Table of Content

Introduction:
Information about Montral:



Sustainable Development of Montreal
1. Introduction:
Sustainable development can mean different things to different people. For some it is wind
turbine, recycling or may be clean energy. However, it is not only about waste management,
clean energy or pollution control actually it is a mind-set of the inhabitants of country or city.
Some experts say that it is relationship among people and relationship among people and
environment. Sustainable development is more like a philosophy where people practice a
win-win scenario rather than winner takes it all scenarios. In the present world, all major
countries and their cities have addressing the issues regarding sustainable development. In
1987 UN World Commission on Environment and Development published its Our Common
Future. In this report first they mentioned about the term Sustainable Development. In the
report sustainable development defined as a way development where the need of the
current generation will be meet without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own need (Sustainableleader, 2012). Since that time it is a matter of great debate
that what is sustainable development and how this can be achieved. Al major cities have
their own way of building sustainable development. In this report the author will discuss
about the sustainable development of Montreal focusing on the sustainable development
factors and how Montreal have utilised the methods to achieve sustainable development.




2. Information about Montral:
The city of Montreal is a famous city in Canada. It is a city in the province of Quebec.
Montral is largest city in the province and the second largest city in Canada. Montreal is
known for its divers and multicultural population. According to census 2011 Montral city has
the population of 1,649,519. The main official language of Montral is French. English is also
used their as the second main language. French is spoken in around 59.6% of the total
household and English is spoken in 18.6% and other languages 19.8%. In Montral
metropolitan are 67% population speaks French at home which made it the second most
French spoken city in the world after Paris. Around 56% of the population speaks both
English and French (Statcan, 2012). Montral is one of the largest and wealthy cities in the
world. Like all other cities Montral is being concern about the environment and the future
generation. According to the city index regarding environment and sustainable development
Montral stands in number 27 position. Like all other developed countries Montral also
planning and working on sustainable development and to achieve this goal they have taken
some measures such as waste management, green transport, clear water supply and food
safety and reducing carbon emission etc.

(Source: Learnquebec.ca 2012)
3. Sustainable development:
Before discussing about the sustainable development in Montral it is important to
understand exactly what sustainable development is. According to sustainable commission
sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation in
terms of using resources, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs (Sustainable Development Commission, 2011).
In North America specially in U.S and in Canada, policy makers & planners have been giving
more emphasize to measures designed to foster sustainability development and improve the
quality of life in urban areas since the mid-1980s.Among them, the redevelopment of under-
utilized brownfield sites which has got widespread political support in the U.S & Canada
Government at all levels have in fact started implementing a wide range of innovative
policies intended to lessen the cost and risk associated with brownfield redevelopment, so
as to make it attractive and feasible. But while many communities have started to realize the
economic opportunities that derive from recycling brownfield into productive, industrial,
commercial and residential properties. The idea of sustainable development can be
interpreted in many different ways. We can say mainly it is an approach dealing with
development and at the same time the balancing the development for our society in
alignment with awareness of factors regarding economic, environmental and often social
limitations that we face as society. At the same time we have understand and admit that
development is driven by few specific needs and quite often societies and cities are eager to
meet those needs without understanding the future impacts. Over the time we have
witnessed that unplanned development process have already damaged the environment.
We have also witnessed that irresponsible measurers have caused big problems for the
environment and society. For an example, we have noticed that from large-scale financial
crises caused by irresponsible banking, to changes in global climate resulting from our
dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources. It gives us the understanding that as long
as we pursue unsustainable development, it may give us temporary solutions or temporary
success but n long run it create problems that sometimes beyond our reach to solve.
Sustainable development teaches us to plan, work and process our development within our
environmental limits. This is the central principles of sustainable development. We can see
the impact of not following this is climate change. But we also need to understand that
sustainable development is not about environment. It is also about addressing and meeting
the diverse needs of all people in the present and the future communities and societies that
includes personal wellbeing and social cohesion and inclusion.
4. Concerns related to stainable development:
At the present world all the major cities and almost all the major countries are concern about
environment. Global warming and climate change are becoming more and more dangerous.
That is why not only developed countries are concern but developing and under develop
countries are taking measures to tackle the issues. Research shows unplanned
development is one the major cause behind global warming and environmental catastrophe.
The UN and all major environmental associations and pressure group are the main concern
parties. They create pressure n the governments and in some cases the government is also
trying to establish a sustainable development and that is why they introduce new laws and
regulations so that the citizens of the present and the future can be benefitted from it. The
idea of sustainable development grew from numerous environmental movements. Over the
years environmental association were trying to make all the nations concerned about the
negative effects of unplanned development. Finally in 1992 summits such as the Earth
Summit in Rio, Brazil, were major international meetings where they were able to bring
development to the mainstream and since then slowly all major countries such as Canada,
USA and UK are involving their major cities into a practice of sustainable development.



