In this report, ESCAP explores the future of urbanization in Asia and the Pacific, focusing on the dynamic shifts in the region’s urban landscape. It highlights the region’s demographic transformations, including population ageing, and the persistent challenges of urban poverty and inequality. The analysis covers urban areas of all sizes, …
Smart city policy goals are becoming mainstream in South East Asia but lack a supply of innovative smart city business models, products and services. ESCAP is joining the movement to support the acceleration of smart innovative solutions for cities through its Smart Cities Innovation Lab project. The project builds on …
The ASEAN Sustainable Urbanisation Report aims to capture the diversity of urban contexts across ASEAN Member States, in particular the increasing importance of secondary cities and the need to fully harness their potential. It seeks to support a shared understanding of the opportunities and challenges of urbanisation and highlight common …
Rapidly expanding cities in very dry parts of the world must be turned into "green urban oases" to ensure they become both healthier places to live in and more resilient to climate change, according to this new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Rapidly …
This paper discusses impacts of urbanization on natural infrastructure in India’s 10 most populated. Urbanization today is disconnected from the natural environment causing negative outcomes, such as water scarcity, increased groundwater stress, and urban flooding. Using scientific evidence to accurately identify the correlations between urbanization, loss of natural infrastructure, and …
Better Forests, Better Cities evaluates how forests both inside and outside city boundaries benefit cities and their residents, and what actions cities can take to conserve, restore and sustainably manage those forests. This report is the first of its kind comprehensive resource on the connection between cities and forests, synthesizing …
This report provides an overview on the importance of the Informal Waste and Recovery Sector (IWRS) for ending plastic pollution. It outlines how the current negotiations towards a global instrument to end plastic pollution can leverage a just transition of the IWRS. It calls for the just transition of the …
This report shows how innovative finance solutions can bolster climate resilience in the fast-urbanizing Asia and the Pacific by helping microfinance institutions (MFIs) funnel emergency support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Explaining why MFIs struggle to support vulnerable SMEs when climate or geophysical shocks hit, it explores how disaster …
This compendium provides concrete examples of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) implemented in urban areas in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. 15 detailed case studies have been documented to assist governments at all levels as well as practitioners, NGOs, civil society and academics to plan, implement, replicate and scale NbS.
The consequences of climate change in developing countries are worsening fast: many ecosystems will shortly reach points of irreversible damage, and socio-economic costs will continue to rise. To alleviate the future impacts on populations and economies, policy makers are looking for the spaces where they can make the greatest difference. …
A new World Bank report estimates that India will need to invest $840 billion over the next 15 years—or an average of $55 billion per annum—into urban infrastructure if it is to effectively meet the needs of its fast-growing urban population. The report, titled “Financing India’s Urban Infrastructure Needs: Constraints …
This report explains how rising climate and disaster risk can increase the vulnerability of Asia and the Pacific region’s urban poor and how engendering systemic change can strengthen their resilience. It emphasizes the need to put them at the center of decision-making and for targeted actions to tackle the drivers …
Cities are at the forefront of the climate crisis. Climate risks are escalating, and climate hazards are becoming more frequent and costly. Cities account for more than 80% of the global GDP and more than half of the world’s population. The impacts of climate change are often felt disproportionally in …
By 2050, nearly 7 out of 10 people globally will live in cities and other urban settings. While urbanization, overall, is expected to reduce malaria transmission, unplanned urbanization will likely result in a malaria disease burden that is disproportionately high among the urban poor. Cities are uniquely positioned to understand …
Human well-being is quite intrinsically linked to ecosystem services and biodiversity. There is a growing amount of literature attempting to understand the mechanisms of these interlinkages. Though there is considerable progress globally with respect to human well-being, challenges still remain in terms of access to resources. On the biodiversity front, …
This is the third edition of the Ecological Threat Report (ETR), which analyses ecological threats in 228 independent states and territories. Produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the report covers over 3,638 sub-national administrative districts, or 99.99 per cent of the world's population, assessing threats relating to …
This report uses the latest data to highlight the hazards cities face from climate change – from the people affected to critical resources under threat – and demonstrates the urgent need for cities to put people at the heart of their climate action. Extreme and unprecedented weather events, severe droughts, …
Access to effective waste management services is critical in any city. Where a city’s waste management is inadequate, it has drastic effects on the environment, public health and the quality of life of urban residents. Responsibility for waste management services is often devolved to local government, making it a central …
The world is facing a series of multiple and interlinked crises; a perfect storm that is testing the limits of current development paradigms. As countries and cities across Asia and the Pacific struggle to recover from the socioeconomic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis continues to ravage …
A government of India interdisciplinary team was formed with partners from Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, Ministry of Jal Shakti and National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), international agency Innovation Centre Denmark (ICDK) and academia Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) to develop a whitepaper on urban wastewater management. …
In view of the ever-increasing progress of climate change, the importance of climate risk assessments is growing. They play a major role at the municipal level in particular (cities, districts, municipalities), because it is here that precautionary action must take place in the face of the dangers of he climate …
