Environment and Urban Policies Urban Environmental Quality Assessment Indicators in Ponta Delgada

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1 Environment and Urban Policies Urban Environmental Quality Assessment Indicators in Ponta Delgada Ana Vanessa Pavão Nunes Rocha Instituto Superior Técnico Universidade Técnica de Lisboa Abstract This paper presents an evaluation of the urban environmental quality in Ponta Delgada based on a core set of indicators, grouped by urban components, according to Partidário (2000). In addition to this evaluation it is also presented the relation between the made assessment and the existing urban policies for the city. The evaluation was made for two different points in time, 1991 and 2006, in order to study and conclude about the evolution of environmental quality during these 15 years. This relation was based on the analysis of existing municipal plans for the city. Finally, with the results obtained, a set of improvements were proposed to be taken into account for future urban policies in Ponta Delgada. Introduction The increase of population living in cities is a reality that characterizes the world today. Europe is one of the most urbanized continents of the world. According to a report published in 2006 by the European Environment Agency (EEA), about 75% of the European population lives in cities and it is expected that by 2020 this proportion will rise to 80%. This increase is reflected in cause and consequence of urban areas becoming centers of culture, creativity and innovation, thus contributing to the development of contemporary societies. Furthermore, this implies an increase in resource consumption and consequently the raise of waste, air pollutants, noise and traffic. For these reasons it becomes increasingly important to develop studies related to urban environmental quality as well as developing plans and policies for sustainability in urban areas. However, in many cases, it remains a need to translate that quality, in order to enable the comparison of the quality between urban centers, or even to examine the evolution of the environment over time in the same urban center. This assessment is possible through a set of environmental quality indicators which are representative of the different components that define the urban environment. This paper purposes to establish an evaluation study of the environment in the urban center in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel. This study was based on a set of indicators grouped by components of the urban system, according to Partidário (2000). The evaluation was provided for two different 1

2 moments in time. The first moment reflects the urban environmental quality in 1991 and the second relates to It is also alleged to relate this evaluation with the policies and plans established for the city in order to understand the extent to which these were implemented, its effectiveness and availability and its weaknesses. The base for this assessment was the study developed in 1990 by Professor Maria do Rosário Partidário, as part of her Master Thesis, whose aim was to create a set of indicators for evaluating the urban environmental quality based on the significant aspects in the environmental conditions at any given time. Environment and Urban Policies According to an OECD (2004) study, urban environment is defined as a complex system composed by natural elements, such as water, air, soil, climate, flora and fauna and by built elements, constructed or modified by human intervention. The built environment includes the aesthetics and the historical and cultural heritage. That same study refers that urban environmental quality is influenced by several aspects, including: its geographical configuration, the scale and nature of human activities occurring in it, waste, emissions and environmental impacts generated and the authority and influence of institutions and managers. As stated in the Thematic Strategy on Urban Environment (COM 2005), urban policies consist in strategies that define the guidelines for Member States and local authorities to enable the improvement of environmental management in urban areas. The aim is to improve the urban environmental quality and to reduce the environmental impacts in urban areas (COM (2005) 718 final). These policies contain the definition of objectives, principles and the analysis of problems and proposals for actions that will further define the plans and programs that reflect these same guidance lines. Urban Environmental Quality Indicators and Indices According to Inhaber (1976) an indicator is a mathematical formulation in which a quantity measured in real space under study is compared with a scientific or arbitrary standard. In addition to the indicators as a way to express any information about a phenomenon it is also common to use indices, which are composed by a set of aggregate indicators. According to Ott (1978) indices are defined as a mathematical aggregation of a set of indicators, with one simplification process where the meaning is retained, although with loss of information. The urban environmental quality assessment can be carried out under a set of indicators and indices that represent the social, economic and environmental dimensions. In this paper, after reviewing the geographical and socio-economic background of Ponta Delgada, the urban environmental quality evaluation is carried out which begins by defining the study area, followed by components and indicators selection, data collection, indicators 2

