Dubai’s Cityscape (https://www.pikist.com/free-photo-subxx)

Good day to you fellow city dwellers!

I will weaponise this platform to educate and share my knowledge of Metropollution! So, before we all take arms to become warriors championing against Metropollution, I am sure this question will surface in your mind: what exactly is Metropollution?

Well, it is a play of words between metropolis and pollution. For a city boy like me, my interest lies in discovering and revealing the various types of urban pollutions that plagues my living environment. To most people, surrounding themselves in natural surroundings like in the woods or at the beach can evoke a sense of serenity, but to me, those places reek of bugs and the unknown depths of nature, triggers my anxiety. Instead, the tall and majestic skyscrapers coupled with the sheer density of the population travelling around the city with intention and haste, draws me in. As such, I have always had a deep interest in the urban environment.

Now, imagine you own a property that you poured heart and soul into designing the interiors and pride in the overall livability of the unit. Everyday, your neighbour dumps his trash all along your corridor and the stench travels into your home, stinking up the furniture and the air. Additionally, your misbehaving child regularly destroys the beautiful wallpaper by scribbling gibberish everywhere. Would you not be annoyed? Well, I would be bloody pissed (pardon my language please) for sure.

The analogy given is a parallel to the urban environment where most of us dwell in. UN estimates that more than half of the world’s population resides within a cityscape. In other words, the issue of Metropollution to our cities is affecting more than half of the world. What are the causes of Metropollution you ask? Firstly air pollution from vehicular emissions and industrial premises. Secondly, we have noise pollution from the hustle and bustle of the city. Thirdly, we have light pollution where the artificial lightings of the urban can interrupt the lifestyles of mankind and ecologies alike. Lastly (this list is not exhaustive), visual pollution. This form of pollution is a problem because it can affect the mental health and property prices. Altogether, metropollution is a summation of all these forms of pollutions that sicken the urban realm.

In the coming articles, I will continue sharing on Metropollution. Please join me in this battle against Metropollution.

You live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your Metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019, June 13). Urbanization. Our World in Data. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization#:~:text=UN%20estimates%20therefore%20report%20that,and%20cited%20on%20global%20urbanization.

7 types of urban pollution that everyone ought to know. Institute of Ecolonomics. (2015, March 13). Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://ecolonomics.org/7-types-of-urban-pollution-that-everyone-ought-to-know/

Greetings city dwellers!

Welcome to another article on the urban’s invisible predator: urban pollution. Today, I will be unpacking what urban pollution actually is. Truth be told, the term can be recognised as pollution in the urban environment. According to scholars on urban pollution, it does not have a universally-accepted definition, unlike other forms of pollution that we face. However, one way to describe urban pollution would be to identify harmful substances and/or poisonous elements that are introduced into the cityscapes which can result in an environmentally destructive outcome.

Generally, urban pollution stems from man-induced origins. For instance, the march of progress from mankind in the period of industrialisation had released a great concentration of smog into the vicinity of industrial zones. The smog released will then be transmitted via atmospheric transformation. The toxic air pollutants present in the air can trigger a series of health-related concerns to both man and animal in the urban. Alright, I will cover more of this in subsequent articles, let’s not be hasty now 🙂

Smog in Shanghai, induced by the burning of coal as a main source of energy for homes and industries (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/smog/#:~:text=Smog%20is%20air%20pollution%20that%20reduces%20visibility.,usually%20came%20from%20burning%20coal.&text=When%20sunlight%20hits%20these%20chemicals,%2Dlevel%20ozone%E2%80%94or%20smog.)

However, it is myopic to assume that since mankind reside in the urban, urban pollution is solely caused by anthropological sources. There are occasions when Mother Nature herself decides to contaminate the living environment in cities. Natural causes like volcanic eruption and thunders can also result in air pollution too. Hence, we can see that the sources of urban pollution can be derived from man-induced and natural sources.

Alright, now that we have established what metropollution entails, we are now ready to further analyse this invisible threat in our cities. Till next time, stay safe!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your Metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Martínez-Bravo, M., & Martínez-del-Río, J. (2019). Urban pollution and emission reduction. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 905–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95717-3_30

Terrible Air Pollution in New Delhi, India (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/who-says-air-pollution-kills-7-million/year-toughens-guidelines/articleshow/86441641.cms)

Greetings urban dwellers! In today’s article, I will be discussing the problems of air pollution in dense urban cities. First and foremost, we must all acknowledge that air pollution can pose as a serious health hazard and should not be taken lightly. According to medical journals, air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide released from vehicular emissions can throw a spanner into the functions of the lungs. They can also facilitate access of inhaled allergens to the cells of the immune system, resulting in a loss of quality of living in the urban areas.

The significance of air pollution in urban areas are especially more problematic compared to places elsewhere around the world. In the 21st century, there is a great dependence on transportation to carry out daily activities. To add on, urban cities possess large volumes of such travel. As a result, this will equate to a significant amount of pollutants released from vehicles.

Fun fact: in a study conducted in 2015 on cities around the world, traffic accounted for 25% of urban air pollution, 22% comes from combustion and agriculture, 20% from domestic fuel burning, 18% from natural dusts and 15% from industrial activities.

Unfortunately, the issue of climate change has accentuated the severity of air pollution in urban areas. As the earth’s temperature continue to rise due to climate change, it alters the concentration and distribution of air pollutants, causing the pollutants to be more resilient and able to stay in the environment for a prolonged period of time. This just shows how human activities can have an exponential effect onto urban pollution as one of the primary causes of climate change is due to anthropogenic lifestyles.

