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, …
Urban biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services have been ignored and undervalued because ecologists have focused only on pristine habitats and rare species. However, with rapid urbanisation the challenge is to build the native biodiversity within the urban landscape. This could be done by involving multiple stakeholders like the local …
The carbon cycle is closely linked to the climate system and is influenced by the growing human population and associated demands for resources, especially for fossil-fuel energy and land. The rate of change in atmospheric CO2 reflects the balance between carbon emissions from human activities and the dynamics of a …
Human-induced climate change, in conjunction with environmental degradation, will have unavoidable effects on cities. UN-Habitat estimates that 70% of the world
The urbanisation of the state has thrown up a number of challenges. The re-distribution of political power away from the villages, the migration of large numbers of people to cities (including from other states), the changing nature of the new economy, the threats to the environment and the character of …
Climate change greatly increases the risk that the most basic rights of children in poor countries will not be met. These children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global warming and yet least to blame. Save the Children
M G Devasahayam Seawater desalination finds no mention in the Chennai Second Master Plan. Desalination plants are energy guzzlers and their cost of production would be high. Yet, the government is aggressively pursuing these projects CHENNAI Second Master Plan's (SMP) mission statement on water reads thus: "Provision of water supply …
Subhash Chandra N S, Bangalore, Oct 12, DHNS: Things are hotting up in the City. Several parts of Bangalore are witnessing an increase in the land surface temperature (LST) by as much as two degrees Celcius over the past few years, a study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) …
Urban studies of late obviously aim at environmental issues. As a matter of fact there is a thrust on the impact of unplanned urbanization on city environment. Admittedly major urban areas in Bangladesh are the seats of the forces of civilization. Dhaka is the capital as well as district and …
Planning Sustainable Cities reviews recent urban planning practices and approaches, discusses constraints and conflicts existing, and identifies innovative approaches that are more responsive to current challenges of urbanization. It notes that traditional approaches to urban planning (particularly in developing countries) have largely failed to promote equitable, efficient and sustainable human …
The Energy Outlook for Asia and the Pacific (Energy Outlook) aims to estimate, for each of the regional members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the future demand for energy, supply options to 2030 for a business-as-usual scenario, investment requirements for meeting this demand, and the resulting CO2 emissions potential …
Planning Sustainable Cities reviews recent urban planning practices and approaches, discusses constraints and conflicts therein, and identifies innovative approaches that are more responsive to current challenges of urbanization. It notes that traditional approaches to urban planning (particularly in developing countries) have largely failed to promote equitable, efficient and sustainable human …
This paper considers the implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change. It emphasizes that it is not the growth in (urban or rural) populations that drives the growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but rather, the growth in consumers and in their levels of consumption. A significant proportion …
THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE SEA by O P Sharma, Oxford University Press, Rs 795 The law of the sea has undergone more changes in the last 60 years than in the past 100. This book deals with some of the changes. The author analyzes concepts like ocean governance, the …
Many of the world's largest deltas are densely populated and heavily farmed. Yet many of their inhabitants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to flooding and conversions of their land to open ocean. The vulnerability is a result of sediment compaction from the removal of oil, gas and water from the delta's …
Bhuj: Semi-arid landscape around Bhuj and adjoining towns is well on its way to metamorphosing into a land with high-rises vying for space in the sky, five years down the line. Real estate developers aim to design the land on the lines of Sharjah, market sources said. However, while this …
