Table of Contents
Introduction
Policies that are designed to support sustainable development can be helpful in reducing problems that are associated with urbanization. For a long time, urbanization has posed detrimental issues on sustainable development by causing harm to the environment. Adopting policies supporting sustainable development will help reduce the number of people moving to cities with the hope of a better lifestyle and higher income.
Analysis
People move to cities with hopes of finding better paying jobs and living better lifestyles. It is believed that urban areas have better social amenities such as schools, hospitals and even restaurants. Each of these is a motivational factor for people in rural areas to seek a better lifestyle in the cities and urban areas.
Unfortunately, urbanization has led to a negative turn of events on the environment. There are housing problems within the urban areas. This is as a result of over-population which has also led to people living in poor environments for accommodation. Overpopulation increases the use of natural resources such as water and it also accelerates deforestation to create room for settlement. von Döhren and Dagmer (2015; 493) state the importance of finding a way to promote biodiversity bearing in mind that 75% of global population is projected to be living in urbanized areas by the year 2050.
As a result of these factors, there is a great need for the implementation of strict sustainable development policies that will help reduce overpopulation in urbanized areas. According to Chrun, Dolšak, & Prakash (2016; 351), emphasizes on Corporate Environmentalism as a means of working toward the urbanization problem. As more people move to urbanized areas looking for work in corporate companies, it would only make more sense if these corporate companies became more involved in activities that promote sustainable development beyond the recommended measure by law. An organization can implement environmental friendly policies that will work against depletion of the resources within the environment.
Smets & Paul (2016; 8) explain that the inclusion of the Habitat III policy in 2015 during the General Assembly was a great step in promotion of sustainability in urban housing. The main aim of this housing policy was to promote better urban housing that is affordable and safe by the year 2030.
Abelson et al., (2017; 13) sheds some light on one of the strategies that could help reduce urbanization. The objectives of the healthcare systems need to be geared toward serving everyone effectively. The research found that the Canadian Healthcare systems thrived based on the types of objectives that they set. Therefore, developing policies that were geared toward equal distribution of quality healthcare services across the nation is a step toward spreading social amenities across the nation and discouraging urbanization.
Evaluation
Despite the importance of policies on sustainable development in reducing urbanization, most of the research being performed is geared toward improving the living conditions in urbanized areas. Smets & Paul (2016; 8) is biased toward this idea which might instead entice more people to move to these urbanized regions. On the other hand, the argument of distributing social amenities to other areas of the nation might help reduce the rates of urbanization and reduce accompanying problems as described by Abelson et al., (2017; 13).
Conclusion
In conclusion, sustainable development policies can be helpful in reducing problems related with urbanization. By solving the problems in urbanized areas, more people will want to over to these regions. On the other hand, solving the problem on a large scale by spreading amenities across the nations will be more effective in reducing problems related to urbanization and promoting sustainable development.
- Abelson, Julia, et al. “Uncomfortable trade-offs: Canadian policy makers’ perspectives on setting objectives for their health systems.” Health Policy 121.1 (2017): 9-16.
- Chrun, Elizabeth, Nives Dolšak, and Aseem Prakash. “Corporate Environmentalism: Motivations and Mechanisms.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 41 (2016): 341-362.
- Smets, Peer, and Paul van Lindert. “Sustainable housing and the urban poor.” International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 8.1 (2016): 1-9.
- von Döhren, Peer, and Dagmar Haase. “Ecosystem disservices research: A review of the state of the art with a focus on cities.” Ecological Indicators 52 (2015): 490-497.