Year 10 Monday 28/3: 9.2 Population Growth in Sydney

Sydney's population has been continuously growing. Sydney began in 1788 as a small convict settlement of around 950 people including convicts and their marine guards. Since then it has grown to a city with a population of 3.9 million people (according to the 2004 census). With the birth rate higher than the death rate, Australia's population will keep on rising. It is predicted that over the next 30 years the population will rise by 40 600 people and to house them the government will need to build an extra 640 000 houses. An additional 500 000 jobs will be necessary for these people and 7500 hectares will be used as new industrial land. This will all take up about 6.8 million square metres and another 3.7 million square metres will be used as additional retail space. This is very serious because the rising population will put serious strain on the housing industry, to house these people will cause a huge amount of construction outwards. This will cause some extreme urban sprawl as urban consolidation won't be able to deal with the rising population. Sydney will be affected in that it can't expand eastward because of the ocean. Sydney can only expand westward and this will cause massive urban sprawl and Sydney's resources will be stretched to the limit.

Urban Sprawl and Consolidation

Urban Sprawl: An example of urban sprawl is The Sydney Greater Metropolitan Area (G.M.R). Above is a picture of Western Sydney's housing centre. It is urban sprawl because of the increased dependency on motor vehicles, inefficient road systems and there is no space efficiency, it is all low density housing.

Urban Consolidation: an example of urban consolidation is in the Upper North Shore where companies like Meriton Apartments Grocon and construct apartment buildings and use the space they have more efficiently. It is urban consolidation because they are developing in an already urbanized area and so are using the available space much more efficiently. There is no need for construction for new buildings.

In the example of urban sprawl the following groups were involved: The NSW government, Housing NSW and housing companies like City West Housing.

They are all involved in some way. The NSW government in a way will authorise those groups. Housing NSW are the providers of housing in NSW and so are responsible for the construction of areas that lead to urban sprawl. Companies like City West Housing are groups that build low density houses that also cause urban sprawl.

Organisations like Meriton have responded to the urban sprawl in Sydney by trying to counter it with urban consolidation developments. One example of their response are the Ironbark apartments in Pymble. Another example is Gocon's completed apartment buildings like the Aquarelle Apartments or the Emporio Apartments.

I think that the Ironbark apartment project in Pymble has been very effective. The building is environmentally responsible but still maintains a good standard of design. This means that it is not causing urban sprawl and because of its looks people will want to move into one of those apartment blocks thus encouraging more construction of apartment blocks.

Year 10: Urban Sprawl or Consolidation: Jordan Springs

1. Is this an example of urban consolidation or urban sprawl? Why? It is urban sprawl because it is turning a huge amount of land that used to have nothing on it to a huge amount of land with a lot of buildings on them. They are low density homes and the main kind of transport there will be buses and cars.A lot of environment will be destroyed to make way for all the homes to be built and even for their man-made lakes. They are destroying the old ecosystem and replacing it with their own.
2. Do you think that this development is positive or negative for the surrounding community? For Sydney? For Australia? For the local area of Penrith it could be good because of gentrification but for Sydney and Australia as a whole it is bad. It means Sydney's resources have to be stretched instead of being concentrated in a smaller area.

Page 212-213 Q's 1-12

1. Urban sprawl is when a city decides to expand outwards to deal with a rising population.
2. Urban consolidation is the solution to urban sprawl. It involves building residential areas with apartment buildings. This eliminates the need to construct whole suburbs.
3. A highly urbanised country means that most of the population lives in urban areas.
4. a) The UN believes that 92% of Australia's population lives in urban areas b) in 2006, the urban areas accounted for 65% of Australia's population c) The availability of land and coastal areas are encouraging people to move to the cities.
5. The Cities are on the coast because if you go further inland it gets harder to live there. On the coast you have a favorable climate and flat land which makes it a lot easier to live there.
6. Population density refers to how many people live in a square kilometre. It is related to urban sprawl because urban sprawl is how cities deal with high population densities.
7. Australian cities have much lower population densities compared to other cities.
8. With urban consolidation you use a lot less money because you don't have to build new roads hospitals etc. It costs the government a lot less money and doesn't strain the infrastructure as there is nothing new to take care of.
9. They have started building more apartment buildings in areas to make sure that urban sprawl doesn't happen. It means that more people can live in the one area and not have any problems.
10. A)Sydney B)By how many people live in a square kilometre C)From highest to lowest is Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane D)8/10 of Australia's largest cities have population densities over 1000 people per square kilometre.
11. With those apartment buildings there it will ruin the view, it will completely block out the sun at parts of the day. With those new apartments going up it will turn the community from everyone knowing each other because of the smaller number of people to having a bunch of strangers living around you. Although with those new people the local businesses will do much better with more customers.
12. Advantages: You have your own private space and it is not easy to be disturbed while inside whereas in an apartment building you can hear through the floors. You have a lot more space and can also have a backyard instead of being stuck up in a building. If you wanted to renovate or improve something in your home it is possible to do that. You can have things like tennis courts or pools in your backyard.
Disadvantages: Anything you have like a pool is something you have to maintain and that coast money. They are a lot more expensive and usually give people mortgages.