But this is not the end! We are not screwed (yet). There is still more we can do to restore our urban environments. Hang around for more!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your Metropollution Warrior,

BriChua

References:

D’Amato, G. (2002). Environmental urban factors (air pollution and allergens) and the rising trends in allergic respiratory diseases. Allergy, 57(s72), 30–33. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1398-9995.57.s72.5.x

Greetings Urban Dwellers! We meet again.

This post today will be used to watch 2 videos to understand our enemy: Urban Air Pollution.

To continue from the previous post, the first video is from WHO and it shows the effects of air pollution on our body; reminding everyone the severity of this problem.

Another video that I am sharing will be on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The VOCs are present in our household products such as Aerosol Sprays and Pesticides, hence to those that are unaware, we are unconsciously contributing to air pollution through the usage of these items!

Alright, I shall speak less. Go forth and watch the videos. I’ll see you next time.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your Metropollution Warrior,

BriChua

References:

Department of Health. Volatile Organic Compounds in Commonly Used Products. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/air_quality/vocs.htm

Greetings urban dwellers!

Since the past few articles, we have established the dangers and significance of air pollution in the urban environ. Now, what happens if the urban inhabitants become frustrated with persistent pollution and/or the government for inadequate actions to mitigate and prevent the source of pollution?

In Henri Lefebvre’s esteemed work on the urban, he argued that all citizens inhabiting the city has the right to the city. Simply, every inhabitant can utilise the urban space equally and safely. He also highlighted that every member of the city has the rights to information, to difference and to self-management. However, in the event that the citizens are denied the rights partially or fully, it could erupt into acts of violence and unhappiness.

The case study of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, proved to exemplary in illustrating how the discontentment of citizens from air pollution can break out into violence and unlawful occupation onto the streets. Due to poor waste management from Quangang Urban Sewage Plant, there was a foul stench released to the urban environment and the water bodies are heavily polluted with waste discharge. The stench and polluted water bodies are problematic for the inhabitants as both their health and sea shores are affected. Despite numerous calls onto authorities to rectify the environmental hazard, there was little response. Eventually, inhabitants took on the responsibility and protested via violent riots. It was noted that at least 2,000 riot police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. The rioters destroyed cars, threw rocks at the enforcers and even kidnapped an official hostage to send a message. Eventually, the sporadic rioters were dispersed and the state promised to make amendments to the environmental hazard.

Protest Occupation in Quanzhou, China (https://ejatlas.org/conflict/antipollution-protests-against-local-solar-panel-manufacturers-quanzhou-fujian-china)

From this short case study, one thing clear is that environmental pollution in the urban spaces can result in explosive reactions from the inhabitants. Linking back to the Lefebvre’s idea, citizens believe that they have the rights to live in a hazard-free environment where they can carry out daily activities without concerns of their livelihoods and health.

Moral of story? Authorities must keep environment clean and safe for living in urban spaces, otherwise risk an occupation from activists and other disgruntled members of public.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Purcell, M. (2014). Possible worlds: Henri Lefebvre and the right to the city. Journal of Urban Affairs, 36(1), 141–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/juaf.12034

Watts, J. (2009, September 2). Further anti-pollution riots break out in China. The Guardian. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/sep/02/anti-pollution-riot-china

Greetings urban dwellers, and a happy lunar new year!

In the spirit of lunar new year, this article will be devoted to enlightening you on the possible environmental dangers of fireworks. Yes, we are all suckers to the loud crackling racket, coupled with intense bright lights across the night sky. However, did you ever notice trails of smoke left behind after the fireworks?

Fireworks in the UK, with some visible air pollution (https://www.newscientist.com/article/2222339-fireworks-and-fires-on-bonfire-night-quadruple-air-pollution-in-the-uk/)

Fireworks are often released in urban-dense places such as theme parks, and is a very common sight in festivals. Did you know the colours thrown across the sky are made from hard metals and artificial chemicals. These chemicals like Lithium, Strontium (red), Copper (Blue) and Barium, are responsible for the colours splashed in the sky. When millions of these chemical particles are combusted in the air by the ignition of gunpowder, the sky is stained with chemicals which can induce respiratory issues and poor air quality. What makes this worse is that wind currents can carry these chemicals across distances and pollute a large area rather than just the immediate spot where the fireworks are launched. Furthermore, these chemicals can stay in the air for days, exposing the urban inhabitants to poor air quality and possible long-term health issues.

As a response to this, many cities around the world have adopted measures. The most obvious method is banning fireworks altogether. Since 1st January 2018, Jin Nan banned firecrackers and fireworks as they acknowledge the harms behind the environmental hazard. Another measure is to use environmental-friendly fireworks. Instead of throwing harmful chemicals in the air, advancements have allowed fireworks to be enjoyed with minimal damage. This is achieved by burning clean nitrogen-based fuel. However, there are still traces of hard metals in these fireworks to produce the colours.

I hate to be the party pooper during lunar new year but, these are the facts. At times, we conveniently use festivities as an excuse to pollute. I’m sure there are many other cleaner avenues to celebrate festivities and events. Let’s all be responsible.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Do eco-friendly fireworks exist? BBC Science Focus Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/do-eco-friendly-fireworks-exist/#:~:text=Eco%2Dfriendly%20fireworks%20have%20a,produce%20the%20brilliantly%20coloured%20flames.

