SWOT analysis of the urbanized area environmental component (using the example of city of Odesa)

• Main Authors: T. A. Safranov, V. Yu. Prykhodko, T. P. Shanina, К. D. Husieva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Odessa State Environmental University 2019-06-01
• Series: Український гідрометеорологічний журнал
• Subjects: urbanized area, urban environment, environmental problems, swot analysis
• Online Access: http://uhmj.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/125

Urbanized areas are characterized by a concentration of anthropogenic sources of pollution, and their functioning is a major factor of environmental change. A comprehensive environmental quality assessment, study of the city's environmental component and its impact on the living conditions enable directing the environmental situation management in such a way that allows achieving the optimum possible state of the urbanized areas' natural component. Odesa is a large multifunctional city with extremely diverse anthropogenic impact. This leads to the formation of unfavorable environmental situation. The work is aimed at providing a SWOT analysis of the environmental component of city of Odesa. To achieve this goal, we analyzed the main natural and anthropogenic factors that affect the formation of the ecological situation within the territory of Odesa. The SWOT analysis consists in identifying the Strengths (S) and Weaknesses (W) of the internal environment of the object under research, the Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) of the external environment and establishing the link between them. When speaking about urban systems, the Strengths are different environmentally positive situations, capabilities and properties of the city. The Weaknesses include the existing environmental problems. The Opportunities of the external environment include natural potential of surrounding territories, as well as environmentally positive socio-economic conditions of regional and national levels. The Threats of the external environment include factors that are able to cause harm to the city environment and may cause deterioration of the environmental situation therein. The paper analyzes the existing environmental problems such as a high level of air basin pollution by emissions from mobile and stationary pollution sources, marine environment pollution by pollutants present in sewage and other return waters, surface runoff originating in the city; poor state of water supply and sewage networks; insufficient quality of drinking water from surface and underground water sources; soil contamination by heavy metals, oil products and other pollutants; insufficient landscape gardening of certain city areas and unsatisfactory state of green plantations therein; formation of technogenic groundwater and flooding of the large part of the city's territory; development of dangerous exogenous geological processes; presence of acoustic and electromagnetic pollution sources; poor management and treatment of industrial and consumption waste; presence of environmentally hazardous industrial facilities; unsatisfactory health status of urban  inhabitants; low level of environmental culture among citizens. Based on the analysis of internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) factors, a set of measures to improve the environmental situation in Odesa is offered.