Answer

STATEMENT

“I Parth Shardulkumar Shah of Deakin University with student Id 214478044 certify that the attached work is entirely my own, except where work quoted or paraphrased is acknowledged in the text. I also certify that it has not been submitted for assessment in any other Unit or Course.”

1.0 Introduction

            The city of Vancouver is located on the Pacific Coast on South western in British Columbia, Canada.  Vancouver was incorporated on 6^th April 1886. President of CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) William Van Horne arrived in Port Moody to establish the CPR terminus recommended by Henry John Cambie and gave the city its name in honour of George Vancouver, who sailed around Vancouver by exploring and charting Burrard inlet and adjacent water [2] .

            Vancouver covers approximately 114 square kilometres of area. The greater Vancouver has a population of more than 2.4 million, which is the third most populous area among the country. It makes Vancouver the most densely populated city in Canada with more than 5249 people per square kilometre. More than 73% of people in the Metropolitan Vancouver area live outside the proper city area. Vancouver is often called a “city of neighbourhoods” because it contains several neighbourhoods with different ethnic mixes[2]. Major Industries in Vancouver are the general medical and surgical hospitals, which provide more than 2.5% of the total employment in the area. Other employment sectors in Vancouver include: Trade, film, tourism, technology, super markets, grocery stores and other physician offices [2].

Fig1. Vancouver Map

Source:http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Vancouver-Introduction.html

            Vancouver is a competitive city in the world due to its well established infrastructure and systems that contribute to its development. At the moment, the city is focused at providing sustainable infrastructure towards attaining its 2050 goals [5]. For instance, the city’s 2020 goal is to be the greenest city in the world. Although this may seem like a difficult goal to achieve considering the city’s population is increasing and the demand for natural resources is also on the rise, the 2011 initiatives by the city council provide  clear plan that aims at ensuring all systems and programs work cohesively. Vancouver council has passed various laws and methods to convert current infrastructures and future constructions into green structures[1]. Furthermore, the council has set guidelines for all construction companies and contractors to adhere to whenever they are building. These structures have been designed to ensure affordable but environmentally friendly buildings. On the other hand, the materials used in the construction of buildings within the city should meet the requirements of the council and therefore these guidelines are readily available for all contractors. For this reason, the city aims at promoting green infrastructure through the construction sector. Nonetheless, this does not imply that other infrastructure like transport systems and recreational facilities will be ignored. Perhaps the main risk that these initiatives will face is the financial risk where the government and other individual project managers may be unable to fund the new designs and projects effectively [3].

2.0 The Infrastructure System

            According to Ray et al (2015), infrastructure refers to the physical structures and facilities established to support human activities. In this regard, roads, railways, building and power supplies are also considered as infrastructure. Establishing sustainable infrastructure that aims to meet the current and future goals of a society is a priority to any nation. According to the United Nations Development Programme, a developed country is one that has adequate and maintained infrastructure and thus supports human development [8]. On the other hand, initiatives that aim at ensuring the country has environmentally friendly infrastructure helps the country reduce its long-term expenditure on energy, maintenance and health. The population is also able to remain healthy thereby increasing human life expectancy and regional development.

In Vancouver city, going green is part of the city’s efforts of ensuring sustainable development and future [4]. For this reason, the city council targets different sectors in these efforts. In the Infrastructure sector, the main focus is to ensure all buildings are able to conserve energy, utilize renewable material and resources and sustain this green concepts into the future. Accordingly, technology will have to be considered towards achieving these green concepts and for this reason the council is willing to fund institutions or projects that will adopt modern technology for the realization of the green city plan [2]. For this reason, Vancouver is currently one of the leading cities in the application of technological innovations in the construction and adoption of green infrastructure. For instance one of the current initiatives that is being implemented across the entire city is the installation of solar panels on residential and commercial buildings [6]. Solar panels are power devices that convert light energy into electrical power. Other forms of these devices are also able to heat water directly thereby supporting the current steam power uses. These technologies save significant amounts of energy and thus the city’s energy requirements are controlled. To facilitate the project, the city council is providing subsidies and loans This project has been named the green home project [1].

            On the other hand, the city government has established regulations that guide the demolition of structures [8]. According to the city’s statistics, majority of the residential and commercial buildings are made of concrete with a few establishment being made of wood and glass[8]. Consequently, the demolition of concrete structures leads to dust and spillage of debris. Demolition of wood structures leads to dust and wood cutting where as the demolition of glass structures expose the environment to the tiny glass pieces. In all cases, the impact of demolitions exposes the environment to tiny particles that may affect the health of the surrounding population or physically harm the people using the area. In this regard, the council demands that permission should be sought before the demolition of the infrastructure. This will allow the council to review the company conducting the demolition to understand whether it is able to carry out the process effectively in order to meet the set standards. After the demolition, the concept of waste management is also considered. The council suggests that all waste products within the city should be re-used, recycled or dumped carefully. Nonetheless, the council understands that not all contractors are able to manage the wastes accordingly and therefore it (the council) is willing to help in the process. It helps in recycling the materials and produces less waste.  For a society that is focused on sustainable development, proper management of wastes and recycling towards reproducing other products that may be used in the future, Vancouver may be able to supplement its different sectors accordingly to promote sustainable development.

