Understanding the Concept of Carrying Capacity and its Relevance to Urban and Regional Planning
Journal Title: Journal of Environmental Studies - Year 2017, Vol 3, Issue 1
Abstract
The increasing urbanization and the rapidly accumulating population have caused tremendous changes on the earth’s landscape which do not only trigger off improvement in civilization and modernization, but have also progressed global challenges such as flooding, desertification, global warming, loss of bio-diversity, housing crises and hunger among others: which have not only remained a source of concern but also a herculean task for planners and other professionals in the built environment, to contend with in the 21st century. These challenges, however, denote that an overshoot of the earth’s carrying capacity has been reached [1]. And if this issue is left unattended to there is the likelihood that, far greater calamities may be engendered to make the world both inhabitable and unsustainable in the years to come. If the focus of planning is to provide a desired array of ‘quality of life’ to people now and without jeopardizing that of future generations, through physical and social designs of the human environment, it is therefore imperative to examine not only what is engineeringly, economically, socially, politically and legally acceptable, but also the degree to which physical and functional plans are tied to ecological systems for resource supplies and for residuals assimilation. The paper attempts to document the origin of carrying capacity as a concept, reviewing its dimensions as it relates to the understanding of urban and regional planning as a field of human endeavour. It argues that, recognizing and establishing the limits or capacities of urban activity system along the lines of the carrying capacities provides decision makers with a workable approach to assessing the natural and human viability of urban and regional planning proposals. The paper finally posits that, there is the need for all the stakeholders, urban analysts, professionals in the built environment who in their operations, are to inbuilt the finiteness of the earth’s capital assets into the existing and potential goals and aspirations of man in the 21st century.
Authors and Affiliations
Famutimi John Taiwo
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP246036
- DOI 10.13188/2471-4879.1000017
- Views 81
- Downloads 0
Asbestos-Related Research: First Objectivity then Conclusions
Asbestos-related risks have been extrapolated from the past, when high-dose occupational exposures were frequent. The linear no-threshold dose-response pattern has been assumed, but its applicability to low-dose asbestos...
Effect of Oil Spillage on Groundwater Quality
Investigation of the effect of oil spillage on groundwater quality was conducted using the spill-affected areas of Gokhana Local Government as the study area and the unaffected areas of Khana Local Government as the cont...
Solid Waste Management Practice in a Less Developed Urban Setting: A Case Study
This paper presents the findings of a case study that explores the existing situation of solid waste management and disposal practices in metropolitan Kano; the largest urban setting in northern Nigeria. The study was de...
Male to Female Ratio at Birth: the Role of Background Radiation vs. Other Factors
An increase in the male to female (M/F) ratio at birth supposedly under the impact of radiation exposures from nuclear testing (worldwide) and Chernobyl fallout (in Europe) has been investigated by Victor Grech, professo...
Review of Best Practice Approaches in Combatting Vulnerability to Flood Disaster Risk in Ala-River Flooding Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
Disaster of whatever nature, either caused by natural factors or by human-induced factors, can be very destructive, often time led to loss; of lives, infrastructure, economic investments such as landed properties and far...