Year 10: Urban Renew and Decay

Aesthetics: Defined as "The branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste". It refers to how something looks.For example the aesthetics of a building. In commercial and residential construction the aesthetics of a building are very important. In commercial construction if the building is well equipped and looks really nice then people will be more comfortable and relaxed in the building, if it is really ugly and not very well equipped then people will be uncomfortable and not relaxed and constantly thinking about how ugly their building is. In residential construction no one wants to buy an ugly house so if the aesthetics of a house don't meet peoples standards then they wont sell.

Safety: the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions. This includes physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational and psychological effects. An example of safety are the OH&S regulations. These regulation were put in place to stop people from coming to harm. An example of this regulation is not being allowed to raid on cadet camp because of the risk of bodily harm to people at the camp. OH&S mainly tries to protect from physical harm.

Slums: a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions. An example of a slum is Dzerzshink in Russia. In Dzerzhinsk, the average life of men is just 42 years and women 47 years. Environmentalists attribute such high mortality rate to the ceaseless production of organic chemicals like toxic dioxins, hydrogen cyanide, lead and sulfur mustard. The phenol and dioxin contents in the Dzerzhinsk waters surpasses the normal limit by seventeen million times.

Decay: the process of gradually becoming inferior. Buildings in third world countries and slums are always decaying. Go there and you will find buildings that are in very bad repair and are falling apart.

Reconstruction and Renewal: Turning a previously inhospitable or just a really bad area into a hospitable area. A slum being cleaned up and having better living conditions is the best example for this.

Transport: move something or somebody around; usually over long distance. Transport includes public transport in cities like buses, train and ferries or private transport like the family car.

Suburbanization: The process of suburbanizing, of population movement from cities to suburbs. Suburbanization is what causes urban sprawl. As people move to the fringes of the cities the suburbs can no longer support the number of people they have and so they have to expand.

Environmental Factors: Factors of the environment that can affect our development.This includes factors like climate, pollutants and living conditions. It doesn't just refer to the environment/nature but the environment we live in; our surroundings. So that will then include the factor of living conditions. An example is that during the night most people would rather go to a place like Chatswood, Macquarie or Hornsby. At night you wouldn't want to go to a place like King's Cross because the night time environment is dangerous.

Light and Sound: Light and sound are technically environmental factors since they are a part of our surroundings and they can affect the way that we live. For example if you lived right next to a highway it would be different if you lived a lot further away from one. The light and sound caused by traffic from the highway would change the way the two different people lived. Closer to the highway you might not be able to sleep because of the noise and that would affect how you went about your day. Further away from the highway you're not bothered by it and so you have no problems caused by it

7.8 Dune revegetation at Stuarts Point

1. Name and locate the coastal dune management area discussed n this unit. Stuarts Point is located on the mid-north coast of N.S.W.
2.Using the material  in the unit, construct a timeline that highlights the changes in the Stuarts Point sand dune ecosystem

3. Describe the role of the local community in managing the sand dune area. The community first approached the Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales for help in maintaining the sand dunes. They were provided with plant seedlings but this attempt failed when cattle grazing ruined everything.
4. Why is the sand dune area important to the people of Stuarts Point? It is important because it provides a sand dune barrier between the sea and the Macleay River
5. Using 7.35 describe the natural vegetation succession on the sand dunes On the very front of the dunes you have grasses there to stabilise the dry sands. As you move further up the dunes the plants start to get bigger and bigger until they become long-lived trees.
6. Explain why the vegetation is so important in stabilising sand dunes The roots from the vegetation will hold the sand together and give the dunes more stability.
7. What impact did cattle grazing have on the sand dune area? The cattle grazing destroyed the original sand drift control measures. They killed the plant seedlings that had been planted earlier.
8. Describe the changes to the sand dune area that would have occurred after cattle grazing. Identify the geographical processes that would have been altered as a result of the removal of vegetation from the dunes After the cattle grazing the sand dunes would have lost the stability they had managed to build up and the sand dune barrier became very fragile. As a result the dune barrier was breached on three separate occasion by heavy seas.
9. Identify the groups involved in the rehabilitation program Department of Lands, Department of Public Works, Macleay Shire Council and the Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales
10. Outline the stages involved in the management program undertaken to re-establish the coastal vegetation Firstly a tractor was used to form a small foredune approx. 1.8m high. Secondly a dune forming fence was constructed on top of that to help trap wind-blown sand. Lastly the foredune was stabilised with coastal spinifex and marram grass.
12. Use these maps to explain the geographical processes that would have caused the river mouth to silt up in 1900 Longshore dirft would have carried sand up to the northern river mouth and caused it to silt up.
13. Evaluate the success of the revegetation program in the following areas: a) stabilising the sand dunes It was very successful with the sand dunes having now more than adequate stability b) protecting the Macleay River ecosystem With the sand dunes much stronger now the Macleay River is now safe. c) benifiting groups from the local community Local groups now don't have to worry about the sea breaking through into the river
14. A community is concerned about an unstable sand  dune area that is being blown by the wind in the direction of their town. As you have studied the stabilisation of the sand dunes at Stuart's Point, you have been approached to prepare a multimedia presentation on the topic.
Vegetation stabilises sand dunes by covering them from the wind and stopping all the sand being blown away.
The vegetation succession works like this. On the front dunes you have grasses there to protect them from the wind. Further back you start finding shrubs and short-lived trees or "secondary species" . Finally at the very back of the dunes you find long-lived trees that live in the protection of the dunes and secondary species.