Development of sustainable living environment in the cities through the bioeconomy
2016
Popluga, D., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia) | Feldmane, L., University of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)
Around three quarter or 72.4 % of the European Union’s population live in urban areas, and this share continues to grow; thus, towns and cities are the centres of economic activity and social life. At the same time, the constant increase of population, a lack of strategic planning and poor environment management cause a lot of problems for the living environment and life quality. Such situation analysis initiated this study which is of theoretical nature and aims to provide the knowledge base for development of sustainable living environment in the cities through the bioeconomy. The aim of the study was to explore the living environment from the sustainability perspective and to describe the key areas of life where bioeconomy can facilitate development of sustainable living environment in the cities. In this research, suitable qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied. The research finds out that most of the European cities have common environmental problems, with most worrying issues being air pollution and water pollution. Therefore, providing qualitative and sustainable living environment in urban areas has become an important issue. In this study, the authors have explained concept of sustainable living environment, which focuses on the following: good state of environment, biodiversity and well-functioning ecosystem services, housing conditions that promote wellbeing, low carbon and energy efficient solutions, sustainable use of natural resources. It were concluded that this concept could be met through the development of bioeconomy.
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