How can cities manage the challenges of growth to become more sustainable and liveable?
Evaluate strategies used to manage urban challenges and improve sustainability and liveability
A focused WACE Year 12 Geography answer on managing urban challenges. Covers transport, housing, informal settlement upgrading, green infrastructure and waste, comparing developed and developing-world responses with real examples.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
SCSA wants you to identify the main challenges cities face, describe the strategies used to manage them, and evaluate how well those strategies work in different contexts. A strong answer matches strategy to challenge and compares developed and developing-world cities.
The challenges to be managed
Growing cities face overlapping pressures: traffic congestion and air pollution, housing shortages and affordability stress, inadequate water and sanitation, waste accumulation, loss of green space, and in developing cities the spread of informal settlements. Managing these is the core task of urban planning for sustainability and liveability.
Transport strategies
Car dependence drives congestion and emissions, so transport reform is central.
- Mass transit. Rail, metro and bus rapid transit move people efficiently and cut car use.
- Transit-oriented development. Concentrating housing and jobs around stations so people can live without a car.
- Active transport. Cycling and walking infrastructure for short trips.
- Demand management. Congestion charging and parking control to discourage car use.
Housing strategies
Cities tackle housing stress through higher-density and infill development to use land efficiently, affordable and social housing programs, and inclusionary zoning that requires a share of affordable units in new projects. In developing cities, the priority is often legalising and upgrading informal settlements rather than demolishing them.
Environmental strategies
- Green infrastructure. Parks, street trees, green roofs and wetlands that cool cities, manage stormwater and support wellbeing.
- Waste and water management. Recycling, sanitation systems, and water-sensitive urban design.
- Energy and emissions. Efficiency standards, renewable energy and reduced car dependence to cut the urban carbon footprint.
Matching strategy to context
The appropriate mix differs sharply by level of development. Wealthy cities such as Perth, Melbourne and European capitals focus on consolidation, emissions reduction and quality of public space, working from a base of existing services. Developing-world megacities such as Dhaka or Lagos must prioritise basic water, sanitation, secure housing and affordable transport for fast-growing, low-income populations. A strategy that suits one context may be irrelevant or unaffordable in the other.
A balanced answer evaluates strategies rather than just listing them, judging effectiveness, cost, equity and fit to context, and noting that successful management usually integrates transport, housing and environment together rather than treating them separately.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SCSA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WACE 202112 marksEvaluate the strategies used to manage urban challenges, comparing a developed-world and a developing-world city.Show worked answer →
A 12 mark evaluation needs strategies matched to challenges and a real comparison.
Strategies. Cover transport (mass transit, transit-oriented development, demand management), housing (higher density, affordable housing, informal-settlement upgrading) and environment (green infrastructure, waste and water systems).
Comparison. Contrast contexts: a developed city such as Perth or a European capital focuses on consolidation, emissions and public-space quality from a base of existing services, while a developing megacity such as Dhaka or Lagos must prioritise basic water, sanitation, secure housing and affordable transport. Curitiba's bus rapid transit shows an affordable developing-world solution.
Evaluation. Judge effectiveness, cost, equity and fit to context, and argue that successful management integrates transport, housing and environment.
Markers reward strategies matched to challenges, a genuine comparison, and evaluation rather than a list.
WACE 20236 marksExplain why upgrading informal settlements is generally preferred to clearing them.Show worked answer →
A 6 mark response needs the comparison and the reasoning.
Clearance. Demolishing informal settlements displaces residents and rarely solves the underlying housing shortage, often pushing people into new informal areas.
Upgrading. Providing secure tenure, water, sanitation, electricity and access roads to existing settlements is more effective and humane because it builds on the communities and local economies already in place rather than destroying them, and it is usually cheaper than building entirely new housing.
Conclude that upgrading addresses the real need at lower social cost. Markers reward the contrast and the point that upgrading works with, rather than against, existing communities.