Special Report
Urban Environment: Challenges to Sustainability
From small towns to megacities of more than 10 million people, the developing world is irreversibly urbanizing. As rural migration into cities escalates, municipal infrastructures are struggling to find efficient, less polluting ways to meet the water, sanitation, transportation and power demands of its residents.
By 2030 60 percent of the world’s population is projected to live in settlements larger than 2,500 people.
It is urgent to consider now the kinds of cities in which we want to live, and the critical issues that affect them; from air pollution and lack of clean water, to adequate financing and effective civic engagement, urban sustainability presents a host of challenges and opportunities.
Two major international events underscore how closely interrelated urban development is with the environment. World Environment Day on June 5 brings to the forefront urban challenges with air pollution, lack of clean water, and energy shortages.
The World Urban Forum3 (WUF3), an international meeting held biannually by UN Habitat, brings together urban experts in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from June 18-23, 2006 to discuss critical issues for urban sustainability, such as municipal financing and effective civic engagement. This Special Report assembles our own roster of experts to discuss these issues.
Posted June 5 2006
Urban Environment Report
