There are many problems of cities. Large settlements have them, and relatively small ones. The study of shortcomings and analysis of their impact on human life is an important work that allows you to determine the optimal line of development and improvement of the situation. The nature and scale of the problems vary greatly. Of course, in the current conditions, even if there are all the possibilities for this, the shortcomings cannot be completely eliminated, but some can be eliminated, while others can be weakened. To do this, you need to know with what and in which direction you should work first.
Where to begin?
An essential problem of modern cities is the space for social life. What will the city dweller answer if you ask him about preferences in organizing free time? Many will say that they spend hours freed from household chores and work in shopping centers. Indeed, such facilities offer everything necessary for human entertainment. Here you can watch a movie on the big screen, entertain yourself in a rollerdrome, eat in a restaurant and spend money in shops of various kinds and trends. What else would seem to be needed by a person? But not so simple. Shopping centers are being developed in order to attract citizens. They are organized in such a way that people spend as long as possible on the territory of the center, because it is beneficial from the point of view of building a business, but for a particular person it would be much more pleasant and useful to spend time in the fresh air. Many do not agree: there are climate systems inside the premises, so the air is always pleasant, there is entertainment, but there is nothing to do outside.
According to people involved in studying the social problems of cities, people simply do not understand that large settlements in a sense resemble one large entertainment center, and citizens are free to choose where to go, because a lot of interesting things are happening. The number of sites attracting visitors in any big city is constantly growing, but their quality is poor. The task of developing such territories is the sphere of work of urbanists. If it is possible to solve the problem with the arrangement of territories, the organization of attractive and comfortable places, people will spend more time in interesting places, not limited to shopping centers. Communication, interaction of individuals will become more active and saturated.
What is up to me?
Within the community, the organization of attractive spaces is the responsibility of specially trained people. Can an average man who does not have a lot of money and rights do something? It seems to others not. This is not so: citizens can equip areas near their homes, squares and courtyards of the residential complexes in which they live. This improves the living environment and partially solves the problem of organizing space in the city.
Want and make want
Another problem of modern cities is advertising. Its abundance is truly terrifying. As some say, advertising is a kind of parasite that adversely affects the environment and devours the beauty of the surrounding space. Banners and shields, screens and light boxes, signs that can be seen on houses, fences and even trees - all this creates a depressing atmosphere and forms a negative impression. It has long been known that the abundance of advertising information is very tiring, exhausting, annoying people. Of course, most of our compatriots are well aware that advertising cannot be completely eliminated, at least at the current stage of the development of civilization, and there is no need for a complete rejection of it either - it is only important to limit the volumes and clean the environment from visual and sound debris. According to specialists in the organization of living space, it is necessary for each city to create its own design code, which will be subordinate to all advertisements.
The proposal for the introduction of a design code to solve the city’s problem involves the introduction of living standards. Such a code is created in relation to the locality, includes important restrictions, regulates the parameters of advertisements, clearly sets the possible number. At the same time, the code fixes the harmony of the building. The responsibility for the adoption of such a code lies with the administration of the village. The task of officials is to take control of advertising, remove numerous signs from space, replacing them with a correct and aesthetic sign that fits into the design of the building, street. Such advertising is less aggressive and not so tiring.
About complexity
Working with advertising as a solution to the problem of large cities, as can be seen from practice, is complicated by the abundance of illegal ads. Many signs that are so eye-catching are not posted by specialists and advertising agencies at all, but by individuals who do not pay attention to the provisions of the law. Such people do not know about the design code and do not want to understand its importance. They do not care about the organization and beauty of the surrounding spaces. The main goal of such persons is to declare their proposal. Illegal advertising is a public problem, including a social one, since the authors of such announcements, structures and installations are often convinced that the streets are something in common, which means that they own, that is, you can do whatever you want. It is through the efforts of such individuals that the problem of visual litter of the common living space appears.
Living environment
The problems of large cities include another one related to the appearance. Many of our compatriots put climate control systems in their apartments without thinking about how a box of air conditioning adversely affects the appearance of the building. The exterior of the building suffers even more when the owner of a separate apartment decides to install a contrasting insulation from the outside. Of course, for the inhabitant of a single residential building, this is profitable and convenient, but the structure in which many citizens decided to establish their way of life in this way seems untidy. The more such buildings are around, the more oppressive atmosphere of chaos is formed, negatively affecting any person who is forced to observe the picture from the side. Consciously harming the appearance of their own city, people do not believe that this is really important. Currently, there is no active work to promote the idea of ​​a beautiful facade, there are no generally accepted design systems or prohibitions on unauthorized "beautification". Until they are accepted, cities will retain a chaotic appearance.
