Urbanization and socioecologial transition

Philippe Woloszyn, University of Rennes2Yolanda Hernández. University Distrital Bogotá

Cyria Emelianoff, Maine University

Urbanization impacts socioecological dimension: with population high rate growing within less than 2 per cent of the earth’s surface, cities concentrate more of the 80 per cent of economic output, more of the 60 per cent of global energy consumption, and contribute with more of 75 per cent of CO₂ emissions ( Burdett and Rode, 2011).

Transmilenio Bogotá. 80 Aveneu Bolivar square in downtown Bogota

In this sense, cities, generate high entropy levels within their territories and their hinterlands (Bettini, 1998). They highly consume resources to transform them, thus generating footprints in the rest of the territory.This is the major way for cities to impact the neighboring populations, thus increasing their vulnerability.

Lanscape Bogotá City. info.oab@ambientebogota.gov.co

This diagnosis was partly made by authors who, during the 20th century, will produce a Green thinking on the city. The ideas underlying the repository of sustainability and the urban socio-ecological transition today are in running order since the beginning of the 20th century. On the other hand, their operationalization in the form of public policy phase is late, mainly due to the oil price shocks then to the « global change » (Emelianoff, 2011)

Ce diagnostic avait été en partie posé par des auteurs qui, au cours du XX° siècle, vont produire une pensée écologique sur la ville. Les idées qui sous-tendent le référentiel de la durabilité et aujourd’hui de la transition socio-écologique urbaine, sont en ordre de marche depuis le début du XX° siècle. En revanche, leur phase d’opérationnalisation sous forme de politiques publiques est tardive, surtout consécutive aux chocs pétroliers puis au « global change » (Emelianoff, 2011)

One of the most troubling issues is related to the rapid urbanization into areas of influence of large cities. Burdett and Rode (2011) attribute this phenomenon to the process of land speculation, the weakness in the mechanisms of planning, thus increasing population mobility and the rise of car use.

View Cajica municipality in the area of influence of the city of Bogotá and impacted by rapid urbanization.

McHarg est à l’origine d’une méthode de planification destinée aussi bien à réduire la vulnérabilité des villes qu’à préserver les écosystèmes régionaux et l’accès social à la nature.McHarg propose de canaliser les extensions urbaines sur les espaces qui présentent le moins de valeurs et de fonctions écologiques. Des zones aptes ou inaptes à l’urbanisation peuvent être définies, en superposant par la cartographie un ensemble de données environnementales. Cette méthode ouvre la voie aux études d’impact environnemental et préfigure les SIG. En délimitant des zones inconstructibles et en augmentant un peu la densité des zones à bâtir, en contrepartie, on protège les ressources et les fonctions environnementales, la beauté des paysages naturels et ruraux, et les villes elles-mêmes

McHarg is at the origin of a method of planning intended as well to reduce the vulnerability of cities to preserve regional ecosystems and social access to nature. McHarg offers channel urban extensions on areas that present the least values and ecological functions. Areas fit or unfit to urbanization may be defined, overlaying by mapping a set of environmental data. This method opens the way to environmental impact studies and foreshadows the GIS. Delimiting unsuitable areas and slightly increasing the density of areas to build, in return, it protects resources and environmental functions, the beauty of the natural and rural landscapes, and the cities themselves. (McHarg, 1967)

Wilches-Chaux (2008) and Bettini (1998) match from their different perspectives on the concept of entropy in relation to the cities. Entropy (disorganization) exchange is defined by cities in resources demand generating waste contaminating water sources internal processes, in regard of regions providing water capacity regulation, thus contto cities in search of ributing to population migration.

Sale of land for urbanization in the municipality of Cota in the area of influence of the city of Bogotá.

For these reasons, urban ecology considers "cities are a hot spot”: One hectare of metropolitan district uses 1000 times more energy than an equivalent area of rural type. Resulting heat, dust and other contaminants influence the climate of neighboring fields. Cities are warmer and cloudy, with less sunshine and more rain and fog adjacent fields "(Bettini, 1998:115).

Conurbation area toward the depressed area of the city of Bogotá and Soacha, receptor population displaced from different regions

The case of the capital region of Colombia is illustrative in this regard, in this area was made an analysis of the dynamics of urbanization and its effects on populations. This area is located in the central region of the country with 9,023,644 people (DANE, 2013). In this region, there are a special natural conditions, agricultural soils, the strategic ecosystems, the presence of activities related to food production but this region is being occupied by housing projects for socio-economic strata with high income levels and industrial areas. In this region, Bogotá is the national metropolis harboring about 15 % of the population and the highest rate of population growth (2.29 % ) of the four major cities. Bogotá ranks first in the capital market.

