Tag: Environmental Factors

Consideration of Environmental Factors in Planning and Development of Urban Areas

 In order to ensure safety and adequate conditions of life of the population, to limit the negative impact of economic and other activities on the environment and to ensure the protection and rational use of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations, local governments in the implementation of spatial planning should take environmental factors into account. Therefore, speaking about environmental factors, we should pay attention to those functional areas that are most dependent planning in relation to environmental factors or themselves have an impact on the environment.

These are production zones, zones of engineering and transport infrastructures, residential and recreational areas. Production zone designed to accommodate industrial, municipal and warehouse facilities. The production area recommended to be placed on territories with a calm relief, providing convenient transport links to places of settlement employed in the enterprise workers and external facilities and urban transport. Planning should take into account the fact that in the production area included the territory of sanitary protection zones of the objects themselves and in these sanitary protection zones are not allowed in residential houses, preschool and educational institutions, and healthcare institutions, leisure, recreational and sports facilities, horticultural, suburban and gardening cooperatives and agricultural production.

In addition to production areas should pay attention to the zones of engineering and transport infrastructure, which is designed to accommodate activities and facilities and communications of railway, road, river, Maritime, air and pipeline transport, communications and engineering equipment, and also have in one way or another impact on the environment. When planning must take into account compliance with the required distances from such facilities to areas of residential, social, business and recreational areas and other requirements to prevent harmful effects on the environment. It should be understood that the objects of engineering and transport infrastructure, possessing the feature of a direct harmful impact on the security of the population, must be located outside urban and rural settlements.

Also in planning land use should pay attention to the location of the city’s recreational areas. As these areas are intended for the organization of places of rest of the population you need to consider that their territories are not permitted the construction and expansion of existing industrial, communal and storage objects, which can have a negative impact on human health and the environment. The exception may be only industrial, municipal and warehouse facilities, which is directly related to the operation of facilities health and recreational purposes.

Territorial planning of the municipal district is accompanied by the preparation of necessary documentation for territorial planning.

• documents of territorial planning;

• documents zoning;

• documentation on planning the territory.

In accordance with article 18 of the town planning Code of the Russian Federation territorial planning documents of municipalities are:

• territorial planning schemes of municipal districts;

• master plans of settlements;

• master plans of urban districts

The General plan of the municipal formation is main planning document that determines the prospects of development of the city for a long time. It must be presented not only transport, architectural planning, engineering, social and industrial aspects of city development and the ecological living conditions of the population and prospects of preservation of the environment. With the development of project planning documentation should consider the regulations and restrictions on natural resources, the sanitary-hygienic norms and rules, and other regulations governing environmental safety of living of population, natural features areas, the demographic features of the territory, its historical and cultural value and other environmental factors, or otherwise influencing the adoption of planning decisions.

Such a collection of information about the area required for the implementation of investment projects for the integrated development of the city. Detailed preliminary analysis of the relevant documents allows to predict the possible risks at the initial stage of implementation of the investment. These documents are very important for the investor because on the basis of the relevant documents, management decisions that may affect the interests of holders of land plots and capital construction objects (for example, decisions on seizure of land plots).

Environmental factors

Ecological factors are processes or individual elements of the environment, natural or anthropogenic, are considered when planning land use in order to ensure favorable living conditions of the population and protection of sustainable functioning of natural ecological systems from pollution and other negative impacts of economic and other activities.

For effective management of urban areas and improve the planning should include the parameters of the natural environment as good or bad as air, drinking water quality, the presence or absence of green areas, noise, the presence or absence of unattractive objects. Very often three of the above factors — air quality, the presence of landscaping and the absence of industrial facilities that form people’s opinions about the good or bad quality of the environment and create preconditions for increase of prestige of urban areas and, consequently, increase in property prices of the cities.

Thus, in the urban planning law defines the concept of sustainable development of territories. In accordance with paragraph 3 of article 1 of GRK of the Russian Federation sustainable development of territories is a provision in the implementation of urban development of safe and favorable conditions of human life, the limitation of negative impact of economic and other activities on the environment and the protection and rational use of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

The concept of sustainable development has a similar wording in the international law document – the Rio Declaration on the environment. On the basis of recommendations and principles published documents in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 at the UN Conference on environment and development.

The analysis of the documentation on territorial planning and materials for the assessment of the ecological status of the city, helped to identify the main problem areas of the municipality. Such today are:

• environmental pollution by industrial enterprises and motor transport;

• the poor state of hydrographic system of the Piedmont historical part of the city;

• flooding and flooding of territories;

• pollution of surface waters;

• solid waste management.

In the framework of the environmental project acquired a mobile laboratory, which today can produce a sample of atmospheric air in any part of the city and the industrial site. 

It should be noted that industrial activities has a negative impact not only on air quality but also on water sources, therefore, for the protection of water environment and prevention of negative impact of industrial enterprises on its facilities in the city master plan is provided to develop projects for the organization water protection zones and coastal shelterbelts on water bodies. To clean the territories of water protection zones from industrial waste, to identify businesses that unauthorized use of water objects and to apply penalties, in accordance with environmental legislation.

