Environmental Systems and Societies · Topic 8: Human populations and urban systems
ES8.2 — Urban systems and urban planning
Environmental Systems and Societies · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes
Urban ecosystems and the urban system
Urban areas as ecosystems with biotic and abiotic components, what defines an urban area against a rural one, and the urban area as an interconnected system.
Urbanization, suburbanization and their impacts
Rural-to-urban migration and its push-pull drivers, suburbanization and urban sprawl, and the environmental changes urban expansion brings.
Urban planning and sustainability
The purpose of urban planning for all stakeholders, and the factors and named examples of sustainable urban planning.
Ecological urban planning
A holistic approach treating the urban system as an ecosystem, across five categories from urban ecology to regenerative architecture.
HL: Compactness, mixed use and social mix
The principles of compact, mixed-use, socially mixed cities, their sustainable advantages, and green-space access as environmental justice.
HL: Circular economy, doughnut models and green architecture
Circular economy and doughnut economics models applied to cities, and green architecture using environmentally friendly materials and practices.