5. Measures taken by Montral:
As mentioned before like many other developed cities Montral is also working on achieving
a sustainable development where both the present and the future society will be benefitted.
To achieve the goal Montral city council and 180 other organisations form all different
community have worked to make a plan on sustainable development. It is called Montral
Community Sustainable Development Plan 2010- 2015. The main objectives and guideline
behind this plan are as follows:
A community that will be at the heart of sustainable development. A better quality of life for
both present and future society. Increased protection of the environment to reduce the
effects of climate change Sustainable economic growth for the community and the society
but not at the cost of future generations scope (City of Montral, 2010).
According to the sustainable development plan Montral city has taken some measures to
achieve their goals. They are:

5.1. Green Economy:
There are various applications, models and keys available to each and every country in
accordance with its national circumstances and privileges to achieve and practice green
economy. Based on the context of sustainable development and to achieve sustainable
development practicing green economy is crucial. UNEP defines green economy such a way
that it is an economy that results in improved human well-being and social equity, at the
same time it ensures that it will significantly reduce environmental risks and ecological
scarcities (UNEP, 2013). In this regard, green economy is consider in the context of
sustainable development and poverty eradication as one of the important tools available for
achieving sustainable development. That could also provide options for policy making but
should not be a rigid set of rules. This definition relates economic goals of income growth
with social goals of poverty reduction. It also emphasis on employment creation means
creating jobs as well as relating those issues with environmental goals and educate people
on factors such as reducing carbon emissions and pollution, and preserving biodiversity and
ecosystems services. Green economy understands that these environmental, economic, and
social aims and goals are interlinked. They also support each other that is why taking
measures to serve one will automatically help other factors. It is also understood that green
economy is not achievable without communitys contribution. Awareness regarding this case
is rising in the U.S & Canada among many community groups and environmental
organizations that the public sector should also be taking in consideration or at least
supporting greening of brownfields because of its potentiality to enormous benefits of all
kinds. That is why to achieve the goal, Montral city council have involve 180 groups to
make the process effective and efficient.


5.2. Green Spaces:
Over the last decade, Montreal city has been particularly proactive in converting brownfield
into green spaces. The planning and parks department on that city have focused on
enhancing the green space inventory and overall quality of urban life in the city. It is
astonishing to mention that the responsibilities of the management and the redevelopment
of brownfield sites in Toronto goes to largely on private sector where the provincial and
municipal governments playing only regulatory and advisory roles(De Sousa,2001; Ontario
Ministry of the Environment, 1996). In the very beginning of the 21
st
century, the government
of Ontario made an amendment in the process of implementing brownfield legislation
(Brownfield Statute Law Amendment Act, 2001, Bill56) which keeps a scope for provisions
on cost and risk factor of the brownfield reuse.
With regard to green space, the Montreal has been described as a City in a park instead of
park in city concept. With more than 1500 parks (over 8000 ha), Torontos green space
inventory is extensive (City of Toronto, 1999). Over 12% of Torontos urban area is
comprised of green space whereas in the most of the U.S citied it is 7.7 %( Harnik, 2000).
Historically, Torontos green space is planning and development activities gained momentum
back in 1954, when the city was ravaged by Hurricane Hazel. As a consequence, the city
started acquiring flood land in an effort to protect its residents from future natural disasters
in addition to enhancing recreational opportunities and protecting the natural environment.

5.3. Waste Management:
In all big metropolitan cities managing and sorting waste is a crucial problem. Like all other
cities Montral has a similar problem. But to solve the or we may say to tackle the problem
city of Montral has come up with an idea and they call it the Montral agglomerations
Waste Management Master Plan. They have introduced the system to propose a number of
actions to citizens. They are all rooted in a vision of the environment that adheres to the
principles of sustainable development and aim to achieve the objectives of the 1998-2008
Qubec Policy on Waste Management. To minimize the amount of waste produced by each
individual, the agglomeration is asking consumers to be vigilant, and to buy and act
responsibly. It also hopes to raise citizen awareness about the environmental impact of the
waste they produce, as well as the associated costs (Waste management, 2009). For an
efficient waste management system city council of Montreal took some actions. They are as
follows:
Inform the population of the main sources of waste: in this process they will educate
people and let them know about the main sources of waste and also advise them about the
ways how to reduce waste. The report shows that city council is working with local
communities to make the understand the main sources of waste such plastic bag, wrappers
and food waste etc. and let them know how sensible use will benefit everybody in the
society.
Mobilize the population to increase participation and promote cleanliness: no program
will be successful without peoples contribution that is why they are tried to involve all the
communities and encourage them to be concern about cleanliness.
Recognize and encourage socially responsible behaviors: this action also involves the
participants of the community. Here the council will encourage all member of public to
behave sensibly by telling them not throw rubbish randomly and also encourage them to use
allocated places to dump both their domestic and industrial garbage.
Set up an environmental management system: in order to work closely with other
departments and align the waste management system with overall environment
management system.
Modify conditions for granting construction, renovation and demolition permits:
construction and renovation works are also a cause of waste in the cities. That is why in the
new law Montral city have restricted the construction work renovation and demolition
permits. And the introduced some new clause for the companies that will carry out those
works.
Promote waste reduction in industries, businesses and institutions: one of the best
ways to handle waste management is to encourage the domestic and industrial sectors to
limit its waste. To reduce waste city council has set some ideas and encourage its citizen to
follow those instructions. They have encouraged every business, local shops, big industries
and companies to dispose its waste in allocated places and use measures provided by the
council to reduce waste.

