200 likes | 206 Views
This consultative meeting focuses on the ecological responses and traditional Newar town's urban ecology in the context of creating an eco-city. It explores the physical, economic, social, and cultural environments of urban ecology, highlighting the need for sustainable coexistence of nature, economic pursuits, and social relationships.
E N D
Consultative MeetingEco-city: Time To Act Now ECOLOGICAL RESPONSES: Traditional Newar Town
Urban Ecology and Eco-city • Urban Environment • Physical Environment + • Economic Environment + • Social Environment [= Cultural Environment] • Urban Ecology: PES Envn+Man/Society/Nature • Eco-city has a sustained co-existence of nature (waste assimilation), economic pursuits (resource capitalization and waste generation) and social relationships (ordering of competition for resources and waste dissociation through of ethics and values.)
Urban Culture: Urban Ecology NATURE: Physical Environmental Chains SOCIETY: Social set up for Sharing/ Competition ECONOMY: Resources & Waste Chains
Natural vs Urban Ecology • Natural ECOLOGY: balanced/ stable sub-systems: millions of years of interaction of elements: Stable wrt. Externalities: dynamic internally. • City sub-system: young and different dynamism • URBAN METABOLISM • Concentrative system (Concentrates/consumes huge amounts of energy (fuel, food) in small areas/waste sink • Desert regime: Heat generating and holding capacity high: unparalleled in surrounding nature • Desert regime: water exclusive
Input Concentration-Waste sink • InputTons per dayWasteTons per day • Water625,000Sewage500,000 • Food2,000Solid wastes2,000 • Fuel:Coal3,000Particles 150 • Oil2,800Sulfur dioxides100 • Gas2,700Nitrogen oxides 100 • Motor 1,000 Carbon monoxide 450 • + HEAT
Urban Ecology: Concentrative • Inputs to city system: drawn from a much wider area as compared to where the ‘outputs’ occur. • Inputs from dispersed micro-systems and outputs as concentrated sinks : new micro-environment • Replaces a natural environment/eco-system with the different micro-environment • Unbalanced conditions/ environmentally unsound: ecological and sustainability problems.
Urban Ecology: Desert Regime • Cities are hotter • concentration of buildings, human activities and machines (heat-holding and heat-generating character. • Umbrella of waste products discharged into atmosphere (haze hood) and heat trapping results. • Masonry,cement and bitumen surfaces absorb solar energy/ slower release than natural ground cover. • Natural elements convert sensible heat into other forms of energy: sensible heat remains as such in urban areas.
Urban Ecology: Desert Regime • Cities are drier • Buildings and building materials based on exclusion of water and water proofing • Paving and Road surfaces: impervious to water (cf. natural cover/ sub-surface water) and falling ground water table • Water collecting system and drain-off outside town (discharging system) • Instant floods (cf. natural system of recharge)
Developing problems • Urban Ecological problem build up • Increasing social heterogeneity and economic competitiveness for ‘plenty and surplus’ • Cyclically leading heterogeneity with disparities in sharing of gains into urban poverty • ‘Economy of surplus’ consuming more than 'a necessary amount' of resources and leading to over-exploitation of resources • Heavy waste generation/little assimilation/ land-air-water and builtup space pollution • Urban decay/Distancing of man from Nature.
Eco-settlement: First Cultural Period • Dense and bounded settlements on high ground: Preservation of economic base/agricultural land • Pringga, bru, dula and tala • Integration of nature, economy and society • Dyochhe, pith and norms of social behavior • Pith located at ecologically sensitive spot such as Water holes, Springs, Land humps, Clump of trees • Divine presence = ecological variance • Festivals – sharing resources and recognizing the urban/rural continuum.
Terms: Topography & Land Use • Cho and Gung • Pringga and Dula • Bru • Tala and Gvala
Eco-settlement: 2nd Cultural Period • Guthi: a community based management • Private wealth as “Public Endowment” • Community ownership and operation of land • Maintenance of services • Larger towns and the recognition of water supply as a urban service • Social mediation of urban rural continuum • Matsendranath Festival
Eco-city: 3rd Cultural period • Development through a Mix of • Kirat ecological prototype + • Lichchhavi’s urban planning principles • Eco-sensitive ritual bounding and structure • Bounded urban development, Dune and Pine • Ritual/Social mediation of Wider urban-rural continuum (resource base) • Tole sectorization, homogeneous neighborhoods • Change mediation through rituals
Eco-city: 3rd Cultural period • Responding to 'micro-heat, dry regime & waste sub-structure’ • Capitalizes positive aspects of 'new nature‘ • Potentially mitigates negative results • Micro-heat: • High Density/Low rise dev.: warmer micro-climate • tight layout with small courtyards • predominance of paved streets/ heat gain • "No-Greenery-inside” • Lachhi – setback for a sunny spot in narrow lanes • Lung space: peripheral Khyos
Eco-city: 3rd Cultural period • Responding to 'dry regime’ • Use of water-accepting technologies • Pervious paving, open joints • Surface collector drains separated from deep drains – irrigating the dula or recharging kuwa • Use of wells inside tole and pit conduits between neighborhoods > recharge through own waste water > protecting from pollution
Eco-city: 3rd Cultural period • Responding to 'waste sub-structure’ • Communal toilet streets, night soil collection and raw sewage manure agri-practice- ‘output-input’ • Waste management:garbage and Sagah • Capitalization of micro-heat: composting • Health hazard management: periodic cleaning through seasonal rituals: Lukumadyo/Pasachahre (Chait) • Sithi: Cleaning and maintaining water supply systems in the driest season (Baisakh/Jeth) • Water for seeding • Sithi: Maintaining other ‘urban services’– public buildings • Lean agricultural season
Eco-region: 2nd 3rd Cultural period • Further away, agricultural land and forested hillocks protected and preserved. • Watershed areas and sources of rivers were given religious sites as a preservation input • Ecological responses cover PES environment and actors MSN in totality