http://www.rupestreweb.info/tmcsabanax.jpg

Bogotá and the municipalities belonging to its region of influence

The first problem is the occupation of soils suitable for agriculture and the loss of agricultural potential of these areas, Alfonso (2005), Arango Escobar (2008). The loss of the natural dynamics of bodies of water, reducing the protective forest reserve Bogotá River Basin. These factors combined to affect long-term food security of the region and its sustainability

Agricultural potential areas occupied by the process of urbanization in Usme

In the second place there is the phenomenon of gentrification (Lees, Slater, & Wyly, 2007), Simon, et al (2004), University of Nottingham and University of Liverpool (1999). These changes in the pressure region home sales of traditional people who leave their lands and go to live in the city of Bogotá, the new inhabitants have a tradition of farming, using new homes as places of retreat for weekends, the traditional inhabitants who do not migrate, works in various trades for new residents.

In the municipalities of the region of influence of Bogotá, the ancient inhabitants sell their homes to make way for housing developments for people with higher incomes

Thirdly there is the phenomenon of conurbation between small towns and big city, which affects the ecological structure of the region, (Barrera, 2011), as this process is not adequately planned this despite the existence of the land use plans specified by law 388 of 1997 (Law on Territorial development).

Conurbation of the city of Bogotá with the municipality of Soacha.

Fourth, these negative impacts on the main ecological structure and model of land occupation, to generate risk scenario by threat of flooding.

Floods in Cota municipality's area of influence of Bogotá

Strategies derived from traditional inhabitants towards a model of urban resilience

Cameron E. Freer (2013) proposed a "first step" to implement entropic conception of intelligence from the general formula for the entropy maximization. Thus, he shows that a "causal generalization of Entropic forces (such as urbanization processes) may spontaneously encourage remarkably sophisticated behaviors, for example participative processes, collaborative initiatives or globally social cooperation, associated with the man living in his "cognitive niche", that means, within his urban environment.

The local knowledge is a strategic factor to impact positively on the communities themselves in response to the dynamics of change (McDaniel, J., & Alley, K. , 2005). Strategies built from local actors can be structured into two types: those oriented organization, other, focusing on concrete actions. In fact, some farmers have begun a process of community organization to work together for the defense of their territories , this type of strategy has been successful in cases like the Soches AgroPark, which the inhabitants work together in a commun objective : to secure the existence of a territory with traditional rural cultural patterns in a urban environments.

View of AgroPark the soches in Usme the rural area of Bogotá

The latter are related to the processes carried out in the territory of Usme, in this place, some farmers are working toward certification in their fields as organic production. These strategies are important to consolidate and to support , as these people require assistance in marketing their products because of its secluded location of market centers .

Meeting of accelerated urbanization and rural uses in Usme

At another scale, it is interesting to observe the way in which environmental vulnerability could play to engage stakeholders in urban development in innovations that have had a more global scope, and décatégorisent who in turn the concepts of city and nature. We propose a return to the origin of a number of European sustainable neighbourhoods. Sustainability has sometimes arrived incidental way, under the influence of socio-environmental vulnerabilities and constraints. Indeed, the first projects of what will become of the neighborhoods have begun before the Rio conference and the imposition of the repository of sustainable development. A une toute autre échelle, il est intéressant d’observer la manière dont la vulnérabilité environnementale a pu jouer pour engager les acteurs de l’urbanisme dans des innovations qui ont eu une portée plus globale, et qui décatégorisent à leur tour les notions de ville et de nature. Nous proposons ici un retour sur l’origine d’un certain nombre de quartiers durables européens. La durabilité y est parfois arrivée de manière incidente, sous l’effet de contraintes et vulnérabilités socio-environnementales. En effet, les premiers projets de ce qui deviendra des écoquartiers ont commencé avant la conférence de Rio et l’imposition du référentiel du développement durable.

To build a model of resilience needed to overcome a binarista vision of society and nature, city-rural areas, and to build models of territorial occupation based on the coexistence of rural-urban land use relationships, where the ecological structures to be valued and protected by organized communities, where the public policies are geared to the empowerment of stakeholders.

Conclusion

Whether at the global or local scale either upstream or downstream of the occurrence of problems, socio-environmental vulnerabilities are changing managers and sometimes operating modes of urban planning or development. Policies of prevention or adaptation to environmental changes become one of the main drivers of urban innovation, and timidly more social innovation, which yet remains the key to a socio-ecological transition. Que ce soit à l’échelle globale ou locale, que ce soit en amont ou en aval de l’apparition des problèmes, les vulnérabilités socio-environnementales font évoluer les cadres et parfois les modes opératoires de l’urbanisme ou de l’aménagement. Les politiques de prévention ou d’adaptation aux changements environnementaux deviennent un des principaux moteurs de l’innovation urbaine, et plus timidement de l’innovation sociale, laquelle reste pourtant la clé d’une transition socio-écologique.

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