3 calculus and finally the evaluation of urban environmental quality for 1991 and Study Case Ponta Delgada Geographical and socio-economic background The Azores Archipelago is located in the Atlantic Ocean between 36º45' and 39º43' N and 24º45' and 31º17' W. The Archipelago is composed by nine islands that are spread over approximately 66000km 2 along a track directed to NW-SE with about 600km long. (Monteiro et al, 2008) Figure 1 - Geographical framework of the Azores Archipelago The municipality of Ponta Delgada is located in the west side of São Miguel Island and has a total area of 231.9km 2. According to the 2001 Census, Ponta Delgada has a total population of inhabitants. It is the second largest county in the area and the largest in population of the Archipelago s 19 counties. Ponta Delgada is composed by a total of 24 parishes. Four of them, Santa Clara, São José, São Sebastião and São Pedro, constitute the city and downtown. Figure 2 - Municipality of Ponta Delgada The population distribution is very heterogeneous all over the Archipelago and São Miguel Island concentrates more than half of the Azorean population. For the municipality of Ponta Delgada, its population evolution over the twentieth century was similar to the Archipelago s. Between the 20 and 60 decades the county s urban area registered a significant population increase, followed by a decrease until the 80 decade, a result of tertiary sector development in the downtown. The statistics for 1991 show a trend towards an aging of the population and birth rate decrease, especially in urban parishes. This trend was confirmed in the statistics of For a particular analysis of Ponta Delgada municipality it is important to understand first the different realities within. As already mentioned, this is the largest municipality of the island and home to the largest and most important urban center in the Archipelago. This urban center is composed by 4 parishes. However, there are also a significant number of rural parishes with very different lifestyles from the ones in the city. In addition, there are 7 parishes contiguous to the urban center that form the periphery of the city and, therefore, have to 3

4 be included in the urban area of Ponta Delgada. It is important to distinguish these three realities of Ponta Delgada, in particular in the economic context in which different sectors have their relative importance according to each area. should not be counted on an environmental assessment related to an urban center because they could lead to many results that do not represent in any way the urban reality of Ponta Delgada. With that in mind, a polygon was drawn, represented in Figure 4, which covers the urban area of Ponta Delgada defined as the study area for this assessment. Figure 3 - Parishes of Ponta Delgada The 11 urban parishes of Ponta Delgada, the study subject, focus mainly on service and trade sectors where restaurants and hotels have been increased over the years. The importance of the fishery sector is also highlighted, mainly due to Ponta Delgada s Port, located in the city center. Finally, the construction and public works have been expanding in the county mainly due to housing growth in this urban area in recent years. Demarcation of the study area To define the urban area to be considered in this particular study, land use maps of Ponta Delgada were analyzed. These maps are: the one that is contained on the Urban Plan (1991) and the one that is contained on the Municipal Director Plan (2006). That analysis showed, in the area covered by the 11 urban parishes mentioned above, the existence of a large area devoted to agriculture and also some forest areas that Figure 4 - Demarcation of the study area Selection of components and their indicators The selection was made taking into account the components and factors that are relevant to the study area. Therefore, it should have the most important aspects that are in the urban context of Ponta Delgada. The components and indicators were chosen from Partidário (2000). Data collection and indicators calculus In the necessary data collection, some were taken from the 1991 and 2001 Population and Housing General Census. Another part of the data was obtained in the City Council of Ponta Delgada and some information was acquired in the Planning and Water Resources Directorate of Azores and also in Equipment and Land Transport 4

