Particulate matter, lead, ground level ozone, nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Because urban systems connect distant places through the flows of people, economic goods and services, and resources, urban sustainability cannot be focused solely on cities themselves, but must also encompass places and land from which these resources originate (Seto et al., 2012). In most political systems, national governments have the primary role in developing guidelines and supporting innovation allied to regional or global conventions or guidelines where international agreement is reached on setting such limits. What sources of urbanization can create water pollution? Urban sprawl reduces available water catchment areas, agricultural lands and increases demand for energy. Here it is important to consider not only the impact on land-based resources but also water and energy that are embodied in products such as clothing and food. One is that the ecological footprint is dominated by energy as over 50 percent of the footprint of most high- and middle-income nations is due to the amount of land necessary to sequester greenhouse gases (GHGs). tourism, etc. Urban Sustainability Indicators, Challenges and Opportunities Discussions should generate targets and benchmarks but also well-researched choices that drive community decision making. Some of the challenges that cities and . How did the federal government influence suburban sprawl in the US? In an era that is characterized by global flows of commodities, capital, information, and people, the resources to support urban areas extend the impacts of urban activities along environmental, economic, and social dimensions at national and international levels, and become truly global; crossing these boundaries is a prerequisite for sustainable governance. Indicates air quality to levels to members of the public. What are some anthropogenic causes of air pollution? Three elements are part of this framework: A DPSIR framework is intended to respond to these challenges and to help developing urban sustainability policies and enact long-term institutional governance to enable progress toward urban sustainability. The urban south and the predicament of global sustainability 3 Principles of Urban Sustainability: A Roadmap for Decision Making. A holistic view, focused on understanding system structure and behavior, will require building and managing transdisciplinary tools and metrics. Some of the major advantages of cities as identified by Rees (1996) include (1) lower costs per capita of providing piped treated water, sewer systems, waste collection, and most other forms of infrastructure and public amenities; (2) greater possibilities for, and a greater range of options for, material recycling, reuse, remanufacturing, and the specialized skills and enterprises needed to make these things happen; (3) high population density, which reduces the per capita demand for occupied land; (4) great potential through economies of scale, co-generation, and the use of waste process heat from industry or power plants, to reduce the per capita use of fossil fuel for space heating; and (5) great potential for reducing (mostly fossil) energy consumption by motor vehicles through walking.