No less significant social problem of the city associated with buildings is the specificity of barriers. It is most relevant for sedentary people who are forced to use special additional means of transportation. In many cities, especially large ones, underpasses have been built , and not everywhere reasonably, but there are no ramps due to which such elements of the urban environment would be accessible to everyone and everyone. Often there are no ramps in residential buildings, in other multi-storey buildings; they do not have entrance areas for shops and other public institutions. Homes often do not have elevators, and sidewalks are not equipped with exits. If a person’s ability to travel is limited, such a person often leads a reclusive life precisely because of environmental problems. Once on the street, he faces the risk of getting into a dead end, in such a place, getting out of where with his mobility capabilities is extremely difficult.
Where are we going?
It is believed that the problem of large cities is the low mobility of citizens who constantly use transport, and an excess of cars. To solve it, it is proposed to promote cycling. Of course, the option is attractive, has a positive effect on human health, weakens the harmful effects on the environment and reduces the congestion of the streets, but there were some shortcomings. In most cities of our country, the infrastructure for cyclists is poorly developed. An ideal city in which citizens use bicycles would be wonderful, but the rights, even the laws assigned to such a person, are far from always respected. The task of the cyclist is to follow the rules of the road, use the road, not the sidewalk, but only driving near cars can end in tragedy. A solution to the problem has long been invented: the creation of special bike paths. In some more progressive cities, they are, in others, people are forced to either break the law or risk their lives in the vicinity of high-speed automobile transport.
From police statistics it is known that the number of cases of traffic accidents involving cyclists is quite large, so the lack of infrastructure for such people can be safely called an important problem of cities - large and small. To solve it, activists call for organized public actions in order to draw the attention of officials and the general public to the current situation. It is assumed that such albeit peaceful, but quite loud methods can achieve a change in the situation for the better.
About ecology
An impressive percentage of people live in fairly large settlements, the territories of many cities are heavily congested. Living conditions are gradually getting worse, among the inhabitants of such places the frequency of occurrence of diseases is increasing, and the work activity of many is getting worse. Life expectancy is decreasing, the environment is getting worse, the climate is changing for the worse.
Urbanization is a factor affecting the earth's lithosphere. As a result, the relief changes. Karst voids form. An aggressive effect on river basins was recorded, leading to their deformation. Some territories have been desertified, it is impossible to live there, the flora and fauna have receded completely.
No less significant disaster is associated with landscape changes, degradation in this aspect. Man is aggressive towards the animal kingdom, vegetation, species diversity is deteriorating, individuals are dying, a specific nature is being formed, which was called urban. In recent years, there has been a significant decrease in the number of recreational sites and natural areas, and there is less and less greenery. Strongly negative impact of road transport, in abundance present in a large city and nearby.
Water and air
The problems of Russian cities related to the water system should not be overlooked. Rivers, lakes are heavily polluted, and gradually the situation is getting worse. The main sources of harmful inclusions are wastewater from industrial facilities, domestic. Water areas are getting smaller. Plants living in the waters, animals die. Water resources of all levels and scales, from the smallest reservoirs to the largest oceans, feel such an impact. The damage is caused to the waters underground, inside the continent, the oceans are suffering. As a result, the amount of water available for drinking is reduced, and constantly hundreds of thousands of people in different corners of the earth are experiencing a shortage of life-giving fluid. If you look at the statistical reports, you can find out that thousands of people die every year precisely because of the lack of water for drinking.
Another significant problem of the city is poor air quality. It was this ecological complexity that was first seen by mankind. The atmosphere is polluted by emissions from automobile transport and numerous industrial enterprises, abundantly present on all continents. The air is polluted with dust, chemical and mechanical impurities, precipitation has an abnormal acidity level, aggressive for living life forms. Polluted air is the reason for the high incidence of animals. It greatly affects human health. At the same time, there is the problem of cutting down green spaces, which could help to clean the air, therefore, the diversity and number of plants capable of transforming carbon dioxide is significantly reduced.