Empowering the world to breathe cleaner air. IQAir. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.iqair.com/us/blog/air-quality/are-fireworks-bad-for-air-quality

Yu, S., Wang, C., Liu, K., Zhang, S., & Dou, W. (2021). Environmental effects of prohibiting urban fireworks and firecrackers in Jinan, China. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 193(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09315-4

Greetings urban dwellers! Welcome back to another article on metropollution. After gaining deep insights on the causes and consequences of air pollution within the urban realm, I will now move on to another type of pollution: Land Pollution.

Bags of litter scattered in Naples, Italy (https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/27/which-is-the-worlds-most-wasteful-city)

By definition, land pollution refers to the deposition of solid/liquid waste materials on land or underground in a manner that can contaminate the soil, groundwater, threaten public health and cause unsightly conditions and nuisance. For majority of us, we might have stumbled across land pollution in the form of unsanitary litter peppered across the city. So exactly what causes land pollution? Obviously, we are aware that sanitary management and sewage systems must be proficient in removing litter on the urban environment and relocating them to a specific waste disposal infrastructure like landfills, where rubbish are burned or recycled for other uses. Land pollution will be a problem when sanitary systems installed in respective cities do not adequately dispose the litter, thus resulting in residual trash abandoned onto the beautiful urban environment.

Another consideration, aside from the demand of sanitary systems, will be the supply of litter. For cities with astronomical scale of consumption, it is unsurprising that the amount of waste produced will be greater too. It has been noted by scholars that with higher purchasing income, as reflected by global economic indices, people possess more ability to consume and translate that amount of consumption into waste.

But this isn’t the gospel truth. There are occasions where richer megacities with larger population, produce less trash than other megacities. Let’s take Tokyo and Mexico City for comparison. Mexico City produces 12 million tonnes of waste per year (INSANE!). However for Tokyo, despite having more than 50% urban residents more than Mexico City, the former produces slightly less rubbish. How does this happen? This is simply dependent on the policies of the state in terms of waste disposal as seen by Tokyo employing aggressive recycling measures, in an attempt to create an image of Zero Waste City.

Clearly, land pollution in city can be a real head spinner. Don’t fret, more will be covered in the future articles. See you then!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Adler, B. (2016, October 27). Which is the world’s most wasteful city? The Guardian. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/27/which-is-the-worlds-most-wasteful-city

Greetings urban dwellers! Welcome to another article on urban land pollution. In the previous post, I discussed extensively on the causes of urban land pollution which can be conceptualised from a demand and supply framework. Demand factors include higher purchasing power and greater ability to consume, thus generating volumes of trash and wastes. Conversely, supply-side considerations like the proficiency and efficacy of waste management affect the amount of rubbish being scattered around the urban environment.

Now, what if waste management is effective in collecting trash and litter by putting them in a localised space in the urban environment. In a sense, this space becomes a ‘landfill’ for rubbish. Would it still amount into land pollution? Let’s take a look at the case study of “India’s Mount Everest of Rubbish”

The video has shared how rubbish is being collected and deposited at a designated area. However, this is insufficient to curb land pollution as the consequences such as health risks and stench can still affect the urban inhabitants. As a response to the intense accumulation of garbage, many residents have also relocated their homes as they deem the livability to be threatened. This begs the question: what about those people that do not have the capabilities to change their living environment as they are tied down by socio-economic factors like wealth?

Another interesting aspect of the video is that it does not disconnect land and air pollution. The video attributed air pollution from the amalgamation of litter and elucidated the dangers of how land pollution can therefore, create other types of pollution. We should not belittle land pollution to mere cigaretter butt along the road side or plastic bags hanging on trees. When all these tiny components of land pollution combine, they could pose a serious threat.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

Greetings urban dwellers! Welcome back to another post on urban land pollution. So, how do we clear land wastes if we do not want it polluting our environment? Burning them is definitely not an answer as there is a trade-off in pollution: from land to air pollution. Well, the contemporary response to this long-term would be to recycle.

Recycling has been the buzzword in the 21st century in waste management. Cities around the world have began adopting recycling measures to become more environmentally friendly and also clear the wastes accumulated by the inhabitants. In the US, there is an enormous amount of wastes produced due to their highly capitalistic lifestyle and population size. It has been reported that the US alone contributes to 30% of the world’s trash (Now that’s a crazy amount!). As such, cities have began noticing the problem and started their own recycling initiatives.

The municipal authorities governing San Francisco has rolled out several initiatives to transform their city into ‘greener’ environments. From curbside composting bins to diverting trash that were originally headed towards landfills to recycling plants, San Francisco has earned its title of being the most waste recycled city in the US. Additionally, the city has banned the use of plastics and other hard-to-recycle materials in its goal to achieve 0 waste.

Top: San Franciso’s recycling bins scattered around the city environ. Bottom: The trash pit at the Recology garbage transfer station south of downtown San Francisco (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/11/21/san-francisco-recycling-sustainability-trash-landfills-070075)

However, San Francisco still faces challenges in the pursuit of a 0 waste city. Firstly, recycling by itself is not financially profitable. In other words, the city has to spend generously to construct infrastructures and develop systems to ensure the continuous efforts of recycling. Even the erection of recycling bins on the roadside and sending of recycling trucks to go around the blocks to collect recycled materials are costly. Secondly, public education on recycling is still in its fetus stage. According to academics, people do not fully understand and appreciate recycling as it could impose inconvenience and additional work. A classic example will be the debates of using plastic straws in restaurants and eateries.