5 Directorate of Azores. The main part of the information obtained in the City Council was made available from maps in GIS format. The following table shows the results obtained, for each indicator, for 1991 and for 2006 in the study area. Indicators Noise 26. Index of noise from high speed traffic (-) 27. Percentage of motorcycles and heavy vehicles in urban traffic (%) Urban Area of Ponta Delgada Index of noise from air traffic (-) Air Quality 29. Average daily traffic (vehicles) Indicators Urban Green Structure 1. Green areas per capita (m 2 /inhab.) 2. Street trees per 100 inhabitants (trees/100inhab.) 3. Index of area occupied by green spaces (m 2 /ha) 4. Percentage of free public green spaces (%) Land Use 5. Living area per capita (m 2 /inhab.) 6. Index of effectiveness of Urban Plans (-) Urban Area of Ponta Delgada Density overall (inhab. /ha) Overall occupancy rate (-) Pedestrian index(-) Infra-structures 10. Percentage of dwellings with piped water (%) 11. Percentage of dwellings connected to public sewer (%) 12. Percentage of dwellings connected to private sewage system (%) 13. Percentage of dwellings with electricity (%) 14. Service level of the population served by WWTP (-) Built and Heritage Index of built degradation (-) Buildings classified as national monument, building of public interest or value of council, by 1000 buildings ( ) 17. Buildings with architectural value by 1000 buildings ( ) 18. Percentage of area guarded by measures to protect the built heritage (%) 19. Percentage of buildings in the area guarded by measures to protect the built heritage (%) Housing 20. Area covered by dwelling (m 2 /dwel.) 21. Density of dwellings (inhab./dwel.) Urban Solid Waste 22. Percentage of area covered by USW collection daily throughout the year (%) 23. Staff assigned to street cleaning per 1000 inhabitants (employees/ 1000inhab.) 24. Staff assigned to the collection of USW per 1000 inhabitants (employees/ 1000inhab.) 25. Density of recycling bins (recycling bins /ha) Index of area occupied by green spaces (m 2 /ha) 31. Street trees per 100 inhabitants (trees/100inhab.) Water 32. Interface of the coastline with the urban area m/ha Natural Risks 33. Percentage of urban area endangered by the sea (%) 34. Percentage of buildings in an area endangered by the sea (%) 35. Percentage of urban area threatened by the risk of landslides (%) 36. Percentage of buildings in the area threatened by the risk of landslide (%) Urban Public Transport 37. Percentage of area covered by network of UPT (%) 38. Percentage of population served by network of UPT (%) Figure 5 - Results obtained for each indicator, grouped by component The lack of reference values for each indicator makes it impossible to conclude about the urban environmental quality for one particular moment in time. However, it is possible to examine and evaluate the environmental quality evolution over the considered time period. This becomes possible by calculating the percentage variation for each indicator. The percentage can be obtained by applying to each indicator the following function: Where: (%)= x x x 100 x - Outcome indicator for 2006 x - Outcome indicator for 1991 Percentage variation between 1991 and

6 Since this evolution is represented in percentage values, all the indicators can be compared together on the same graph. Still, the analysis should not be performed isolated from the real values so unreal conclusions are not obtained. The function above cannot be applied in cases where x =0. In these cases, the evolution analysis has to be done differently. Consequently, all percentage indicators and all indices whose value is null in 1991 were analyzed separately, making an evolutionary analysis in terms of percentage points according to: =x (%) x (%) Where: x (%) - Outcome indicator for 2006 x (%) - Outcome indicator for Variation between 1991 and 2006 in percentage points The results are shown in the graphs below. In both graphs the results are green when an indicator relates to an improvement on its environmental quality between 1991 and 2006 and red when otherwise. Figure 7 - Variation between 1991 and 2006 in percentage points The results show that most indicators related environmental quality improvements between 1991 and Except for the Noise component, where the results show a decrease in environmental quality, the other components have contributed to an improvement of environmental quality during these 15 years. The worst results are mainly associated with the housing increase and the creation of new roads that contribute to more traffic and noise. However, these were necessary developments. The same results are also shown in the following graphs but in this case each component and their indicators have a color associated in order to help understanding the following analysis. Figure 6 - Percentage variation between 1991 and

7 Relation between the environmental quality assessment and the urban policies Figure 8 - Percentage variation between 1991 and 2006 Figure 9 - Variation between 1991 and 2006 in percentage points Component Urban Green Structure Land Use Infra-structures Built and Heritage Housing Urban Solid Waste Noise Air Quality Water Natural Risks Urban Public Transport Figure 10 - Legend for Figures 8 In general it appears that the urban environmental quality of Ponta Delgada is better in 2006 than in 1991, according to the components and indicators that have been evaluated. The more positive results obtained were for Urban Public Transport, Green Structure and Land Use components. The verified improvement in Land Use component appears to be quite substantial and can be explained by the development implementation of several Indicators [1,4] [5,9] [10,14] [15,19] [20,21] [22,25] [26,28] [29,31] [32] [33,36] [37,38] and 9 performance management instruments in urban areas all over the Municipality of Ponta Delgada. and territorial After the environmental quality assessment it is now intended to understand if its results are a consequence of urban policies that were adopted for the city. The aim is to explore the effectiveness of these policies as well as their outcome and their influence on urban environmental quality in Ponta Delgada. To learn about the proposals arising out of urban policies, the following documents were analyzed: Urban Plan of Ponta Delgada (1990); Municipal Director Plan of Ponta Delgada (2006); Planning Status Report of Ponta Delgada (2004). After the implementation of the Municipal Director Plan and the Urban Plan several Detailed Plans were developed for the urban area of Ponta Delgada. These relate mostly to the Industrial and Warehouse areas and, to a lesser extent, the Urban Space. It can thus be concluded that there is a considerable number of territorial management instruments for Ponta Delgada and the major concern is particularly with regard to urban and industrial areas. In general, it appears that the Municipal Plans have been quite effective because they include in their objectives and intervention areas virtually all components 7