            Roads, pavements and railways also form part of Vancouver’s infrastructure. These resources depreciate in time due to continuous use and for this reason, the council has to replace them often to ensure that they meet the needs of the people towards improving their development. Since 2005, the government would unearth all warn out roads and railway tracks then recycle these materials. The finished products would then be used to lay new sidewalks, roads and railway tracks. This is similar to the Green road rating system used in Washington DC, USA [9]. Although this is an effective use of these forms of waste, the Vancouver green city plan is aimed at replacing the roads with sidewalks and bicycle lanes in order to reduce the use of vehicles which provide the highest carbon emissions in the city. This plan will also contribute to healthy lifestyles among the city residents[10]. Lastly, by expanding the parks and planting more trees along the sidewalks and on buildings, the green city plan will be able to improve the future aeration of the city since plants utilize carbon dioxide in the air for their growth. The city’s environment will therefore remain clean and with reduced carbon content towards 2050. Since financial constraints will always be a concern for all these projects, the city council is willing to offer grants and special loans to support these green projects.

3.0 Discussion

            Vancouver has a population density of more than 5100 people per square km. With an increasing population the demand for infrastructure like buildings and walkways, new space is going to be a major requirement [2]. In the current system, Vancouver has zoning system in which residential buildings are located away from industrial centers. This zoning system helps in monitoring and reducing pollution according to the structures within the location. On the other hand, it helps in monitoring the energy requirements and consumption in the city towards ensuring the green city goals of 2020 and 2050 are attained. Currently, 90% of renewable energy is produced through hydropower. Logically, this puts a strain on the available water resources in the region as the community also relies on the water for human consumption. In this regard, alternative power sources like the Neighborhood Energy System (NES) which uses waste to produce energy systems need to be encouraged and funded better to meet the needs of the current and future needs of the society.

            The Vancouver skyline is also changing on a daily basis to symbolize the increasing construction activities in the city. This has led to the increase in demand for energy, construction materials (mostly concrete) and water. These are some of the risky factors that may affect the attainment of sustainable development in the city. However, by encouraging the population to adopt the supplementary energy sources and recycled material and water sources, the city will be able to attain its 2020 and 2050 goals. A good example of an  infrastructure that has combined effective energy  and natural materials in its design and establishment is The Olympic Village in Vancouver. The building does not only guarantee proper utilization of resources but also features sustainability measures [1]. The Olympic Village was developed by Millennium Development Group during the recent Olympic games held in Vancouver. It is greenest building on earth due to its advance technology and energy efficiency. Statistically, the building produces more energy than it consumes. Due to this energy advantage, its residential buildings were increased and at the moment, it has more than 1100 residential units.

            Infrastructure can also promote sustainable development. In this regard, the city has to clearly understand how infrastructure is distributed, developed and shared within the city in order to develop programs that support continuous utilization and development to meet the future needs. One of the measures that the city council is using towards ensuring a greener city by 2020 and in future is establishing strict regulations to guide the construction, development and utilization of the infrastructure. Nonetheless, financial constrains will always be a setback for most institutions since newer technologies are relatively pricy due to their technical set up and long term advantages. The city council should therefore continue and even improve the amount of incentives being provided to future adopters or renewable systems. On the other hand, the city council should conduct research on behalf of the city residents to identify the type of technologies that would ensure the residents meet the green city goals and even sustain them to the future. For instance, the solar panel idea is effective at ensuring the city residents utilize alternative power. This reduces the strain on the city’s hydropower. The NES project that utilizes human waste to generate steam energy for power and heating of homes.

            On the other hand, the construction industry needs to use durable materials and equipment that will ensure the infrastructure is able to fully utilize green energy and resources. For instance, other than relying on concrete in the manufacture of buildings, steel structures could be combined with glass walls [11]. According to the mechanical properties of steel, it is one of the strongest materials and will therefore support heavy loads. Although it may be relatively expensive compared to when using concrete construction, its high price may be cancelled out with the utilization of glass walls and limited use of concrete. Glass walls are effective at increasing internal illumination of the buildings during daytime. This reduces the amount of lighting required in buildings leading to reduced energy costs. Light sensors can also be fitted in such buildings in order to switch on or off the lights depending on the environmental illumination. On the other hand, solar panels may be fitted in different areas of the walls to provide alternative energy while reducing the need for concrete. Another technological concept that may be used by the city to save on the energy while ensuring the city provides recommended amenities is combining wind and solar power in the generation of street lighting systems. This technology will ensure the power sources combine to produce adequate energy to light the Vancouver streets at night.

4.0 Summary

            Vancouver’s plan for sustainable growth and development is founded on improving individual sectors and aligning them to meet the 2020 and 2050 goals. In the infrastructural sector, building construction, transport systems and recreational facilities have all been targeted. In this regard, the city hopes to achieve sustainable development through converting residential and commercial buildings into green facilities. This will ensure the city’s energy sector is well supplemented reducing the demand for water in the city as it is the main source of power. On the other hand, all waste materials will be recycled or reused to utilize them in other sectors and projects. This will ensure effective disposal or utilization of waste materials and thus ensuring that the city is able to sustain all its infrastructure and needs in the future. All these will also be dependant the amount and type of technology used. In this regard, the city aims at funding better technology or adopters of improved technology towards ensuring that residents are able to effectively adopt these technologies in the infrastructural developments. By setting up self sustainable structures like the Olympic Village, the city is able to reduce the demand for its resources and encourage sustainable development. Typically, the Olympic Village does not rely on most of the city’s resources despite its high residential settlements. On the other hand, sustainable development is not only ensured through construction and energy programs but also programs that support the reduction of carbon emission. For this aspect, the city aims at reducing the number of roads and replacing them with walkways and cycling paths. Since vehicles produce the highest amounts of carbon emissions due the use of fossil fuels, removing them completely from the road guarantees the reduction of carbon emissions. In this regard, the society will also be healthier since they people will have larger recreational facilities. The present system developed by the sustainable team of Vancouver is excellent and will contribute to the attainment of both the 2020 and 2050 vision