The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The cities of 2030, 2050 and 2100 will be very different from today. They will be cities transformed in their demographic composition, in their implementation of technology and in their wider ecological contexts. The challenges of building cities sustainable enough to meet the chang ing needs of the future will …
This publication explores global urban development trends and proposes policy solutions for cities in developing and emerging economies to become centers of green and inclusive growth. Urbanization is creating new opportunities to stimulate innovation, boost economic development, and transform human well-being. Across the world, cities are looking to evolve from …
Despite its small population and land area, Bhutan is among the most rapidly urbanizing countries in South Asia. While this urbanization parallels robust economic growth and the expansion of job and investment opportunities in cities, there remain challenges to fully leveraging the potential of urban areas. Bhutan has made impressive …
Today 60 percent of Moroccans reside in urban areas, as opposed to 35 percent in 1970. By 2050, nearly three-quarters of the country’s population will be living in cities. Along with the concentration of people, urbanization will lead to the increasing concentration of economic activities in cities, which today are …
Over the past decade, China has built 25,000 km of dedicated high-speed railway—more than the rest of the world combined. China’s High-Speed Rail Development examines the Chinese experience to draw lessons for countries considering investing in high-speed rail. The report scrutinizes the planning and delivery mechanisms that enabled the rapid …
Urbanization in Myanmar is still in an early phase with slightly less than one-third of the population living in cities. This presents an enormous opportunity for the country. Cities are engines of growth and prosperity, which facilitate industries to grow jobs, services and innovations. Cities are also fundamental to lifting …
Cities are drivers and victims of climate change. Risks to climate change and induced disasters vary spatially and across a region's demographic spectrum. Building resilience to the changing climate requires exhaustive analysis of climate risks, their magnitude and implications along with a multiplier effect they have over each other and …
Cities are drivers and victims of climate change. Risks to climate change and induced disasters vary spatially and across a region's demographic spectrum. Building resilience to the changing climate requires exhaustive analysis of climate risks, their magnitude and implications along with a multiplier effect they have over each other and …
This report – “Asia-Pacific landscape transformations – Solutions for sustainability” – was motivated by the stark and rapid changes in landscapes that can be observed across the region and their consequences. It was also motivated by a lack of appropriate visions of sustainable landscapes in policy and decision-making, and the …
The Urban Transitions Alliance was built on the premise that by connecting industrial legacy cities from the US, Europe and China through their transition stories and visions of sustainable urban development, common challenges and transition pathways would emerge. The Alliance was designed to provide the infrastructure and support to advance …
This paper examines the concept of urban clusters and explores its application in South Asia. Drawing lessons from international case studies, it highlights the advantages of clustered urbanization. It identifies developments around core cities Delhi, Dhaka, and Mumbai as mature clusters; and Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Colombo, Kathmandu, and Pune as …
This paper makes the case for a coordinated or systems approach to urban finance. Traditional approaches to urban finance have often focused on actions that cities can take, such as issuing municipal bonds or securing a good credit rating. Much of the recent literature emphasizes mechanisms such as debt financing, …
This paper offers lessons from the cities of Kampala and Jinja in Uganda, where solar street lighting has proven cheaper to build and operate than conventional street lights. It has also generated a range of economic and social benefits, including lower crime rates, better road safety, a more vibrant night-time …
This paper explores the wealth of options available to national transport policy-makers who wish to support more compact and connected urban development, and provides clear inputs on how to prioritise, broadening the focus from facilitating movement, to achieving true accessibility. It outlines different types of transport policy instruments and governance …
The economy of Delhi is estimated to have grown at 8.61 per cent in 2018-19, according to the Economic Survey Report tabled in the Assembly. The advance estimate of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of Delhi at current prices during 2018-19 is likely to attain the level of Rs …
This paper surveys the recent literature exploring the causes of urban pollution in the developing world and the implications of such pollution for a city's competitiveness. Within a system of cities, cities compete for jobs and people. Those cities that specialize in heavy industrial activity will gain from a manufacturing …
Urban areas are expected to triple in size between 2000 and 2030. Unmanaged urban expansion increases the costs of service provision, deepens spatial inequities, and imposes heavy economic and environmental burdens. New analysis on 499 cities’ urban expansion confirm the challenge of rapid outward expansion are greatest in lower-income cities. …
This Atlas summarizes recent advances in interdisciplinary approaches and research to address the different components of West African urban food systems, including urban and peri-urban agriculture. It thereby draws on the results of several major collaborative research projects and stakeholder consultations conducted in West Africa over the past two decades, …
India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world and urbanisation is both a challenge and an opportunity for India with huge implications for the rest of the world. One critical concern for India’s urbanising future is the provision of basic urban services for all its citizens. Using …
The State of Sri Lankan Cities 2018 presents the first comprehensive assessment of Sri Lanka’s recent urban development. The Report is a key output of the State of Sri Lankan Cities Project. It outlines a vision of a better urban future for all Sri Lankans, drawing on the UN’s Sustainable …