As such, this article has provided a succinct case study of San Francisco’s efforts in tackling urban land pollution. Their current actions have definitely improved the environment, but the main question is if the municipal has the financial ability to sustain this kind of expenditure for a prolonged period of time. Only time will tell.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Rogoff, M. J., & Ross, D. E. (2016). The future of recycling in the United States. Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy, 34(3), 181–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242×16629599

Greetings urban dwellers! Today, I’ll be sharing a post on the reality of corporate recycling efforts to manage wastes and land pollution. I came across this video on TikTok and it was shocking to me. Here’s the clip: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSe7YYU9m/

In the clip, it shows a man who decides to recycle his used plastic cup in a Subway restaurant. In front of him, there were 2 holes on the bin, one indicative for unrecycled wastes and another for recycling. However, he opens the bottom of the bin only to find out both holes lead to the same waste bin. In other words, Subway was merely demonstrating a performative gesture in recycling and is giving customers the illusion of choice. Ultimately, there was no effort in recycling the wastes at all.

This got me thinking if this kind of corporate scheme is widely adopted and I tried to scour the internet for more of such incidents. Fortunately, there were not many other cases like this. However I came across this interesting article on San Francisco’s (again) Macdonalds’ rubbish bin having cameras inside. Apparently, there are companies like Compology that develops software and technology to ensure that unrecyclable materials are not mixed with recyclables. So how this works is simply the camera has censors to monitor the wastes that enter recycling bins and if there are trash bags inside that do not belong there, the camera will send a notification to the recycling truck that is on route to collect so that they can remove the rubbish. From the article, this monitoring advancement has a success of removing unrecyclable trash in the recycling bin by 80%.

Camera with censor placed in recycling industrial bins in San Francisco (https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/18/tech/compology-artificial-intelligence/index.html)

From what I’ve learned today is that recycling is a useful method to handle wastes and prevent land pollution in the urban realm. However, this comes with tangible and intangible costs. Businesses that are really keen to recycle and make a conscious effort of recycling should uphold integrity in their policies. Making a change requires efforts from all.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

Reference:

Metz, R. (2020, December 18). Here’s why some McDonald’s restaurants are putting cameras in their dumpsters. CNN. Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/18/tech/compology-artificial-intelligence/index.html

Greetings urban dwellers! I hope the previous articles on land pollution as well as the various methods of managing land wastes have been fruitful in your learning to urban pollution. Today, we embark on a new journey, exploring unchartered lights. Indeed, we have now shored upon the issue of light pollution.

Sky Glow over London, United Kingdom (https://ilivebytheriverblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/a-photo-of-london-from-space/)

I believe we are no strangers to the term light pollution, but what exactly does it entail and more importantly, how does it affect the environment? Simply, light pollution is problematised due to the excess of illumination of artificial light and can have adverse effects on our bodies and the environment. To briefly understand the detriments of light pollution (more shall be discussed in future posts!), exposure to excess artificial light can cause the human body to be lethargic and unalert, cause irregular sleep cycles and melatonin levels. Additionally, it also affects ecosystems that reside in and in the vicinity of the cities.

In urban cities, light sources such as street lamps, neon signboards, domestic lights and more, can contribute to unwanted light pollution. As a rule of thumb, the more urbanised an area is, there is usually a larger degree of light pollution. This is because urban activities and environment tend to require more illumination in the night sky, so that we can continue to function even at night. Interestingly, some cities boast their light pollution levels as an indicator for their prosperity and development. However, as light pollution is a modern phenomenon, it is only gaining traction in recent times, as compared to other forms of pollution that have been studied for decades and centuries.

Thou hath the candle singed the moth. The title of this post is related to the Shakespearian quote of how the moth is overly attracted to the light of the candle and ends up burning itself. I reckon this quote is relevant for light pollution as we are extremely keen to urbanise our environment and introducing artificial lights at every corner of the city. As a result, we face an (in)visible light pollutant that can compromise on our quality of life and harm ecosystems. In the posts to come, I will shed some LIGHT on this topic.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Bramley, E. V. (2014, October 23). Urban light pollution: Why we’re all living with permanent ‘mini jetlag’. The Guardian. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/23/-sp-urban-light-pollution-permanent-mini-jetlag-health-unnatural-bed

Greeting urban dwellers! This post will continue the discussion of light pollution in urban areas.  Both videos below are extremely informative regarding light pollution.

A few takeaways from the videos:

1. Not all light in urban areas are immediately classified as light pollution. Only lights in the glare zone and/or beyond the useful light will be deemed as unwanted illumination.
2. Light pollution also results in the production of additional carbon emissions and resources. Billions of dollars are spent on coal and oil as fuel for electricity are wasted on unwanted light, causing an inefficient usage of finite resources.
3. As urbanisation becomes more rapid, light pollution increases by 6-10% a year.
4. To tackle the problem of light pollution, innovations to use alternative energy efficient light bulbs and smarter directional lighting are used to minimise the spread of over-illumination.
5. History of light pollution began when the first light bulb was created in the 19th century. However, with this revolutionary discovery of lighting up dark areas at night, it has also caused dramatic changes in our biosphere and anthroposphere.
6. Similar to other forms of pollution, light pollution has the ‘reach’ to affect areas beyond the immediate source aka urban areas. Wildlife and other ecosystems in the vicinity of the cities can be negatively affected by the illumination.
7. Light pollution can affect urban inhabitants’ quality of life as excess light can affect eyesight, sleep cycles, mood, obesity and also increase the risk of breast cancer. This is caused by the hormone in our bodies, known as melatonin, which is produced when we are in darkness. Hence, for individuals such as night shift workers that are overly exposed to light, melatonin levels are low. Low melatonin levels could cause depression and anxiety in individuals.

