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O-Level Sustainable Development (Topic 1.2)
balancing resource use with conservation in urban neighbourhoods
What the syllabus expects
- Sustainable development means meeting today's population's needs with high living standards for everyone while safeguarding future generations' capacity to meet their own needs.
Scope: What makes an urban neighbourhood sustainable - Economic and social sustainability needs a density high enough to sustain nearby businesses while holding down the cost of transport and infrastructure, yet a population small enough for residents to interact regularly and jointly decide on neighbourhood matters.
Scope: What makes an urban neighbourhood sustainable - Environmental sustainability calls for generous protection of nature and facilities supporting waste minimisation and recycling, plus energy- and water-efficient design of buildings and landscapes.
Scope: What makes an urban neighbourhood sustainable - Neighbourhoods work as ecosystems where living communities and the non-living environment interact, including aquatic and terrestrial systems such as ponds, lakes, parks and forests.
Scope: The ecosystem services present in urban neighbourhoods - Provisioning services in a neighbourhood supply fresh water and food, while regulating services cover microclimate regulation, flood mitigation, and air and water quality control.
Scope: The ecosystem services present in urban neighbourhoods - Cultural services deliver aesthetics, education and recreation, whereas supporting services include soil formation, pollination and photosynthesis.
Scope: The ecosystem services present in urban neighbourhoods - Fire hazards often stem from faulty electrical appliances and wiring or unattended cooking, and can lead to burn injuries, smoke inhalation and property damage.
Scope: The hazards commonly found in urban neighbourhoods - Air pollution typically arises from burning vegetation and from industrial and motor vehicle emissions, causing respiratory infections, heart disease and lung cancer.
Scope: The hazards commonly found in urban neighbourhoods - Traffic accidents commonly result from speeding, red-light running and drink driving, and can cause serious injury and loss of life.
Scope: The hazards commonly found in urban neighbourhoods - Environmental stewardship encourages resident volunteering to share knowledge about healthy ecosystems and partners public with private stakeholders in such efforts.
Scope: How to build sustainable urban neighbourhoods - Disaster risk management lowers how exposed a neighbourhood is to hazards and how vulnerable its people and property are, and boosts residents' readiness to respond alongside monitoring and warning systems.
Scope: How to build sustainable urban neighbourhoods - Community resilience is built by strengthening ties among residents and their hazard awareness, and by developing their ability to organise and resource themselves to resist, adapt to and recover from a disaster.
Scope: How to build sustainable urban neighbourhoods
How it's examined
Questions on this topic most often ask you to explain. About 10% of the past-paper style questions in Rae's bank for this subject sit in this topic.
Worked examples
Example 1 (4 marks)
Explain the advantages that supporting ecosystem services bring to urban neighbourhoods.
Show the worked answer
Supporting ecosystem services are the underlying processes (nutrient cycling, soil formation, photosynthesis/primary production) that make other services possible. In urban neighbourhoods, nutrient cycling and soil formation maintain fertile soil, allowing street trees, parks and community gardens to grow and thrive. Photosynthesis/primary production produces oxygen and forms the base of food chains, supporting biodiversity and pollinators; this greenery in turn cools the neighbourhood, improves air quality and provides pleasant, healthy spaces for residents.
More O-Level Geography topics
Thinking Geographically (Topic 1.1) · Geographical Methods (Topic 1.3) · Tourism Activity (Topic 2.1) · Tourism Development (Topic 2.2) · Sustainable Tourism Development (Topic 2.3) · Weather and Climate (Topic 3.1) · all of O-Level Geography