduled meetings. Dr Shen was born and educated in China through college. This is a report of his first trip back to his homeland since he left 35 years ago. His ability to communicate with the Chinese professionals and social strata in their native tongue provided him with a greater advantage in understanding the current status of China's environmental sciences and technology in preventing air, water, and land pollution. His contribution lies not only in the technical transfer of environmental sciences and engineering, but also in strengthening the ties of cooperation and communication between American and Chinese professionals. Dr Shen is a senior research scientist with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and an adjunct faculty member of the Division of Environmental Sciences, Columbia University.     

AN EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE POLICIES FOR CONTROLLING AGRICULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION1

An economic analysis of nonpoint source pollution management was conducted for the Nansemond River and Chuckatuck Creek watersheds in Southeast Virginia. The potential effects of alternative public policies on farm income, land use, and pollution loadings were investigated. Regulatory programs could have quite different impacts depending on which pollutant is targeted. Cost-share rates greater than 50 percent would have little additional effect on pollution from crop enterprises, but would reduce pollution from livestock     

SIMULATION OF HERBICIDE CONCENTRATIONS IN STORMFLOW FROM FORESTED WATERSHEDS1

The breakpoint rainfall hydrology and pesticide options of the field scale model CREAMS (Chemicals, Runoff, and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems) were used to predict average concentrations of hexazinone [3 cyclohexyl-6-(dimethyl-amino)-1-methyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione] in stormflow from four forested watersheds in the upper Piedmont region of Georgia. Predicted concentrations were compared with measured concentrations recorded over a 13-month period. CREAMS accurately predicted hexazinone concetrations in the initial stormflow events which also contained the highest concentrations. The model underestimated the hexazinone concentrations in stormflow two months and greater following pesticide application. In a companion study, the daily rainfall option of the CREAMS model was used to evaluate the reltive risk associated with the maximum expected concentration of hexazinone, bromacil (5-bromo-3 sec-butyl-6 methyuracil), picloram (4-amino-3,5,6 trichloropicolinic acid), dicamba (3,6-dichloro-0-anisic acid), and triclopyr {[(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinyl)oxy] acetic acid} in stormflow from small forested watersheds. The model predicted the following order of potential residue appearance in stormflow: bromacil>triclopyr>hexazinone>picloram>dicamba. Subsurface movement of residues via interflow and deep leaching losses are not simulated by the version of CREAMS used in these studies.     

SOIL EROSION AWARENESS AND USE OF CONSERVATION TILLAGE FOR WATER QUALITY CONTROL1

Water pollution through loss of topsoil from farmland continues to be a major problem, despite nearly 50 years of providing farmers technical and financial assistance for soil and water conservation. The technology for controlling erosion and water pollution is available, but farmers have been slow in implementing control practices. Past research has shown that farmers tend to be unaware of the seriousness of the erosion problem on their own operations. Using a random sample of farmers from central Iowa, the relationship is examined between awareness of a soil erosion problem and the use of conservation tillage. Results indicate that awareness of a soil erosion problem effects the use of conservation tillage, and that awareness can be enhanced by experiential educational strategies such as the development and implementation of a soil and water conservation plan.     

ECONOMIC RESOURCE MULTIPLIERS FOR REGIONAL IMPACT ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: Tradeoffs between regional economic development and resource use is a question often confronting local decisionmakers. A resource-interindustry model can be used to depict the interrelationships between regional economic sectors as to household income and/or employment and resource use. A resource-interindustry model was developed for Humboldt and Lander Counties in Nevada which shows the tradeoffs between regional household income (wages, salaries, profits, and rents) and/or employment and water usage. Water income and water employment multipliers can be ranked, enabling decisionmakers to realize sectors which require greatest regional water usage to regional household income and/or employment.