About trash
If you ask environmentalists what city problems most often leave the focus of public attention, experts will probably talk about waste. Garbage is a factor in the pollution of soil, atmosphere, and water systems. Many materials that are actively used by mankind decompose under natural conditions for tens, hundreds of years, and the decomposition period of some is so long that they are considered non-recyclable in the natural environment in principle. The decay process is accompanied by the generation of malicious compounds. They additionally poison the soil, water and air. All these compounds are capable of provoking diseases of animals and plants, leading to the extinction of certain life forms.
In recent years, the idea of ​​separate waste collection and the organization of waste processing enterprises has been actively promoted in developed countries. The use of recycled materials is advertised, social programs are being developed aimed at improving the education and responsibility of the general population.
About the movement
Above was mentioned the transport problems of cities. There are several options for solving them, and one rather promising proposal was put forward by the Canadian specialist Toderian. This professional, working in the field of improvement and organization of living space, considered that the design of a settlement with preservation of priority for people traveling on foot and by bicycles, rather than cars, would be promising. Such an idea fully satisfies public moods. Not so long ago, another jump in the cost of engine fuel occurred, and activists from different countries started talking about the prospect of electric cars that are less aggressive for the ecology of the planet. However, as the Canadian thought, not so much fuel is a problem, but the way of transportation itself, because the stations that generate electricity are no less dangerous for the environment. This is often silent, but absolutely pure energy has not yet been revealed, all varieties, even alternative ones, to one degree or another negatively affect the environment, except that the effect varies somewhat in strength.
To solve this one of the main problems of the city, it is necessary to use a minimum of energy - such behavior should be individual, conscious, selected by a specific person. The more often people move on foot or use a bicycle, the less they harm the environment. The authorities should encourage such behavior and make efforts to promote it - this is exactly what the Canadian specialist considered. In addition, as he drew attention, it is equally important to correctly draw up buildings and common areas - this will significantly reduce the problems of the modern city and the discomfort of living in it.
Options and space
Cars are not only a source of emissions, but also numerous objects that require a huge amount of space for their placement. Cars need parking space, they need tracks for traffic. According to experts, an impressive percentage of the urban area is the infrastructure for cars, and not for people at all. Switching to electric cars cannot be a solution to the problem of the city. To find a way out, you need to consider the possibility of using bicycles and organizing space in such a way that it is easier for people to get to the desired point on foot. A promising area of ​​work is multimodal urban systems. Mobility and space are related phenomena. Their reciprocity was realized back in the middle of the last century. And in those days, and today you can see a variety of advertising posters showing how much more space is occupied by an equal number of people using personal cars than urban public transport. If you replace all the cars with buses, and use personal bicycles, whose parking lots are much more compact, you will save space and at the same time reduce the negative burden on the environment.
Not so long ago, the Sydney Transportation Department organized an advertising campaign dedicated to this issue of the city. As the project materials clearly show, to move thousands of people to the city center, eight train cars or a dozen and a half buses are needed. – , . .
One of the problems of cities (small, large) is charity, or rather, the insufficiency of its development. This value is universal, it is common to all people and is important as an element of civil society. It is the basis of partnership in society. Charity does not depend on the state, although it is encouraged by it. To some extent, it can be a solution to a number of economic problems of cities - the poverty of citizens, lack of housing and food, necessary household items. Charity allows you to redistribute funds for the benefit of society, guided by especially significant programs.
In our country, such an activity is a tradition. Although today its insufficiency has become a problem of cities (small, large), in which people often do not empathize with each other, the historical roots of the phenomenon are deep. The situation changed dramatically in the Soviet era, when such a phenomenon almost disappeared, but at present it is gradually recovering. Charity can be considered as a means of solving the economic problems of cities, since projects promoting this activity are being promoted and translated into reality, it is becoming a social technology to meet the needs of society. Charity is a means of mutual work of entrepreneurship, society and authorities.
Rationality and everyday life
One of the important problems of industrial cities is the proper organization of a functional urban structure. Any locality has a certain potential of the national economy, which can be realized with some degree of efficiency. In order to effectively solve the problems of urban development, it is necessary to implement functional planning projects that are as relevant as possible to the realities of a particular locality. These should cover aspects of resettlement and regional development. This requires the transformation of the functional structure due to the rational use of the resources of the village.
Equally important is social diversity. A settlement designed and modified in accordance with such an idea not only receives a new production profile, but also a healthier environment for people.