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, …
The analysis of urban development of the past twenty years presented in this maiden edition of the World Cities Report shows, with compelling evidence, that there are new forms of collaboration and cooperation, planning, governance, finance and learning that can sustain positive change. The Report unequivocally demonstrates that the current …
This was the first country-wide citizen science activity on this scale on natural history in India. A quarter century of ornithological observations of wetland birds of Kerala come with a mixed bag of joy and despair for birders. At a time when the wetlands of the State are facing multi-pronged …
Biological treatment, composting, in particular, is a relatively simple, durable and inexpensive alternative for stabilizing and reducing biodegradable waste. Co-composting of different waste sources allows to enhance the compost nutrient value. In particular, integration of ‘biosolids’ from the sanitation sector as potential input material for co-composting would provide a solution …
A Parliementary panel has pulled up the Environment Ministry for its "poor peformance" in controlling pollution and using its fund, and recommended it to take necessary measures to ensure targets are met in the future and funds optimally utilised. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forest …
Most disaster risk assessment today is static, focusing only on understanding current risks. A paradigm shift is needed toward dynamic risk assessments, which reveal the drivers of risk and the effectiveness of policies focused on reducing risk. Global disaster risk is changing extremely fast, due to combined dynamics of hazard, …
The Brahmani river is an interstate river, which origins from Chhotanagapur plateau in Bihar and enters Odisha via Sundargarh district. The river has two principal tributaries like Sankha and Koel. But this river has eight branches. Gohira, Tikra, Singda and Nandia have developed from right banks of the river, while …
Women’s economic contribution to India’s rapid economic growth is now being recognised and supported by the Government of India through concrete policy and financial measures. In this context, the report underlines three key ideas: women are natural and easy brokers of learning around adaptation and emissions; women offer far better …
With buildings responsible for 32 percent of global energy consumption and a quarter of CO2 emissions, there is a huge, under-tapped opportunity to create more sustainable cities through building efficiency. More efficient buildings can generate economic benefits, reduce environmental impacts and improve people’s quality of life. Developed in partnership with …
More than a billion people across the world are living in cities seriously threatened by climate change. These are coastal cities, and most are already experiencing increased flooding, extreme weather and storm surges. In the run-up to the World Humanitarian Summit, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has given a timely …
The poor in cities are faced with dual challenge – that of housing shortages and of increased vulnerability to climate change impacts, given the location of their houses as well as their capacities to recover. More often than not, housing for the urban poor is not only an asset, but …
The Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) of Odisha, through its division/sub-division offices spread across the state, is the service provider for treated water supply in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of Odisha, classified as municipal corporations, municipalities and notified area councils. At present, the routine monitoring of drinking water quality …
Effective policies for spatial management, land-use planning, infrastructure investment, poverty reduction and environmental protection require accurate, relevant and real-time data on urban trends and conditions. However, urban data collection and reporting have not kept up with needs of most cities says UNESCAP in this new report. The Asia-Pacific region’s journey …
Demographic change in Asia and the Pacific is happening at a rate the world has never seen. An explosion in the working age population and a fall in birth rates that took a century in Europe are happening here in just 30 years. If countries do not start planning for …
Question raised in Lok Sabha on Conversion of City Waste into Compost Manure, 26/04/2016. The Government of India has approved a policy on promotion of City Compost. The salient features of the policy are at Annexure.
Campaign to Protect Rural England accuses councils of altering boundaries and the government of facilitating the process The number of houses planned for England’s green belt has risen to 275,000, nearly 200,000 more than four years ago, making a mockery of government pledges to protect the countryside, a report says. …
With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) now agreed, the real test of their success lies in their implementation. Over half the world's population now live in cities and by 2050 this will rise to two-thirds. Most of this growth will take place in developing countries due to rising migration from …
The report highlights the reforms required at state and local levels to implement smart cities in India. It recommends institutional, business-environment and sector-specific reforms to enhance public-private collaboration in India’s urban development programmes such as 100 smart cities and 500 AMRUT cities.
The World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan, is designed to help countries meet their Paris COP21 pledges and manage increasing climate impacts. A key focus is boosting the resilience of people and communities to climate shocks, with new efforts to expand early warning systems, climate-smart social protection, and urban …
Over the past two centuries, effective building and land use regulation have dramatically reduced incidences of urban conflagration and epidemic disease. In the developed world, such regulation has resulted in successful risk reduction and hazard response adaptation. However, disaster risk reduction strategies for low- and middle-income countries have largely ignored …
The World Economic Forum has released a new report, Inspiring Future Cities & Urban Services. The report highlights the emerging technologies and business models that are changing the way urban services are delivered and proposes a 10-step action plan to enable cities to navigate the journey of urban transformation. Cities …