As your friendly metropollution warrior, I hope you are reading this in the day time and resting at night WITH YOUR LIGHTS OFF! Till next time!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2021, March 3). Melatonin. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-melatonin/art-20363071

Greetings urban dwellers! After acquiring a rich understanding of light pollution in the previous articles, today’s goal will be to explore which urban cities suffer the most from light pollution.

One way to determine this, academics use light flux per US$1 (FpD) of the average per capita income for each county and region. The purpose of using this indicator is to identify the correlation between economic and human activity. Generally, in places that are richer, these areas are also more urbanised, hence light pollution is more prevalent. The downside of using this indicator is that for areas that have low/average income, it has a very little impact on the ranking as urban lights are ubiquitous as long as there is human activity.

Another form of indicator is light flux per capita (FpD). As it suggests, it is the measurement of the amount of artificial light per person. This indicator is premised on the belief that the more people present, there is a greater display of artificial lights from the satellite perspective. However, there are anomalies whereby some areas such as the Loving County in Texas, USA has 16,000 times more light flux per capita than the New York County, solely because of the oil wells in the region. As such, considering the possible discrepancies in the use of this indicator, light flux per capita has its own limitations.

The challenge behind using a multitude of indices to determine which city is the brightest can be challenging because in one form of ranking, it can show an urban area to be ranked high in an indicator but in another, it might be ranked lower. In the case of Paris, France, it was ranked 5th in FpC and 1st in FpD, but in terms of average sky brightness, it is in the 1363th place. This was accounted for due to the high population density in big cities might be reasonable for the FpC and FpD values, but in terms of light pollution, it is perceived to be detrimental to the environment.

As such, it is not a easy feat to determine who is the BRIGHTEST of them all after all. Hence, making this pollution in urban areas extremely challenging to resolve as researchers are not able to clearly define the parameters affected by light pollution.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

Reference:

Falchi, F., Furgoni, R., Gallaway, T. A., Rybnikova, N. A., Portnov, B. A., Baugh, K., Cinzano, P., & Elvidge, C. D. (2020). Light pollution in USA and Europe: The good, the bad and the ugly. Journal of Environmental Management, 248, 109227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.06.128

 (https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/drawing-of-a-on-off-switch)

Greeting urban dwellers! As the final post on light pollution, I will be sharing what are some solutions that has and can be used to tackle light pollution in urban areas.

There are many on-the-ground measures to tackle light pollution. Instances like installing low glare lighting alternatives in public areas can help to minimise the amount of unnecessary illumination in the night and installing motion sensors such that public lights are only switched on when there are pedestrians/vehicles entering a localised area. By ensuring that unwanted light in areas that do not require them is kept to the minimum, it is a form of method to combat light pollution. Another solution has been annually implemented and perhaps not as recognised as a measure against light pollution: Earth Day. On the last Saturday of March, there is a one-hour where corporations and households are encouraged to turn off their lights as a form demonstrating support and awareness for climate change. Also known as Earth Hour, when lights are switched off for an hour, momentarily there is a reduction of light emitted. However, the effectiveness of this remains questionable as it is not mandated to turn off the lights for an hour and also poses a challenge to continue daily activities in the dark.

However, just using small-scale solutions are not sufficient, policies and education to create awareness and limit the amount of light emitted from urban areas are absolutely necessary if we want to make a change. International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) has been at the forefront creating policies and offering alternatives to cities worldwide to reduce light pollution. Through their own research and efforts, they share the knowledge with governments across the world to protect the darkness in the night sky and promote quality outdoor lighting. Interestingly, as much as having reduced lighting can be beneficial against light pollution, they acknowledge the potential problems like crimes, might surface. Hence, using their data received from tracking and monitoring technologies, they offer sound advice and solutions tailored to the respective municipals. Ultimately, it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of IDA’s suggestions yet because as much as light remains a staple in our daily lives, these large-scale changes to the urban environment might require decades to prove its feasibility and success.

All in all, let’s do our part and start small if we want to contribute combat efforts: switch off lights when not in use.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Public policy. International Dark-Sky Association. (2020, December 16). Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.darksky.org/our-work/lighting/public-policy/

Rinkesh. (2020, September 8). 21 impressive ways to reduce light pollution. Conserve Energy Future. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/impressive-ways-reduce-light-pollution.php

Greetings urban dwellers! After gaining a deeper understanding on light pollution as a form of urban pollution, we shall move on and investigate another contemporary issue: noise pollution

.

Urban noises from loud sources (https://www.worldbeatcenter.org/noise-pollution/)

For most urban inhabitants like you and I, the sirens from vehicles, drilling in construction areas and even the roaring of airplanes flying over us, are extremely common. In the urban, human traffic is densely congregated and the sounds produced from these activities are amplified by the sheer population residing in an area. Over time, the noise produced can have effects on human health and the environment altogether. Within the sonic landscape, urban areas are passively producing an average of 60 decibels of noise. With the inclusion of activities like traffic and industrial activities, the decibels can rise to 85 and sirens from vehicles can cause an astounding 120 decibels, which is hitting the human pain threshold.

If I am to describe noise pollution, I would associate it with light pollution. As both forms of pollution come from human activities and have similar effects, they are akin to the sides of a same coin. Unlike other forms of pollution that have been discussed, light and noise pollution are not recognised to be immediate source of pollution that demands immediate rectification. This is because it does not cause an immediate damage to the environment/human body, but rather takes on an escalating influence.

In the next few posts, I will elucidate more about noise pollution, so bear with me, it is going to be a LOUD experience!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Bhatia, R. (2014, May 20). Noise pollution: Managing the challenge of Urban sounds. Earth Journalism Network. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://earthjournalism.net/resources/noise-pollution-managing-the-challenge-of-urban-sounds#:~:text=Still%2C%20noise%20is%20a%20leading,Noise%20disturbs%20sleep.

Wagner, K. (2019, July 5). City noise might be making you sick. The Atlantic. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/city-noise-might-be-making-you-sick/553385/

Greetings urban dwellers! Today, I will be sharing more on noise pollution.

Did you know that despite many considers noise pollution a contemporary issue, but in reality it has been lurking since ancient Rome? In the past, chariots were banned at night as their wheels hitting onto the pavement produced unwanted noise that affected the sleep of the citizens. Additionally, during the medieval era, Europe’s streets were covered with straw so that horse carriages travelling at night, to reduce noise made. However, there is some truth that noise pollution is a modern day problem because the magnitude of noise generated from activities throughout the day and night are amplified by the sheer amount of urbanisation that surrounds us.

Chariots in Medieval Europe as a source of noise pollution (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ojoa.12112)

The significance behind noise pollution is that people are unable to ‘switch off’ their auditory mechanisms and even during rest or states of unconsciousness, these noise continue to pollute in the acoustical environment.

Furthermore, noise pollution can offer adverse socioeconomic effects. Noise pollution does not merely wake up individuals in the night; the repercussions stretch beyond. When individuals do not receive sufficient rest, their daily performance is impaired which can result in lower economic functions and also develop a lack of awareness which can cause accidents in the urban  landscape.

To add on, cardiovascular health is also compromised as acute exposure to noise above 80 decibels can activate nervous and hormonal responses which in the long term of urban inhabitants, result in cardiovascular complications like high blood pressure. And of course, hearing impairment can be a direct result from prolonged exposure to noise pollution.

I hope this brief article has shed the severity of noise pollution!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Goines, L., & Hagler, L. (2007). Noise pollution: A modern plague. Southern Medical Journal, 100(3), 287–294. https://doi.org/10.1097/smj.0b013e3180318be5

Peris, E. (2021, May 11). Noise pollution is a major problem, both for human health and the environment. European Environment Agency. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://www.eea.europa.eu/articles/noise-pollution-is-a-major

Greetings urban dwellers, welcome back to another post on metropollution. Today’s article will cover extensively and provide more nuances to noise pollution.

For most types of urban pollution, there is usually a distinct socio-economic divide between the levels of pollution inflicted onto the different social classes. Take land pollution for example, as covered previously under the garbage mountain post, the poor are generally forced to be at the short end of the stick due to their socio-economic immobility and ‘stickiness’ to their environment. However, for noise pollution, it inflicts upon both the rich and poor. You might be wondering that the rich has the capacity to live somewhere secluded and less urbanised and away from the city center. But a misconception such as this proves how little we understand noise pollution. 

Public Address systems erected on vehicles in India (https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/public-address-system.html)

Noise pollution does not exist solely from construction noises or traffic. Albeit those anthropogenic activities do contribute to noise pollution, a study conducted in New Delhi has explained how electrical appliances like televisions and public address systems are significant as contributors to noise pollution. One way to conceptualise noise pollution is to understand it from unique and passive angles.

Events like festivals and concerts within the cityscape add to noise pollution from a unique angle as there is a sudden rise in noise generated in the duration. These sources that contribute to noise pollution are easier to resolve because it is easy to locate and recognise them, thus finding a solution does not pose much difficulties. The challenge comes for noise pollution that happens passively. Examples ranging from the ringing of alarms to noise generated from railways, they are difficult to resolve them as they are essential to daily living. They are considered passive because as urban dwellers, we have become so acclimatised to the sonic landscapes embedded within the urban environ that we do not consider them as noise pollution. As such, I shall end off with a question to you readers to ponder: “to what extent do we consider sounds emitted from certain activity/lifestyle to be unwanted and therefore deserve to be severed off from the urban?”

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

Reference:

Singh, N., & Davar, S. C. (2004). Noise pollution-sources, effects and control. Journal of Human Ecology, 16(3), 181–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/09709274.2004.11905735

Greetings urban dwellers! In this final article on noise pollution, I will be concluding it with existing measures to tackle urban noise pollution and provide a brief evaluation to the respective solutions.

The United States National Prevention Strategy (NPS) has acknowledged the harms behind noise pollution and has taken action to reduce noise pollution as a whole. One of the interventions include altering the built environment to minimise exposure and also contain the noise produced in the urban sphere. The NPS recommends building designs that promote better noise insulation and absorption. This will prevent both incoming noise from the public and also outgoing sounds within the private domains. This has been effective because it is not an expensive measure and there has success in this measure. In the process of reducing the exposure to noise, this solution does not resolve the source of the noise as it only allow certain households with newer infrastructures to enjoy this benefit. Furthermore, scholars have argued that this solution is inequitable because while recipients of noise continue to be burdened, the producers of said noise are not incentivised to resolve the noise generated.

