24 May Are we travelling too much?
Travelling is a derived commodity. However in recent times, travel has taken a more determinant role in our lives. Rather than cities being made for people, it has been made for vehicles, but at what cost? How conscious are we of this cost?
From instagram posts to vlogs and youtube videos showing amazing landscapes, food and festivals from far off exotic locations, we all are tempted to travel. However, if this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we travel far too much which as a result has done significant harm to ourselves and our planet.
If high dense cities and limited social space is aggravating the spread of this pandemic, it is our obsessive need to travel which caused it to spread so far and wide in the first place. While the virus originated in Wuhan, China; it is the migrant workers heading home for the new year which took it to other parts of the country. The business travelers and tourists then carried it across the globe to their own countries and cities. Daily travelling to and from cities in tightly packed buses and trains by the general public then took it to each neighbourhood and community. While some of this travel is necessary, we need to question if ALL of it actually is?
With shut downs across the globe, airlines grounded and traffic non-existent, reports show that levels of air pollution are staggeringly low. Cities are quiet and the animals are returning to claim lost habitats. At this crucial time, we need to question ourselves to really think if we can and want this change for the better to continue, because although tackling pollution levels is a widely discussed topic, it took a pandemic to show the dramatic overnight changes possible if one simply has the will.
It is estimated that by 2050, more than 70% of the world population will live in cities. High dense living is an essential and a non-avoidable form of future to the human race. To preserve forests, agriculture land and other natural ecosystems while catering to the increasing demands of the human population, high-dense high-rise living is the most ideal solution. However, we need to find that perfect balance between creating sustainable neighbourhood pockets and the large network of supporting resources and services that make a city function.
According to a report by airqualitynews.com, a poll conducted for Earth Day 2020 showed that 77% of office workers believe that working from home would boost the environment while a 75% of the same poll said they spend an average of nearly an hour a day commuting to work. In Sri Lanka we know that an hour is only a one way trip for us in the Colombo traffic. A study conducted by Batagoda et al., in 2004 stated that over 60% of the total emissions in Colombo is as a direct result of vehicular emissions. This is probably as a result of the 50,000 daily vehicles crawling the streets of Colombo at a meager average speed of less than 20km/hr as found by a study done by Dias et al., in 2016.
With the current experience of over 50 days in lock-down with only essential workers on the move, how many meetings were discussed over the phone, via email and over web conferences? How many unnecessary trips to the grocery store, window shopping or traffic jams did you avoid? While travel is an essential part of our daily lives, we need to question how many non essential trips we make simply because we can, thereby playing our part in the increase of vehicular emissions, noise pollution, fossil fuel depletion and the sheer amount of wasted hours we spend staring out a windscreen.
A study conducted by Zhou, Li. Wang., in 2018 showed that when correlating the relationship between urban form against air pollution, it was found that ‘compact development reduced concentrations while sprawling development increased them’. This is as a direct result of limited vehicular movement in dense areas with all facilities and amenities within walking distance when compared to decentralized metropolitans which require vehicles to access.
Imagine a situation where we have all the basic facilities within our neighborhoods, food, good education, healthcare, public recreational spaces and housing. In such a situation, is it essential for us to flock to the center to find these same facilities? Is it possible for us to generate jobs requiring limited travel distances within these neighborhoods? If there is a possibility of making self sustained pockets a reality we may be able to reawaken our sense of community and security all while saving precious time and resources.
The Colombo Port City in its concept has taken the first step towards this by introducing mixed land use with a network of high density urban nodes supported by high quality public transport. The residential areas especially are designed to access a local bus within 200-300m walking distance and all forms of public transport within 300-400m. Especially within the Port City, the five different districts have been designed for maximum connectivity with tree lined walkways and colonnades to encourage walking and minimise the need for personal vehicles. We can only hope the reality of it is as good as the concept.
Air pollution already kills almost 7 million people a year and people with pre-existing conditions usually as a result of extended exposure to bad air quality, have a higher risk to viruses which affect the respiratory systems such as Covid-19. Even after the threat of this pandemic goes away, are we going to go back to old ways? While politicians and governments have the power to evoke large scale change, we as a community can play a part. Shop from your local grocery, use public transport where possible, carpool, minimise unnecessary meetings and use sustainable alternate modes of travel such as cycling or walking because every little bit counts. As Jane Jacobs said in the book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, ‘Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, one because, and only when, they are created by everybody.’
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