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, …
A new research report, “Low Carbon Futures in Canada: The Role of Urban Climate Change Mitigation” explores Canadian cities’ commitments to urban GHG emissions reduction efforts and outlines concrete opportunities for further action, including shifting focus beyond energy and enlisting federal support for these initiatives. The report found that Canadian …
As part of its efforts to address challenges emanating from rapid urbanization and develop a vision for future development in Rajasthan, the Government of Rajasthan has prepared an Urban Development Policy. The policy covers following sectors: Urban Transport, Urban Water Supply, Waste Water management, Storm Water Drainage, Solid Waste Management, …
This joint publication “Unpacking Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Development” is the product of a close cooperation between GIZ and UN-Habitat. Against the background of rapid urbanization, new forms of power relations between the different levels of government emerge and stronger coordination and cooperation is required. GIZ and UN-Habitat are both …
A new ACOLA report shows that Australia's cities are not sustainable and a major rethink is required. The report Delivering Sustainable Urban Mobility warns that Australia is heading down the wrong path and a new approach to urban transport is needed that prioritises people rather than one particular mode of …
Sub-Saharan Africa is at a critical point, experiencing rapid population growth, particularly in urban areas, and a young and growing workforce. At the same time, the growing risk of catastrophic global climate change threatens to weaken food production systems; increase the intensity and frequency of droughts, floods, and fires; and …
Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to show the greatest rates of urbanization over the next 50 years. Urbanization has shown a substantial impact in reducing malaria transmission due to multiple factors, including unfavourable habitats for Anopheles mosquitoes, generally healthier human populations, better access to healthcare, and higher housing standards. Statistical relationships …
CHENNAI: With water managers of an expanding Chennai struggling to meet the needs of a growing population, the State government has decided to tackle the issue with a futuristic perspective by launching a Sustainable Water Security Mission. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in a suo motu announcement in the Legislative Assembly …
The latest World Bank report on leveraging urbanisation in South Asia has identified "air pollution" as a big challenge for major cities in the region, including Delhi.While Delhi is the worst among 381 cities from developing countries, 19 of the 20 most polluted cities are from South Asia, the report …
India and her neighbors are going through a tortuous process of urbanization - slow, messy and partly hidden. This is seen in severe problems of livability and congestion, making cities unattractive for rural migrants. As a result, whatever benefits urban agglomerations could have offered in terms of economic advance are …
This guidebook on integrating climate change into city development strategies (CDS) attempts to provide a modest input into the effort of unifying two key thematic areas, Climate Change and City Development Strategies. This attempt of climate proofing city development strategies is an ongoing process and requires additional effort by governments, …
Despite progress, South Asia has failed to capitalize on urbanization says the World Bank report released this week. Instead of using increasing urbanization as a vehicle to convey prosperity to a greater number of people, the countries of the region have “difficulty in dealing with the pressures that increased urban …
Two more deaths reported in capital While the dengue epidemic continues to rage throughout the country, school-going children and those ageing between 16 to 45 years have become the easy targets to the deadly sting this time. According to the data available with the health ministry the fever has so …
Groundwater in areas falling in the northern coastal region of East Coast Road has been growing saline over the past few years. However, the stretch between Palavakkam and Muttukadu still has good quality water. This was one of the findings of a study on the groundwater aquifer along ECR taken …
Tanks are integral part of temples and devotees believe a dip in these holy waterbodies will absolve them of their sins. Urbanisation, poor maintenance, blocked inlets and outlets and lull in paddy cultivation have rendered these tanks highly polluted and unfit for human use. A study on pollution levels in …
LUSAKA, Sept 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Dorothy Zulu's dream is to have a water tap and a small vegetable garden in her home in Ngombe, one of many slums in Zambia's capital Lusaka. To get water Zulu, a mother of six, has to be at one of the dozens …
In Nairobi National Park, lions, rhinos and other animals roam just six miles (10 kilometers) from downtown Nairobi, but the carefully managed co-existence of wildlife and city life is constantly vulnerable to the pressures of urban expansion. Sometimes the threats are posed by wildlife. As a boy, this reporter attended …
Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that can cause diarrhoea. Human faeces are an important source of Cryptosporidium in surface waters. We present a model to study the impact of sanitation, urbanization and population growth on human emissions of Cryptosporidium to surface waters. We build on a global model by Hofstra …
A federal judge has upheld a decision by the U.S. government to protect Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, blocking a proposed 10-mile (16-km) gravel road linking an Aleutian Islands fishing community to an all-weather airport for medical evacuations. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell first denied the road proposal in December …
New research from the New Climate Economy finds that investing in public and low emission transport, building efficiency, and waste management in cities could generate savings with a current value of US$17 trillion by 2050. These low-carbon investments could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7 Gt CO2e per year …
Rapid urbanisation will have huge economic, social and environmental implications. This paper summarise the urbanisation dynamics of sub-Saharan Africa's largest cities using new data on population,GDP and carbon emissions up to 2030, to provide an understanding of the scale and pace of change in sub-Saharan Africa's cities and their contribution …