Another solution on the individual level is to undergo temporary relocation. During festivities and events where crowds of tourists and outsiders enter the city, they contribute significantly to noise pollution, even after dusk. This becomes a problem as locals are not able to get sufficient rest to prepare for the following day. As a makeshift measure, they seek external accommodations away from the festivities. For instance, during the 10-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi 2021, many travel to Hyderabad, India, to celebrate. Despite the ban of loudspeakers, pilgrims continue to abuse it to spread festival cheer of the birth of their deity. As a result, many locals were forced to relocate to hotels and extended families’ residences temporarily to avoid the noise. However, for individuals that are geographically immobile, they are unable to escape from the noise produced, hence exposing themselves to noise pollution.

The congregation of pilgrims during Ganesh Chaturthi 2021 at Hyderabad, India (https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/200921/residents-relocate-to-escape-from-noise-pollution-on-final-day-of-imme.html)

There are many other measures implemented around the world to tackle noise pollution in cities. But similar to many other forms of urban pollution, there is no clear answer to this LOUD yet intangible form of pollution. As a first step, individuals like you and I must learn and acknowledge the severity of noise pollution before we can take more steps to resolve this issue.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Hammer, M. S., Swinburn, T. K., & Neitzel, R. L. (2014). Environmental noise pollution in the United States: Developing an effective public health response. Environmental Health Perspectives, 122(2), 115–119. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307272

Greetings urban dwellers! We have finally reached the last form of metropollution that plagues our urban environment: Visual Pollution!

Visual pollution was rarely recognised as an environmental pollution in the past because the nature of it was difficult to document and scholars did not have sufficient information to coin it as a form of pollution. However, in the recent decade, where urbanisation and civilisations develop at a rapid rate, the ‘symptoms’ in cities are becoming more ubiquitous and pronounced such that some scholars are classifying it as environmentally damaging. This is particular when there is an uneven development within the cityscape. Before elaborating on more, we will first need to unpack this question: what exactly is visual pollution?

In essence, visual pollution is an aesthetics issue which surfaces when the scenery becomes visually unpleasant. At the onset, this might appear to be a social-economic problem but in reality its significance and repercussions extend to the environmental domains of geography. Visual pollution can be understood from two angles. First type is a visual blight whereby infrastructures pose as unattractive and obstructive. Examples include electrical wires hanging across the poles, neon signboards, dilapidated buildings and more. The second type is known as visual clutter which occurs when there is an excess of urban elements. For instance, a highway that is experiencing congestion is a type of visual clutter.

Visual Cluttering of signboards in Times Square, New York (https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/visual-pollution-in-times-square-new-york/)

Now, how is this a problem? Simply, having a poor environment is visually unpleasant and have detrimental psychological effects like depression, stress-inducing, and even a loss of identity. Furthermore, when certain parts of the city is developed more than the other, the less developed area will be neglected and potentially become an area that invites poverty and vice. Take Detroit, USA as a case study. Between 1950-1980, the city experienced a decline in demography by over 600,000 population and poverty and criminal activities remain high. Since the city’s bankruptcy, there has been minimal signs of rejuvenation and the city is a prime source of visual pollution. With graffiti splashed on most walls and infrastructures in shambles, there is little contest to prove that the city and its inhabitants are suffering from visual pollution.

Visual Blight in Detroit, Michigan, USA (https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbeyer/2018/07/31/why-has-detroit-continued-to-decline/?sh=59b71b403fbe)

In the next few posts, I will attempt to PAINT a clear (and BEAUTIFUL) picture of visual pollution. Stay tuned!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Beyer, S. (2021, December 10). Why has Detroit continued to decline? Forbes. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbeyer/2018/07/31/why-has-detroit-continued-to-decline/?sh=59b71b403fbe

Greetings urban dwellers! Welcome back to one of the last few posts on metropollution! Today’s article will continue on visual pollution and provide deeper analysis on this urban phenomenon that is slowly consuming our landscape.

In the previous post, I mentioned that cities that are struggling financially such as the city of Detroit, will suffer from visual pollution due to the ubiquity of abandoned buildings and poor maintenance of public spaces. Now, there is some truth that visual pollution exist in these cities with low economic growth. However, I would like to draw your attention to another case study: Osaka, Japan.

As the second richest prefecture in Japan, one will notice visual pollution to be prevalent in Osaka. Take the photo below as a reference.

Dotonburi, Osaka; popular tourist spot (https://www.osakastation.com/dotonbori-area-the-bright-heart-of-osaka/)

One might remark that the bustling landscape riddled with electronic signboards and advertisements plastered on every inch of the building is a sign of financial health for the city as well as a sight to behold. While this is true, this picture encapsulates the essence of visual pollution as there. On one hand, touristic individuals might value the landscape of Dotonburi but to scholars, the excessive billboards is a sign of trouble of visual pollution.

Let’s use billboards to make some analysis. In reality, billboards provide a great amount of revenue from advertising products and services, for the city. However, as the age-old saying goes: ‘moderation is key’, the amount of advertisements plastered across the urban landscape must be moderated too. Billboards are used as advertisements because they are large in size and have bright lights/colours that can attract the attention of consumers. Of course, from here we can see a link between visual pollution and light pollution. That’s right, they are all interrelated! (more emphasis on the interconnections between various urban pollutions will be shared soon!)