It should be noted that industrial enterprises have a negative impact not only on atmospheric air and water objects, but also on the soil condition of the city district. To recover and also to prevent contamination and destruction of the soil cover of the city, the master plan proposes to develop a series of measures on protection of water objects, pesticides, industrial and other technological waste. For this reason provided for activities such as reclamation and rehabilitation of the territories of the liquidated farms, agricultural enterprises and other polluting objects. You should also organize agrotechnical service for continuous monitoring for quality changes of soil and taking appropriate measures for its protection, ensuring quality control and timeliness of performance of works on recultivation of disturbed lands.

In connection with these factors to improve the environmental situation in the city, to avoid the periodic flooding of urban areas and partial waterlogging, increasing the service life of pavement, as well as to reduce pollution of surface water the master plan provides for the comprehensive development of the Sewerage system of storm (rain) wastewater and protection from flooding of the city, as well as works on Bank protection of the river in the area of the cemetery and the construction of the dam embankment. 

On the territory of the municipality of solid waste represents a source of environmental pollution, contributing to the spread of hazardous substances. However, they contain in their composition components (ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics), which can be used as secondary resources. Production debris, similar in composition to MSW could be used as valuable secondary raw material after special processing. Food waste (catering, vegetable bases, etc.), if they do not require sorting, are also of great value. In any case, the separation of food and non-food solid waste allows us to offer an adequate technology of their processing.

Environmental Factors Affecting Urban Planning

Environmental factors, in varying degrees, always have a direct influence on the urban environment formation and the provision of favorable and safe conditions for the life of the population. Their role in the planning and development of urban areas remains an integral part of the management of such areas. Management should be aimed at improving the efficiency of use of the territories and ecological environment improvement. Planning must be done with the consideration of identified ecological processes in cities on the basis of the information about their occurrence in the past and present. Currently, cities face a multitude of problems that require urgent and immediate solutions. One of the most important issues is the poor state of the urban environment, so the environmental factors remain one of the most critical problems that should be considered by the authorities while implementing the urban areas’ development plans. 

It should be noted that urban development depends very much on investment policies, where the state, local governments are trying to develop a mechanism for development . 

The main sources of pollution of surface waters are insufficiently treated and untreated wastewater of industrial and utility companies, untreated sewage urban stormwater, runoff agricultural enterprises. As before, almost everywhere water bodies contaminated stubborn organic substances, compounds of iron, copper, zinc, manganese, oil products. The high content of these substances, with the exception of petroleum products, caused by natural factors.

Intense sources of pollution are urban stormwater, landfills for industrial and household waste from the territory of which there is erosion and filtering pollutants .

The impact of individual industries on the environment of the city

Industrial influence

The problem of all the industrial enterprises, the formation of large quantities of waste, air emissions, wastewater and solid waste production. The reduction of areas of forests, savannas, steppes in connection with the rapid construction of cities, industrial enterprises and highways leads to the reduction of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Therefore, the subjects of such enterprises should seek to take into account and improve the greening of production in the process of financial and economic activities.

Mining and processing enterprises for industrial purposes use large quantities of water. This entails the formation of wastewater contaminated with various substances, which in contact with water bodies is detrimental to their inhabitants. In the surface water is discharged petroleum products, copper compounds, iron, zinc, phosphorus, phenol, ammonia and nitrite nitrogen. Very often these and other harmful substances are in the groundwater, where they seep from landfills production and agriculture.

Transport influence

Transport is one of the most important elements of the material-technical base of social production and a necessary condition for the functioning of modern industrial society, as it is used for the movement of goods and passengers.

Transport is a major source of acoustic pollution of the environment. In large cities, the noise level of 70-75 acoustic decibels, which is several times exceeds admissible norms.

The combustion of fuel in engine cylinders are formed non-toxic (water vapor, carbon dioxide) and toxic substances. The latter are the products of combustion or side-reactions occurring at high temperatures. The main toxic component of exhaust gases released during the operation of gasoline engines is carbon monoxide. It is formed by incomplete oxidation of carbon fuels due to lack of oxygen in the whole volume of the engine cylinder or in its separate parts.

The priority areas of reduction of environmental pollution by motor transport are the use of new types of vehicles, minimally polluting (e.g., electric vehicle), rational organization and management of traffic flows and the use of better and more environmentally friendly fuels (e.g. gas).

 

Sewage and waste water

At present, domestic sewage is a huge problem both from the point of view of ecology and the environment, and economic side. Of the household domestic waste water to the hydrosphere do organic substances which are decomposed by oxygen-consuming colonies of bacteria. With the necessary access of air to the aerobic bacteria convert the wastewater into environmentally harmless substances. Given the restricted access of oxygen to the sewage decreases the activity of aerobic bacteria, thereby developing the anaerobic bacteria, implying the process of decay.

With sewage from domestic wastewaters into the water includes pesticides, phenols, surfactants (e.g., detergents). Their decomposition process is slow, some substances do not decompose at all. Via food chains from the organisms of aquatic animals and fish, these substances enter the human organism, negatively affect human health, which can further lead to various acute and chronic infectious diseases.

Municipal solid waste

Environmental pollution household waste affects the person through air, water, foods of plant origin grown on the poisoned soil debris.

Entering the soil chemical compounds accumulate and lead to a gradual change of chemical and physical properties, reduce the number of living organisms, impair fertility. Along with pollutants, often in soil bacteria, helminth eggs and other harmful organisms. Currently the recycling of trash is becoming the phenomenon only in a few countries, but there is an important need for more active use. Such methods of disposal of waste placement on landfills and incineration is not innocuous. Landfills emit methane gas, which creates a menacing our planet, the greenhouse effect, trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere.