In the industrialised society, technology helps development of various ways to make life convenient. People can construct more expansive and faster transportation instead of a limited and slow one after technological progression has occurred. Moreover, the invention of the automobile has allowed people to travel a long distance easily.  However, these kinds of developments lead to urban sprawl, which is the most significant feature in modernised society. Urban sprawl refers to the spread of a city to rural area and is indicated by low density of residents who commute from urban periphery to city center. This urbanisation results in considerable social and ecological problems. Although there are many efforts depending on technology to settle them, in particular by the business groups, these solutions are not focusing on the fundamental reason which is urban sprawl, they only suggest the answer to environmental issues such as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This essay will explain how urban sprawl negatively affects society and the ecology, and argue that the business groups’ approach which is based on development of technology cannot resolve the problems resulting from urban sprawl.The mass production of private cars allows cities to extend to rural area. Suburbanisation is accelerated by motorisation (Martin, 2007:5). As a result, a long distance from their living area to workplace drives people to use a car frequently for commuting, and excessive car use speeds up urban sprawl. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘motorised urban sprawl’ and it is a prime factor of various social and ecological problems. Firstly, social polarisation, which is inequality between the rich and the poor, is one of the major concerns of society. According to Martin (2007:10), the cost to buy a car will be an obstacle for the poor group, and it can separate them from the rich group who possesses private cars. As a consequence, the disadvantaged would live in grim condition, such as unhealthy, highly dense and heavy traffic city area (Martin, 2007:11)  Moreover, the downgrade of public transportation due to this ascendency of the car can be also a cause of inequality (Bullard and Johnson, citied in Martin, 2007:10). The handicapped and the aged also suffer disadvantage as it requires high skills to drive in the crowded inner city (Martin, 2007:10). Secondly, health issues are considerable. Research has found that sprawling communities, which highly depend on car use, bring lack of physical activities, resulting in obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The respiratory disease caused by bad air quality and injuries and fatalities by car accidents are also caused by the higher car reliance (The Ontario College of Family Physicians, 2005). Not only physical health, but also mental health is also threatened by isolation, which comes from long drive time alone, and road rage, which is from driving on congested roads. Finally, a number of environmental problems have emerged due to motorised urbanisation. Global warming is a significant environmental issue caused by high emissions of carbon dioxide from automobiles and lavish energy consumption of roomy houses on the urban fringes (Gonzalez, 2005). Motorisation also leads to farmland decline, natural resource degradation, especially forest and open space, and higher noise level (Martin, 2007:10). Above all, farmland decline would create a lack of food and increasing in-migration of workers to the city, so it could result in other social problems which are social fragmentation and segregation (Friedmann, cited in Martin, 2007:15).To address these problems related to urbanisation, business groups, which are the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), advocate ‘ecological modernisation’, being defined as the economic growth with environmental preservation, is necessary and it can be accomplished by technological innovation (Gonzalez, 2005). According to Gonzalez (2005), the main idea of the WBCDS, which is to solve the issues being faced, is reduction of greenhouse gas emissions via energy efficiency, sequestration of carbon dioxide and development of alternative energy resources through technological innovation without reduction of energy consumption. The ICC insists that development of technology to supply alternative or clean energy resources, such as clean coal, safer and advanced nuclear reactors, synthetic gasoline and diesel oil and carbon free alternative fuels, is the only way to decrease greenhouse gases which are vital reasons for global warming (Gonzalez, 2005). Research does show that increasing energy efficiency could reduce considerable quantity of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use (McKinsey & Company, citied in Cheeseman, 2009). Although there are solutions which depend on technology, they cannot adequately address the social and ecological problems resulting from motorised urban sprawl. Gonzalez (2005) criticised that business groups’ idea is ‘weak’ and ‘narrow’. They just shift the complications from one site to another without removal (Dryzek, citied in Gonzalez, 2005). Furthermore, both the WBCSD and the ICC consist of international business groups which have vested interests. Therefore, they do not want to abandon their profits from motorised urban sprawl, for example the chance to sell automobiles to developing countries (Conybeare, cited in Gonzalez, 2005). In addition, their approaches are only to focus on environmental issues, not consider social and health problems from immoderate car use. To solve the social and ecological problems, Gonzalez (2005) urges removing urbanisation by reform of land management in an intensive way. The communities should be designed compactly enabling people to walk, ride bicycles and use transit- friendly mass transportation, and mixed-used space, which means residences, offices and amenities in one area. This could be an answer to the problems (The Ontario College of Family Physicians, 2005). Martin (2007) recommends strong regulation against car use and an effective public transport system.In conclusion, motorised urban sprawl, which is caused by excessive car use, creates many problems from obesity to climate change. The solutions, which entirely depend on development of technology including investment to high energy efficiency technology, providing alternative and clean energy resources, are suggested by business groups and these could partly solve greenhouse gas emissions. However, these methods cannot be the appropriate answer to solve the social and environmental issues, because they neglect the primary reason which is motorised urban sprawl. Urban sprawl may be an inevitable feature in modern society, so governments should focus on sensitive land use to overcome this problem.

References:

Cheeseman, G. 2009 ‘Energy Efficiency Could Cut Emissions In Half’, viewed 20 August 2009, < http://www.care2.com/causes/global-warming/blog/energy-efficiency-helps-the-environment-and-economy/>.Gonzalez, G. A. 2005 ‘Urban Sprawl, Global Warming and The Limits of Ecological Modernization’, Environmental Politics, 14:3, pp. 34-362.Martin, G. 2007 ‘Motorization, Social Ecology and China’, Area, Vol. 39:1, pp. 66-73.Ontario College of Family Physicians 2005, THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF URBAN SPRAWL INFORMATION SERIES VOLUME THREE OBESITY, viewed 20 August 2009, <http://www.ocfp.on.ca/local/files/Urban%20Sprawl/UrbanSprawl-Obesity.pdf> .

In the industrialized modern society, there are many problems which are caused by high reliance on development of technology. Urban sprawl, fast expansion of the modern cities beyond suburbs, is encouraged by the development of new technology, the invention of automobiles. There are many solutions relying on the development of technology to resolve problems resulted from urban sprawl. These solutions are not trying to decrease the causes of problems, but are only trying to decrease the emissions of greenhouse gases. This essay explains the relationship between the social and ecological problems and urban sprawl and also argues that business groups’ solution relying on the development of technology may not resolve these problems.Urban sprawl, the expansion of the cities beyond suburbs, is possible due to the mass production of automobiles. As more people drive a car, urban can expand more accordingly. (Martin 2007:6) However, urban sprawl also requires more car use because the distance between residential area and work place is too far to walk or bicycle. In the suburbanized mega size cities, citizen may have to drive a car even to buy a bottle of milk at local store. Thus, motorization helped urban sprawl, and urban sprawl made citizens more dependent to a car.Motorized urban sprawl caused various social and ecological problems. These problems may be divided into three categories. Firstly, environmental problems are considerable issues driven by urban sprawl. Global warming and climate change is well known environmental issues caused by high energy consumption, especially due to the emissions of carbon dioxide by automobiles.  Among ecological problems in this categories are the loss of farm land and forest, the loss of architectural variety, the loss of open space and greenery, and higher noise level. The main cause of these problems is the overuse of automobiles. (Martin 2007:11) Secondly, the inequality between the rich and the poor is one of the major social problems. The cost burden to buy a car can be a hurdle for the poor separating them from the rich who drive a private car. Poor condition of public low cost transportation is also a factor of inequality. (Martin, 2007:11)  The disabled and the aged also suffer from technical requirement of high driving skills in crowded inner city. (Martin 2007:11) Thirdly, a number of health problems emerged due to the motorized urban sprawl. The higher car dependency leads to air pollution, increased car accidents, and the risk of pedestrian injuries and fatalities. (Frumkin 2001) The US style urban sprawl makes citizens to drive a car rather than walking or bicycling. It means less physical activity, resulting in the increase of possibility of obesity. Obesity itself is a dangerous cause of many diseases. (Frumkin 2001) Mental health is also threatened by the stress when driving long in a congested road. It refers to as road rage.To address these problems resulted from motorized urban sprawl, business groups, such as the WBCSD(World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and the ICC(International Chamber of Commerce), claim that ecological modernization, referring to as economic development with less damage on environment, is needed and it can be achieved by the development of technology. (Gonzalez 2005) The WBCSD suggested three ideas to confront these problems. These ideas are focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions keeping the quantity of energy consumption constant. Among these solutions are increasing the energy efficiency, sequestration of greenhouse gases, and development of alternative energy. (Gonzalez 2005:15) The ICC is focusing mainly on the technological development of alternative energy. Among these are clean coals with sequestration technology, safer and advanced nuclear reactor, synthetic gasoline and diesel oil, and carbon free alternative fuels. (Gonzalez 2005:20) However, the