City is the symbol of human civilization and the center of people’s economic, political and social life. Urbanization is an inevitable process of human progress and an important clue in the transformation of human social structure. It marks the realization of the goal of modernization. Only after the baptism of urbanization, mankind can step into a more brilliant era. Today, more than half the world’s people live in cities. In the estimation of the United Nations, nearly 5 billion people will live in cities by 2030.
However, it is far from enough to exclaim and praise the abundant fruits brought by urbanization. The process of urbanization is not necessarily a wonderful music. Like many progress, the process of urbanization is also mixed with many discordant sounds. Nowadays, cities account for more than 70 per cent of global carbon emissions and consume 60-80 per cent of energy. Rapid urbanization poses additional challenges, such as social inequality, traffic congestion and water pollution and related health problems.
Source: http://emmelynchua.blogspot.com/2014/06/week-10-poetics-in-extreme-contexts.html
It is of great significance to correctly understand the impact of urbanization and take necessary measures to solve it. Through proper urban planning and management, urban spaces around the world can become not only inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, but also a dynamic hub for business and innovation.
Source: http://www.sohu.com/a/286823030_716486
Sustainable cities and communities can be divided into four different aspects:
- Resource: Urban sustainable development is a process in which a city continuously pursues its inherent natural potential. The aim is to build a green garden city based on survival capacity. In order to achieve sustainable development, cities must make rational use of their own resources, seek a friendly use process, and pay attention to the use efficiency, not only for the sake of the present, but also for the sake of future generations.
- Environment: Sustainable urban development is a process in which the public should constantly strive to improve the natural and cultural environment of their own communities and regions and contribute to global sustainable development. It is a duty and an obligation to leave these environmental problems to future generations or to a larger scale, or even to the world, and from that it means responsible cities.
- Economy: Urban sustainable development refers to the coordination of urban system structure and functions in the process of global sustainable development. The world health organization (WHO) proposes that sustainable urban development should evolve toward a more efficient, stable and innovative urban economy with minimal use of resources. Cities should give full play to their potential, constantly pursue high quantity and high quality socio-economic population and technological output, and maintain their own stability and consolidate their position and role in the urban system for a long time. For most cities, especially the third world cities, only by increasing the efficiency of production and the output of material products can the vitality of the city be preserved forever.
- Society: In social aspect, sustainable urban development should pursue a city where human exchanges, information transmission and culture have been greatly developed, marked by vitality, stability and fairness, without crimes. The social characteristics of sustainable cities include two aspects: A. sustainable cities are living cities, which should give full play to their ecological potential to serve healthy cities. They should not only consider the city as a whole, but also adapt different environments to the needs of different ages and lifestyles in the city. B. the sustainable city is participating city, all the people can actively participate in discussion of cities and urban decision-making.
Therefore, there are six basic standards for us to observe in the construction of sustainable cities and communities:
- Reducing water and air pollution and reducing the generation and emission of destructive gases.
- Reducing energy and water consumption.
- Encouraging the protection of biological and other natural resources.
- Encourage individuals to assume ecological responsibilities as consumers.
- Encourage industry and commerce to adopt eco-friendly technologies and develop and sell eco-friendly products.
- Encourage the reduction of unnecessary urban traffic and provide necessary public facilities.
Yue_yue 
Sustainability is more important than any other issues because it concerns everyone, especially those living in cities. Through your blog, I realized how polluted the city is now. You divide sustainable city and community into four aspects: resource, environment, economy and society. Only by working together from these four aspects can we achieve sustainable development. The six basic standards you summarized are also very practical, and I will follow them to do my best.
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I live in a small city in southern China and have also been to a big city like Shanghai and Beijing. I like the lively and convenient city life, but urbanization does bring some problems, such as traffic congestion, high carbon emissions, environmental pollution and so on. So it is important that we build sustainable cities and communities. Through your article, I know what Sustainable cities and communities look like and how to build them. I really hope that China’s urbanization will become better and better.
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The three pictures are interesting. The first one shows the scene of modern city, just like you described, “brilliant”. The second one shows the pollution vividly. And the third one shows the ideal sustainable city. They help explain your analysis really well. I should learn from you about designing and using pictures.
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Your article gives me a better understanding of sustainable cities and communities. In the process of urbanization, it is inevitable to cause the damage in resources and environment. Studying how to reduce the damage and establish a city based on the surrounding environment is really worthwhile for our society. It is a global issue that needs to research.
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We are attracted by the development of technology and our cities have benifit much from it. But the problem of
resource and pollution also increases. We should focus on it parallel with developing our technology and should not realize it after we already destroy the enviroment.
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