5.4. Reduce greenhouse gas emission:
Greenhouse gas emission is mainly cause by big cities as they have more vehicles running
in the street comparing to rural places. The bigger and vibrant the city the more gas
emission it cause. This has become a global problem for all the major cities. To reduce the
dangerous gas emission city have Montral has taken few steps. It understood that reducing
gas emission is a major part of sustainable development. That is why according to the
sustainable plan 2010-2015, city council took some actions and they are:
Develop and implement new plans to reduce emissions: CO2 emission is hard to control
in this technology based society. Using cars, building new factories, using technology based
products these are all parts of development but it is also cause Co2 emission that is why the
city council in Montral have taken initiatives and encourages companies to research and
come out with new plans to reduce gas emission.
Reduce automobile dependency: The major reason of co2 emission is using motor
vehicles. Like all other city Montral is also encouraging its citizens to become less depend
on motor vehicles. As an alternative they can use public transport and use other methods of
transportation for an example for a short distance walk or cycling and for long distance train.
Increase the environmental performance of the conventional fleet of vehicles:
According the plan 2010 2015 Montral city have decided to increase the level of accepted
performance of the vehicles that will be running on Montrals street. This way vehicles
owners wil be forced to check and maintain their automobiles and by that the greenhouse
gas emission will be reduced. These rules are applicable to public automobiles too.
Promote electrical transportation: To reduce gas emission in all major automobile
companies are introducing electrical cars. They are also known as hybrid cars. Montral city
council is also promoting its citizens to use electrical cars by offering incentives. Usually,
local government and cities allow consumers to have easy loan upon buying electrical cars
and also reduce their road tax and other charges.

5.5. Fresh water supply:
It is one of the main concerns of any city to provide fresh water to its citizens. But at the
same time sensible use resource is also important. That is why cities that are trying to
achieve sustainability emphasise on sensible use of water so that they need to produce less
drinking water. Montral reduced its production of drinking water by 15% by 2015, compared
to 2000. To gain this goal they have taken few measures such as reduce leaks and illicit
water consumption. By doing that city council has reduce its water waste significantly. List
water consumption levels by industry sector. It is normally understood that industrial sector
use more water or obvious reason than domestic sector. Improve efficiency of drinking
water consumption.
6. Recommendations:
For the research it is seen that Montral is doing its necessary bits to gain and maintain a
sustainable development. And it is also proved they are really keen to deal with its
environmental issues. However, city council of Montral can take some more steps too. For
an example in the research it does not show that the authority is doing anything on reducing
plastic bags which are very harmful for the environment and water sausage system. They
can introduce paper or cotton or jute bags instead. Local government can encourage people
to use reusable bags. Producing more public transport such as tram or electricity run buses
will encourage people to use public transport more and make them less dependable on
private cars. Imposing fine along with increasing awareness on waste disposal can also be
done. And at last but not least increasing budget on sustainable development programs can
make some real difference.

7. Conclusion:
Sustainable development is nothing new to the modern world and developed cities. Major
cities like Toronto, Sydney, New York and cities in Far East countries such as Singapore,
Bangkok or Beijing are the great example of sustainable development projects. For the
future generation we should keep a safe and livable environment. Progress in continuous
process and we all take benefit from it, but it is local governments duty to draw a plan of
sustainable development and it is our duty as a citizen to follow those plans so that our
future generation do need suffer for our mistakes.


8. References:
Thesustainableleader (2012). Sustainable Development. [ONLINE] Available at:
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recensement/2011/dp-
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Sustainable development comission (2011). What is sustainable development. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/what-is-sustainable-development.html.
[Last Accessed 28th February, 2014]
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http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/sec_geography/resources/
metropolises/montreal.html. [Last Accessed 2nd March, 2014]
City Council of Montreal (2009). WASTE MANAGEMENT. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/D_DURABLE_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/SU
MMARY_WASTE_MANAGEMENT_MASTER_PLAN_2010_2014.PDF. [Last Accessed 2nd
March, 2014]
CMM (2011). Waste Management Planning. [ONLINE] Available at: http://cmm.qc.ca/waste-
management-planning/. [Last Accessed 3rd March, 2014]
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/367/sustainable-development