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, …
Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Dr Nadeemul Haq has underlined the need to change the development paradigm from rural-based to urban-based development because a recent survey through Geographic Information System. It is revealed that urbanization in Pakistan has increased to 65 per cent. He was speaking at a discussion on …
This Compendium of Environment Statistics 2012 published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is the thirteenth edition of its series and covers five core parameters - biodiversity, atmosphere, land and soil, water and human settlements. This Compendium of Environment Statistics 2012 published by the Ministry of Statistics and …
The Worldwide Cost of Living is a bi-annual (twice yearly) Economist Intelligence Unit survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs. The …
The 10th edition of the UNEP Year Book focuses on rapid change in the Arctic and minimizing chemical risks. It also reports on the spike in rhino and elephant poaching in Africa, growing urban environmental challenges, and the accelerating momentum to tackle short-lived climate pollutants. The UN Conference on Sustainable …
Freight transport has severe negative impacts on the local air quality in many Asian cities, and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. To avoid such undesired effects and at the same time to foster economic development by assuring an efficient supply of urban agglomerations with the wide range of required …
Urbanization beyond Municipal Boundaries informs policy priorities to manage India’s urbanization. Incisive analysis of the patterns of India’s urbanization derived from geo-referencing and linking various rounds of the population and economic census highlights rapid suburbanization of people and firms around the country’s largest metropolitan areas. Such spatially detailed analysis of …
Resilience is the ability of a system, community, or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to, and recover from the impacts in a timely and efficient manner. Resilience in the context of cities translates into a new paradigm for urbanization and forms the basis for a new understanding …
With only few states utilising the money released to them under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Central government will now release money based on their performance. Earlier, the population of a city was a major criteria to receive the fund aimed at improving infrastructure, transport, drainage …
Large-scale extraction of truck loads of sand, gravel and stones from the Margalla hills have destroyed the natural breeding grounds of famous sports fish ‘Tor Putitora’. This fish has been a great natural asset of the Potohar Plateau over the ages. The Margalla Hills of River Soan has been a …
Construction of buildings in the traditional elephant migratory corridors resulting in obstruction of their path is a major factor contributing to human-elephant conflict in Coimbatore, according to G. Sivasubramanian, Assistant Manager, Western Ghats Landscape Programme, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – India. Addressing the monthly ‘Enviromeet’ organised in the …
The World Bank is looking forward to deepening cooperation with China in the fields of urbanization and climate change, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has told Xinhua during the annual World Economic Forum (WEF). Urbanization would be "very important" for the future growth of China, and the World Bank …
Pune: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said that the state government was preparing a new legislation to set rules for integrated urbanization. “Today over 50% of the population in the state lives in urban areas and more villages are merging with urban areas. Urban governance has become challenge in …
State likely to retain land ceiling Act With the auction route for land allocation unlikely to help realtors, facing acute land shortage for new development, the West Bengal government is set to bring out a new policy for land acquisition, meant specifically for land owned by private individuals or groups. …
The government has allocated Rs 6,000 million to upgrade the rural road network across the country under the Gama Neguma project this year. Ports and Highways Deputy Minister Nirmala Kothalawala told the Daily News that all village roads will be relaid with concrete as pledged in the Mahinda Chintana , …
China's stepped-up urbanization should benefit agricultural modernization, and the two will complement each other, Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday. Urbanization will promise the largest potential for domestic demand, while agricultural modernization is an essential foundation of, and crucial support for, all economic and social growth, Li said. He made …
Beijing: Public anger in China at dangerous levels of air pollution, which blanketed Beijing in acrid smog, spread on Monday as state media queried official transparency and the nation’s breakneck development. The media joined internet users in calling for a reevaluation of China’s modernization process, which has seen rapid urbanization …
Levels of greenhouse gases in China's atmosphere hit a record high in 2011 because of the rising effect of human activities, authorities have revealed. The annual China Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, released by the China Meteorological Administration on Monday, said carbon dioxide levels measured 392.2 parts per million (ppm) at Waliguan …
Indonesia should embrace its key role in climate change and extend a ban on the destruction of forests and peatlands despite opposition from the agriculture minister and the influential palm oil industry, a senior forestry ministry official said. Indonesia, home to the world's third-largest expanse of tropical forests, is under …
Global environmental changes (GEC) such as climate change (CC) and climate variability have serious impacts in the tropics, particularly in Africa. These are compounded by changes in land use/land cover, which in turn are driven mainly by economic and population growth, and urbanization. These factors create a feedback loop, which …
Hyderabad: Hyderabad is facing the threat of groundwater degradation beyond recoverable level, warn Indian researchers of a German University. A team of four researchers from the department of engineering geology and hydrogeology, RWTH Aachen University has taken up studies on the scarcity of water in the mega cities in India. …
