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 World Bank yesterday signed an agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka to provide US$100 million in additional financing for the Sri Lanka Road Sector Assistance Project, the bank said.
Urban revolution: 20 new trendsetters to redifine India by 2030India is on the threshold of an urban revolution, the scale and speed of which is unprecedented. It took nearly 40 years for the urban population to rise by 230 million but it will take only half this time to add …
Non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations from across the country, representing various constituencies and theoretical approaches, collectively welcome the effort of the Planning Commission of India to make the planning process more responsive to citizens’ concerns for the 12th Five Year Plan Approach Paper. We have seized this opportunity to …
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) International Transport Forum (ITF) has published a discussion paper titled “Key Mobility Challenges in Indian Cities,” which identifies challenges in urban mobility in India under three sections: urbanization and transport; urban mobility challenges; and current policies and interventions. The first section on …
An additional 3 billion Asians could enjoy higher living standards, and the region could account for over half of global output by the middle of this century, says a ADB commissioned report. This potentially promising future for the region sometimes referred to as the "Asian Century" though plausible, is by …
Around 40 percent of Bangladesh’s population are poor people for whom a variable and unpredictable climate can critically restrict livelihood options. This is true in rural and urban areas alike, but this study focuses on the latter. Urban poverty continues to be neglected in research, policy and action for climate …
This brochure provides an overview of the likely effects of global change (population growth, climate change and related extreme precipitation and floods, urbanization, expansion of infrastructure, migration, land conversion and pollution) on water resources and the International Hydrology Programme's response to these challenges. It reflects information about the water-related impacts …
The ‘Environmental Knowledge for Disaster Risk Management (ekDRM)’ project aims at capacity development in disaster risk management by advancing environmental knowledge, particularly the use of statistics and space technology including remote sensing & GIS for decision support systems (DSS); spatial planning for Na-tech disasters within the multi-hazard framework of disaster …
Urban flooding is an increasingly important issue. Disaster statistics appear to show flood events are becoming more frequent, with medium-scale events increasing fastest. The impact of flooding is driven by a combination of natural and human-induced factors. As recent flood events in Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Australia show, floods …
The World Bank yesterday signed an agreement with the government of Sri Lanka to provide US$ 100 million in additional financing for the Road Sector Assistance Project. The additional financing is to enable the government to continue creating an efficient national road system and reduce transportation costs to maximize opportunities …
Skinny and visibly weak, 39- year-old Rajkumar Haribhajan Patil had been suffering from contractions in the chest, and feeling panicky and restless for the past five years. In January 2010, he suffered severe palpitations and was rushed to a private clinic in Warud, in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district. Doctors diagnosed him …
Rapid urbanisation of rural India is steadily pushing the common man’s aspiration levels. Increase in stress and forced lifestyle changes have offered the most conducive base for the rise and rise of hypertension, say doctors and researchers. Achieving a clear perspective on the country’s health, particularly its rural part, is …
It was once associated with the rich and urban. Today, hypertension is fast spreading in rural India. This is a cause for concern because hypertension, if not checked, can lead to heart and kidney diseases. Healthcare facilities are already poor in villages, where nearly three-fourths of Indians live. For the …
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has sold 47 trees in Pabna town beside the Dhaka-Pabna highway for Tk 55 thousand to widen the road from Gaspara to Terminal point of the district headquarter. But the actual value of the trees would be much higher as most of them are …
International meet on sustainable cities to begin today Special session on the catastrophe in Japan Stress on use of technology for governance Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 280 delegates, including 83 from abroad, are expected to deliberate on the trends in urbanisation and the challenges before local self-government institutions at a …
12th Five Year Plan (2012-13 to 2017-18) – NASSCOM Inputs. NASSCOM approach was to review of strategy challenges identified in line with their understanding of issues and imperatives. Each of these were deliberated in detail to identify, include and review any other challenge which was missing. http://12thplan.gov.in/stakeholder_sugg.php
Since SACOSAN-III, held in New Delhi in November 2008, India has continued to accord priority to sanitation at the national, state and local government levels. This has resulted in continued improvements in access to sanitation, increased attention to usage of toilets and sustenance of hygienic behaviour change, and safe conveyance …
Human actions rather than natural forces are the source of most contemporary changes in the state and flows of the biosphere. Understanding these actions and the social forces that drive them is crucial to understanding, modelling and predicting local, regional as well as global environmental change and also for managing …
Slums, informal settlements, and dilapidated inner-city tenements are problems that many cities in Asia and the Pacific struggle with while their economies try to modernize and develop. Their existence puts at risk not only these economies but also poor people occupying vulnerable areas that climate change and natural disasters will …
