Corporate Social Responsibility - example of a specific organization Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility - example of a specific organization that is building the future urban configuration of cities - Essay Example In Australia, air pollution costs are already very high. Human costs of health are estimated are approximately A$3 billion to A$5.3 billion each year with annual damages to materials, buildings, and property at between 3 and 5 billion Australian dollars, which is 1% of GDP (Ercoskun, 2012: p33). The biggest cause of pollution in the country is cars. Since most people in Australia do not use public transport and are reliant on their cars for transport, the country is among the highest polluter, per capita, in the world. Urban designs have a powerful impact on the quality of air, as well as exposing the population to pollutants. This results in most cities becoming unsustainable, both environmentally and economically. As pollution increases, living in these cities become worse. Most people in Australia have accepted driving to work over long distances and urban sprawl as a way of life. However, this may change because of the threat to supply of oil and increase in its price, enhancemen t of the greenhouse effect, and threat to their health because of poor quality of air (Gibson, 2011: p51). CSIRO has examined various alternatives in the evaluation of their capacity to reduce atmospheric pollution like emissions of greenhouse gases and energy consumption. In the past, similar inquiries have had their basis on subjective assessments concerning city planning and its impact on energy consumption and air quality. However, the magnitude order between various types of city structure has not undergone evaluation in many places, in the world. Integrated air-shed models, transport emissions, and land use that use advanced urban design software and spatial planning assisted researchers in the exploration of the effects that alternative transport, workplace, and residential structures could have on consumption of energy and urban air quality to 2011 (Gibson, 2011: p52). CSIRO examined six alternative future urban scenarios. The first was business as usual with extrapolation o f the current patterns to the future, which are dispersed, low density, and laissez faire. The second alternative was edge city with increased housing densities, population, and employment at elected nodes in the city, as well as increased investment that link edge cities via orbital freeways (Gibson, 2011: p55). The third alternative was corridor cities that focus on linear corridor growth that start from the CBD with support from upgraded public infrastructure. Fringe cities are the fourth alternative that involves additional growth that predominates on the city fringes. Finally, ultra cities involve additional growth that is predominant in provincial cities that lie within 100 km of the capital and are linked via high-speed trains. These urban configurations were applied by CSIRO to Melbourne City based on increased populations from 2.5 to 3.0 million by the year 2013 (Gibson, 2011: p56). Key assumptions in this included increment of residential density, a full uptake of controls of vehicle emissions, a varying ratio concerning private and public transport, and an increase in telecommuting, in specific industries. The results were dramatic in how they impact on quality of urban air. There are several worst-case scenarios identified by CSIRO. Photochemical smog can possibly decrease by 55%