8 and all dimensions highlighted in the evaluation. The implementation of the Municipal Director Plan was a very important measure because since then several territorial management instruments have been developed for Ponta Delgada thereby contributing in planning and environmental quality in its different aspects, for example with regard to heritage and urban green structure. However, it is noticeable that the plans still show some weaknesses and in some aspects such as infrastructure, where there s still a long way to go and improvements must continue in order to meet the objectives. Improvement Proposals Once the urban environmental quality and its evolution over a period of 15 years are known and the environmental quality is related with urban policies in Ponta Delgada it is interesting to make a few proposals for urban environmental improvement. It is believed that these proposals may be important to take into account in developing future policies and the review of the Municipal Plans. The following table shows these proposals grouped by components of the urban system. COMPONENT / PROPOSALS Urban Green Structure - preservation and maintenance of plant species and urban green spaces Land Use - control the expansion of the building (mainly housing) Heritage and Built - support initiatives for recovery and protection of built heritage - bet on energy efficient buildings Infra-structures - population connected to public sewer must be 100% in short-term - population served by wastewater treatment plant should reach 100% in the short term Natural Risks - promote studies to identify the risk areas and manage the construction in these areas Water - explore the potential of the aquatic environment for tourism and sport Urban Solid Waste - study the possibility and the advantages of a selected collection door to door Air Quality / Noise - monitor air quality in the urban area of Ponta Delgada - reduce traffic in the city - implement cycle routes, especially in the new streets that make it physically possible - prepare a noise map Noise - introduce sound barriers to reduce noise from air traffic Urban Public Transport / Air Quality / Noise - promote public transport and alternative modes of transportation (bicycle and walker) - extend the network of mini-bus for the peripheral parishes - alert population for the use of public transport Figure 11 - Proposals for urban environmental quality improvement Final Considerations As final considerations of this research some aspects can be highlighted: firstly the difficulty associated with the data collection is an important aspect that determines an evaluation of this nature. Another important issue concerns the lack of reference values for these indicators that makes it impossible to evaluate the urban environmental quality at a given moment. To overcome this difficulty, it was performed a comparative analysis of the results only to assess the evolution of environmental quality during a time period. However, the conclusions only permit 8

9 assessing whether this quality has improved or deteriorated. Still, it is thought that it was an important analysis since it allowed extracting important conclusions without any need to admit hypotheses or approaches that could distort the results and misrepresent the facts. The urban environmental quality assessment in Ponta Delgada showed a very positive evolution for the evaluated components and indicators. It was concluded that between 1991 and 2006 there was an improvement in most indicators assessed, mainly resulting of the implementation of the Municipal Plans as crucial tools for proper management and proper planning. Therefore, the analyzed Municipal Plans also have here a positive overall evaluation, either on its priorities and intervention areas or on its effectiveness of implementation of its proposals. References Câmara Municipal de Ponta Delgada Relatório de Estado do Ordenamento do Território de Ponta Delgada. Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Câmara Municipal de Ponta Delgada Revisão do Plano Director Municipal. Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, 2006 Comissão das Comunidades Europeias Estratégia Temática sobre Ambiente Urbano. Bruxelas (COM 2005, 718 final), European Environment Agency Urban Sprawl in Europe. EEA. Copenhagen, Inhaber, H Environmental Indices. John Wiley & Sons. New York, Lamas, José, et al Plano Geral de Urbanização de Ponta Delgada e Áreas Envolventes. Câmara Municipal de Ponta Delgada, Açores Monteiro, R., Furtado, S., Rocha, M., Freitas, M., Medeiros, R., Cruz, J.V O Ordenamento do Território nos Açores: Política e Instrumentos. Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e do Mar. Direcção Regional do Ordenamento do Território e Recursos Hídricos. Açores, OCDE Key Environmental Indicators. Paris. Ott, W. R Environmental Indices: Theory and Practice. Ann Arbor Science. Michigan. Partidário, Maria do Rosário Indicadores de Qualidade do Ambiente Urbano. Lisboa. 9