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, …
This paper examines the policy options for India as it seeks to improve living conditions of the poor on a large scale and reduce the population in slums. Addressing the problem requires first a diagnosis of the market at the city level and a recognition that government interventions, rather than …
An estimated 800 million urban dwellers lack access to safe and adequate drinking water. Most of those people live in unplanned, low-income areas and slums. The vital role of groundwater for this group remains largely unexplored despite that some 50 per cent of all urban water use worldwide is attributed …
The global report Hidden cities: unmasking and overcoming health inequities in urban settings is one important component of the overall WHO and UN-HABITAT strategy to strengthen the response of the local, national and global health communities to reduce health inequities in an increasingly urbanized world. The report exposes the extent …
Urbanisation presents us with a wealth of new opportunities and huge challenges. It has the potential to further economic development and innovation, but also threatens to exacerbate key global problems, including resource depletion, climate change, and inequality. Megacities on the move sets out to find solutions to one of the …
Vinayak Chatterjee: The tale of our cities It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it …
Government of Andhra Pradesh have formulated a policy on slum-free cities in Andhra Pradesh by 2014 through comprehensive reconstruction of the existing slums in the State, both in terms of housing and infrastructure facilities, in addition to assigning property rights and tenement rights to the identified slum dwellers. It also …
A slowing of population growth, following one of the slower growth paths considered plausible by demographers at the UN, could contribute to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Vinson Kurian Changes in population growth and composition, including aging and urbanisation, could significantly affect global emissions of carbon dioxide over the next …
Substantial changes in population size, age structure, and urbanization are expected in many parts of the world this century. Although such changes can affect energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, emissions scenario analyses have either left them out or treated the min a fragmentary or overly simplified manner. We carry …
Akshaya Kumar Sahoo The State Board for Wildlife, the high-power body chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has not met even once in the last two years MASSIVE URBANISATION and industrialisation in Orissa is now taking its toll on the wildlife resources. This apart, the alleged apathy of the …
This new TEEB study showcases the economic value of forests, freshwater, soils and coral reefs & calls for wider recognition of nature’s contribution to human livelihoods, health and security by the decision-makers. The economic importance of the world's natural assets is now firmly on the political radar as a result …
This overview provides a strategic assessment of trends in the public and private use of groundwater for urban water-supply in developing cities. Is based primarily on GW-MATE field experience from World Bank-supported projects, especially in Brazil and India, and more widely in Latin America and Asia, together with preliminary information …
Why is the right to food important for the rural and urban poor? How does it help women and children? What are the obligations of States in relation to the right to food? These and other questions are answered in the Fact Sheet on
High economic growth coupled with rapid urbanization and a rising middle class have created considerable demand for housing and housing finance in South Asia. More than 14% of low-income families in the region have no home. While housing and housing finance markets have grown at a rate of 30%, it …
This publication presents a strong argument for innovating urban planning to address the contemporary challenges of rapid urbanization and poverty. It illustrates how UN-HABITAT has worked in a variety of contexts to apply urban planning and design to contribute to sustainable human settlements development, slum prevention, post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction, …
ABOUT 50 per cent of the structures in the capital Dhaka will be damaged if an earthquake with an intensity of V and VI on the Mercalli scale hits the densely-populated city, warns noted green activist Iqbal Habib. Buildings constructed in non-engineered manner constitute more than 60 per cent of …
Esther David Once upon a time, Ahmedabad had a river. Sabarmati. The city grew around her and her banks were used for various activities and religious rituals. Today, the scenario has changed. If you are atop the revolving restaurant or driving past one of the bridges, it looks more like …