Too often, city planners do not factor visual pollution into consideration as it is not commonly acknowledged as a pollution and coupled with good tax revenue (e.g. Lahore, Pakistan’s billboards tax income contribute to 75% of the total annual municipal committee income), it is often not a priority. Once again, we return to the narrative of how economic pursuits takes precedence over environmental concerns.

This post has shown that visual pollution is highly complex as it can exist in cities with both low and high economic activities, thus making urban planning challenging to resolve visual pollution as an over-management or under-management, can also result in visual pollution.

Your Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

Reference:

Wakil, K., Tahir, A., Hussnain, M. Q., Waheed, A., & Nawaz, R. (2021). Mitigating urban visual pollution through a multistakeholder spatial decision support system to optimize locational potential of billboards. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 10(2), 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10020060

Greetings urban dwellers! Now that we have some understanding to what and how visual pollution can have an implication on our environment and bodies, it is crucial that we know how to tackle it. As a form of pollution itself, it is undesirable and should require some remedies to resolve it.

As discussed previously, visual pollution is an aesthetic problem which stems from either economic endeavors or the lack of attention on maintaining the city environment. However, visual pollution is a by-product and related to various existing forms of urban pollution. For instance, poor sanitation and waste disposal can accumulate onto the sidewalk of a city which becomes an ‘eyesore’ which in turn is a visual pollution. Also, the mismanagement of light in the city has been established as light pollution. As such, the exposure to excessive light can result in visual pollution as it is distracting and impairs the scenic elements of the city, thus resulting in visual pollution.

Bright lights from light pollution resulting in visual pollution (https://www.pranaair.com/blog/light-or-visual-pollution-its-effects/)

Therefore, the solution to solve visual pollution can be both simple yet complex at the same time. This is because by tackling other existing forms of pollution, it will inherently solve visual pollution as well. But the challenges of managing visual pollution lie in the respective difficulties in addressing other urban pollutions. Ultimately, the duty of managing and preventing visual pollution lie in the hands of not just municipal jurisdiction, but individual efforts to make the environment greener and return back to its former glory (before all that pesky advertisements and graffiti!).

Decisions on an individual level to reduce visual pollution include opting to take public transport instead of private vehicles to reduce congestion, dispose trash responsibly and more. These micro-actions can prove to have a macro impact when there is a collective effort from the public.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Ahmed, N., Islam, M. N., Tuba, A. S., Mahdy, M. R. C., & Sujauddin, M. (2019). Solving visual pollution with Deep Learning: A new nexus in environmental management. Journal of Environmental Management, 248, 109253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.07.024

Deepshikha. (2019, July 4). What is visual pollution (light pollution) and its effect on humans? Prana Air. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.pranaair.com/blog/light-or-visual-pollution-its-effects/

Greetings urban dwellers! This is the final post on metropollution and I thank everyone who has stuck around all through the weeks with me as I unfolded the multiplicities of urban pollution. As a recap, I have covered air pollution, land pollution, light pollution, noise pollution and visual pollution. However, it must be acknowledged that these are not the only types of pollution in our city as the list is not exhaustive.

Under most environmental studies, we must always react to change and ensure that the environment that mankind is inhabiting, has sufficient adaptive capacity such that the city does not become overwhelmed by urban pollution. There are many frameworks that can be used to investigate urban pollution. For starters, one way is using the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework. It can be used to assess and manage environmental problems through a systematic approach by looking the various stakeholders and processes related to the environmental issue. For instance, in one of my early posts on urban revenge, the DPSIR framework can be used to analyse the entire root of issue and methods that were implemented to determine get a better grasp of the situation.

DPSIR framework (https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-9167-059-6-sum/page002.html)

Another possible framework will be the social doughnut concept. This idea emphasises on the planetary boundaries which is visualised as two concentric circles: social foundation, which contributes to the basic foundation of social needs; and the ecological ceiling, when exceeded, can result in environmental concerns such as climate change. This can be used by policy makers and state planners to determine the existing position where the city is at and which aspect of social needs can be better improved on, depending on the amount of planetary boundaries that are overshot.

Social Doughnut Concept (https://www.pv-magazine.com/magazine-archive/doughnuts-are-the-new-green/)

All in all, we must realise that pollution is inherently undesirable. With economic pursuits and endeavours in the 21st century, it is close to impossible to attain pollution-free cities. Furthermore, with the interconnectedness of the pollutive natures in the various urban pollution, some forms of pollution can give rise to another pollution such as the case for light pollution which can result in visual pollution as well. With all these complexities factored into metropollution, it is definitely alarming and a call for concern as this directly affects our living environment. I posit that the reductionist thinking can be significant in addressing urban pollution, but it must be coupled with systems thinking which stems from complex adapting systems (CAS). Through individuals to states to transboundary organisations, there is more that we can do.

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Foster Complex Adaptive Systems thinking. Applying resilience thinking Foster complex adaptive systems thinking Comments. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://applyingresilience.org/en/principle-4/

Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S. R., de Vries, W., de Wit, C. A., Folke, C., Gerten, D., Heinke, J., Mace, G. M., Persson, L. M., Ramanathan, V., Reyers, B., & Sörlin, S. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855

Song, X., & Frostell, B. (2012). The DPSIR framework and a pressure-oriented water quality monitoring approach to Ecological River Restoration. Water, 4(3), 670–682. https://doi.org/10.3390/w4030670