After reading the articles, I find the negative effects on the environment due to urbanization most concerning. Since Asian countries in past decades have been so focused on economic growth they have paid insufficient attention to the state of the environment and the effects that such large-scale urbanization have on it. This phenomenon is called the “brown agenda” (Dahiya 2012) and has a number of different components, which pose a threat to the health of the people and well-being of the earth. The biggest issues which have arisen are air quality, water supply, sanitation and waste water management, solid waste management, threats to urban biospheres (loss of vegetation, biodiversity and changes in micro-climates) and climate change. Climate change is especially threatening to the environment as compared to the other issues.In addition, Asian cities are especially vulnerable to threats caused by climate change (such as droughts, floods, cyclones etc) because of their size, geographical location and elevation (Dahiya 2012).
I imagine these issues will be very apparent in Ho Chi Minh City. One of the largest contributors to green house gases in Asian cities is transportation and with motorbikes, trucks and cars dominating the streets and polluting the air this is one aspect that will be very apparent as soon as you step outside. The issue of clean water supply will also be very apparent since we will have to be very conscious of avoiding the tap water because it has bacteria that are not present in our drinking water. Sanitation and waste management will also be an obvious issue when inadequate sewage systems cause there to be waste in the streets.
Threats to urban biospheres and climate change are larger scale issues rather than day-to-day hazards, which I believe will be very apparent in the city but perhaps not to many citizens because it does not directly affect them. The threat to urban biospheres will be very obvious just by urbanization of the land itself, such as paved roads, lots of buildings and very little vegetation. I am interested to observe this issue in areas, which are in more transitional states of urbanization on our trip to Hanoi. In these places I believe the threats will be more apparent with more vegetation in the process of being removed to make way for urbanization. I believe this is such an important issue that it will be very obvious all around us and we need only be in the city to observe and learn about the effects, but I am especially interested in the citizens’ opinions on the matter and to what extent they are aware of it. I will observe and learn about this by looking for efforts being made to improve conditions around the city. Lastly, I hope we won’t have to observe any natural disasters caused by climate change!