Guidelines for making City Green

As cities are keep on growing because of urbanization, more and more cities are becoming congested. To make cities livable for the citizen and to make their life beautiful, it has been the constant endevour of the Government to encourage for green building, keep city pollution within the limit and to create sufficient green belt.

A. Green Building is a philosophy of design and construction that integrates natural resources more effectively, preserves and restores the natural and human resource base while creating healthier, more efficient “high-performance” structures, homes and communities. This philosophy incorporates the following guiding principles:

• Using natural and manmade resources efficiently;

• Considering the impact of buildings and development projects on the local, regional and global environment;

• Reducing building footprint and development size;
  

• Allowing ecosystems to function naturally;

• Conserving and reusing water; treating storm water on-site;

• Maximizing the use of local materials;

• Optimizing energy performance by installing energy efficient equipment and systems;
  

• Optimizing climatic conditions through site orientation and design;
  

• Integrating natural day-lighting and ventilation;

• Minimizing the use of mined rare metals and persistent synthetic compounds and volatile organic compounds;
  

• Minimizing construction waste by reducing, reusing and recycling materials during all phases of construction and deconstruction.

Sustainability is the practice of using resources to provide for the needs of today’s citizens while preserving the use of those same resources for the needs of future generations. Generally, objectives of green buildings are: (a) Improve work and learning environments, thus increasing worker productivity and student performance; (b) Mitigate health risks such as asthma and childhood lead poisoning; (c) Create local green building jobs within every existing industrial sector; (d) Reduce energy consumption and costs; (e) Affirm the City’s commitment to environmental conservation.

B. The creation of green-space in cities is often spoken of as if it were the result of orderly planning or regulation. Most of the cities have a plan to conserve green-space on the urban fringe. Generally, planning for creation of city green zones includes:

• Greening Commercial Corridors – This focus on landscape enhancements along strategic streets that can serve as a neighborhood's economic lifeline.

• City Parks Revitalization – This focus on maintaining and beautification of existing parks in a city.

• Setting-up of New Community Gardens;
  

• Street Beautification Projects- creation of "Garden Blocks".

· Education and Training Opportunities - Courses and workshops help city dwellers beautify their communities through horticulture.

C. Apart from setting up green buildings, green covers, strategy for implementing proper solid waste management, restricting generation of air / water pollutants and strict implementation of local emission control codes. Thus, guidelines should include:

• Utilize sites to capture environmental benefits and preserve or create new open space;
  

• Develop programs and policy to conserve potable water use, improve stormwater management and “green” the city sewage waste water system;
  

• Address city and regional transportation issues by encouraging transit-oriented development, improve public transit services and reduce dependency on individual automobile use;

• Implement citywide energy conservation programs and incentives, encourage use of renewable, non-fossil fuel energy sources and improve city performance on meeting regional clean air standards;
  

• Promote the development of local, green manufacturing industries and the use of recycled content materials or renewable materials for building, operations, and supplies for city work. Also establish more extensive recycling program to include construction and demolition waste recycling;
  

• Maintain city’s sustainable development by integrating programs, such as in workforce development, economic redevelopment, and the public school system.

D. Citywide ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces and public vehicles, also to be imposed for long term benefit of its citizen.

Importance of Urban green cover in improving environmental standard

In the last decade many of the developing countries in Asia, East Europe and Africa have seen rapid growth of industrialization, due to which many of the countries have emerged as economic power house. This rapid growth in industrialization has lead to unplanned development of urban areas by large scale cutting of trees, converting agricultural land into human habitation and deforestation. This has affected adversely on general environment and maintaining ecological balance. Rapid migration and increase in population in the urban areas has also lead to large scale spreading of air & water pollution, garbage etc., and also impairing aesthetic value of area / land. Traffic congestion, water shortages, solid waste, and air, water and noise pollution are common noticeable problems in almost all the urban areas since last few years. The escalated urbanization, associated with environmental degradation, has generated a debate on how much urban green space has been lost due to the urbanization process. Integrated means of addressing the ecological and environmental, economic and social concerns are still neglected in the framework of development. As a result, large areas of urban green space are declining rapidly, and causing numerous environmental problems. However, both environmental awareness and environmental legislation (setting of standards etc.) have advanced considerably in recent years, but enforcement is lagging almost everywhere.

Now, it is well recognized that urban green space plays an important role in the social and natural sustainability of a city. An increase of vegetated surfaces in the urban landscape, provide ecological diversity etc. - can help mitigate several negative effects of urbanization on climate, air pollution, since they contribute to the reduction of the structural differences between the urban area and its rural surrounding. The mitigation processes operated by the vegetation take place both through biophysical and microclimatological properties. Urban green cover form essential structural and functional elements that make cities and urban regions more livable places for their citizens. It is thus, key role of improving the quality of urban life as well as environment. Their imperceptible role in arresting pollution, acting as dust-busters, reducing noise pollution by muffling the sounds of urban living, their cooling effect on the city's temperatures, and how all of this can help keep climate change at bay, are well-known.

Good quality green space enhances the quality of urban life and contributes to wider Government objectives such as improved health, more sustainable neighbourhood renewal and better community cohesion, especially in more deprived communities. Neglected parks attract anti-social behaviour and have the potential to undermine regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods.

Urban green spaces provide a wide range of outputs, however, due to their multi-functional characteristics, the development and management of parks and green spaces is becoming a more and more complex planning issue that needs careful consideration, if green spaces are to be successful places, accepted and appreciated by citizens.

Air pollution by Industry

Air pollution by Industry:
Air pollution is the presence of high concentration of contaminations, dust, smokes etc., in the general body of air man breaths. Pollutants are mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Some air pollutants are poisonous. Inhaling them can increase the chances of health problems. People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from air pollution.

Prime sources of air pollution are the industrial activities or processes releasing large quantity of pollutants in the atmosphere. These pollutants are mainly: (a) Smoke comes out from various industries like, power plants, chemical plants, other manufacturing facilities, motor vehicles, etc.; (b) Burning of wood, coal in furnaces and incinerators; (c) gaseous pollutants from Oil refining industries; (d) dust generated and thrown to general atmosphere by various industries such as cement plants, ore / stone crushing units, mining industries due to rock drilling & movements of mining machineries & blasting etc.; (e) Waste deposition for landfills which generate methane; (f) Toxic / germ / noxious gasses and fumes generated from military activities and explosives blasting in mines.

Air pollution control devices / equipments for industries:
The commonly used equipments / process for control of dust in various industries are (a) Mechanical dust collectors in the form of dust cyclones; (b) Electrostatic precipitators – both dry and wet system; (c) particulate scrubbers; (d) Water sprayer at dust generation points; (e) proper ventilation system and (f) various monitoring devices to know the concentration of dust in general body of air.
The common equipments / process used for control of toxic / flue gases are the (a) process of desulphurisation; (b) process of denitrification; (c) Gas conditioning etc. and (d) various monitoring devices to know the efficacy of the systems used.