ICC admits that the reduction of greenhouse gases is costly, resulting in less competitive in global business market. (Gonzalez 2005:21) Therefore the use of cheap fossil fuels may continue for a long time until the creation of economically competitive alternative energy sources.Although the business groups addressed various problems relying on the development of technology, their solutions do not adequately address the social and ecological problems. According to Gonzalez (2005:16, 17), their solutions are narrow and ineffective. The reason why is threefold. The first reason is that the solutions by business groups only shift the problems to other area not removing it. For example, nuclear energy has another huge problem of treating nuclear wastes. The second reason is that there is no effective technology as yet available. For one thing, hydrogen as an alternative energy source has the problems to solve in the area of production and storage. The third reason is that the business groups’ primary purpose is their profits. For example, the automobile manufacturers may not reduce their mass production of cars. Instead, they will promote more car use in developing countries, such as China and India. (Conybeare, cited in Gonzalez 2005: 23) It is true that the business groups’ approach is resolving some environmental issues like greenhouse gas emissions, but they do not adequately confront social and ecological problems. Especially, they do not consider social problems, such as social inequality between the citizens and health problems caused by car dependency.According to Gonzalez (2005:15), environmentally sensitive land management can be a fundamental solution to resolve the problems caused by urban sprawl. Among these are compact city planning, limited car use, and investing in the public transportation. But these Gonzalez’s approach has shortcomings because land management is hard to implement for already sprawled cities and these solutions might take a long time.In conclusion, motorized urban sprawl caused many social and ecological problems. To solve these problems, business groups suggested the solutions, referred to as ecological modernization, highly based on the technologies, such as the increase of energy efficiency, the sequestration of carbon dioxide and the development of alternative energy sources. These solutions resolve some environmental problems, but business groups’ approach does not adequately address social and ecological issues caused by urban sprawl. Especially, business groups do not consider about social problems, such as inequality issues and health problems.References:Frumkin, H. (2001) ‘Urban Sprawl and Public Health’ Public Health Reports, Vol.117Gonzalez, G. A. (2005) ‘Urban Sprawl, Global Warming and The Limits of Ecological Modernization’, Environmental Politics, 14:3, pp.34-362Martin, G. (2007) ‘Motorization, Social Ecology and China’, Area, Vol.39:1, pp.66-73

Gonzalez, in his article “Urban Sprawl, Global Warming, and the Limits of Ecological Modernisation” (2005) points out the problem of urban sprawl is main reason for global warming and the high reliance on the development of technology as a solution is ineffective as described below.Gonzalez believes land management is direct and effective way to accomplish ecological modernisation, which is how businesses can develop economically keeping environment clean, rather than relying on technology.Gonzalez indicates that global warming is due to the urban sprawl. The author notes that expansion of cities results in higher energy use in transportation, housing, heating and cooling. According to the author, higher energy use means higher emissions of carbon dioxide. This leads to accumulation of global warming gases. As a result, global temperature is become higher. He also states that even though urban sprawl causes environmental problems, the supporters such as landowners, construction developers, automobile manufacturers and petrol producers pushed for urban sprawl for the reason of goods market expansion and raising the value of land holdings.The author describes that the solutions offered by the land developers and business groups to rely on the development of technology such as reducing global warming gases, alternative energy resources.However, Gonzalez argues that this solution is narrow and ineffective because it only shifts problems to other place not removing it. Instead, economically sensitive land management can be a direct and effective answer for ecological modernisation. These methods are compact cities, better land use, and improved transportations.