The Trade-offs Between Environmental and Economic Objectives in the Urban Context

In recent decades it has become clear that increasingly accelerated urbanization globally, coupled with increased consumption of natural resources and pollution dramatically alter the ecological context in which cities are struggling to provide long-term social, economic and environmental sustainability. Given that urban areas are densely populated and are among the most polluted ecological environments, it can be concluded that the highest percentage of diseases caused by environmental hazards are in urban areas. Among the biggest challenges in urban areas is the public health, which is one of the most important demographic and social parameters. Urban population, despite facing increasingly great social and economic inequality, confronts also daily exposure to health hazards becoming a victim of significantly worsened living conditions that directly affect its health, mortality and productivity. Urbanization is often accompanied by increased air pollution, which causes significant mortality rate due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The consequences of these diseases are particularly existent among disadvantaged groups, economically weak countries, and developing countries. Almost 80% of the current deaths due to these diseases occur in low and middle-income countries, or where environmental regulation is weak or non-existent .

The implementation of national and local policies for urban sustainable development in order to create sustainable cities becomes a priority in the world as a whole. The international community is more often emphasizing that dealing with the issues of environmental sustainability should not be happening exclusively at the international level, on the contrary, these political decisions should be...

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...lity of the city.

Skopje has the potential to develop from a capital of social divisions and enormous pollution into a center of ancient and modern culture of innovation and new ideas aimed at sustainability. It is one of the main roles of the local authorities to generate environmental services that all citizens equally depend on, especially taking into account their health and access to resources. A strong argument is that greater community participation as well as a higher accountability and transparency from planners and authorities is necessary to cultivate the available potentials of the city in order to realize various goals for sustainable development set by Rio +20.

Works Cited

Kemp, R., Parto, S. and Gibson, R.B. (2005) “Governance for sustainable development: moving from theory to practice”, Int. J. Sustainable Development, Vol. 8, Nos. 1/2, pp.12–30.