What is urban ecology

The URBAN ECOLOGY can be defined as the discipline that Study interrelations Among the inhabitants of an urban agglomeration and its interactions with the environment. Let’s see some of the most important fields that you deal with:

• Urban structure analysis: The structure that our cities have is decisive to plan management, and specifically environmental management. For example, the inclusion of green spaces in cities helps to reduce air pollution and conserve different species. Likewise, the closeness of an airport to the city will result in air and acoustic pollution.
• Matter and energy flows: This point is especially important. The city is dependent on both the importation of energy (it can be reduced with self -consumption), raw materials and products and for waste export. Having a good network that is occupied with supply and waste management is essential.
• Environmental Impacts: A city has multiple environmental impacts, such as consumption of matter and energy in all its forms, land occupation, waste generation, spills and air pollution, noise and light pollution … A large city becomes a very pernicious entity for the environment. In these other posts of ecology, we explain what a negative and positive environmental impact is with examples and what is an environmental impact study.
• Multifaceted criteria for management: The management of a city in a green way must take into account not only that it is respectful of the environment and urban renewal itself, but also criteria of social inclusion.

He RSU treatment or urban solid waste It is of vital importance for cities. All households (not counting those with surrounding industrial estates, which also generate waste assimilable to urban) generate a large amount of solid waste of different typology: paper and cardboard, containers, glass, plastics, organic garbage, batteries, expired medications … In short, tons of waste. Each of these fractions must be collected, separated and arranged according to their nature.

Most of Waste collection systems In Europe they include the so -called “separation in origin”, or ask the residue generator to classify them according to the type. This is how we find yellow containers for containers, paper blue and cardboard … In addition to clean points, in which the citizen must rule out everything that does not fit in the usual containers.

However, there are other more effective methods for reduce the consumption of raw materials in cities:

• The first one is the replacement of single -use containers and plastics by those for multiple use.
• Bulk purchase can be a good alternative, as well as replace plastic wrappers with paper or other materials.
• Reduce and reuse always before recycling.

On the other hand, there are the so -called deposit systems. In this case, the consumer pays an additional amount for the packaging, which is reimbursed when the wrapper is returned to who sold the product. For example, in the supermarkets of Germany or Sweden a small rate called “PFAND” or “Pant” is paid by the pet bottles (water bottles and other liquids). In the same supermarket there is a machine that automatically reads the bottle bar code. When the consumer passes all his empty bottles through the machine, it generates a discount ticket for the amount of the bottles returned and that serves all the products of the establishment itself.

Speaking of RSU, we cannot ignore the concept of valorization. Valuation refers to any type of use of the residue. The valorization can refer to recycling, or “energy valuation”, in which the heat generated by the incineration of waste for industrial processes or to generate electricity is taken advantage of. It is not the best solution, but there are many waste that cannot be treated otherwise, either by the ability of the plants themselves or by their nature.

The Green cities and the Smart cities (smart cities) They try to manage in a more friendly way with the environment and more efficient in terms of management, for which they usually rely on high doses of technology.

Among these initiatives we find cities such as Pamplona, ​​which due to its small size does not require extreme technology for organize more respectful to the environment. For example, it has been enough to reduce shot traffic in the city center to achieve air quality objectives.

At the other extreme we would find Neom, a construction phase megation in Saudi Arabia, which plans to incorporate all technological and environmental advances into its structure. Although this does not mean that the construction itself is especially respectful, it is possible that it serves as an example for the adaptation of many other cities.

Discover here more information about green cities: what are and examples.

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