Public debate on Cross-thinking about sustainability: Sustainable cities -what Europe can learn from Asia

Beschrijving

Cross-thinking about sustainability is a series of debates organised by IHDP-IT together with KSI, Felix Meritis Foundation, Trouw and HIVOS. This debate is about sustainable cities with Peter Marcotullio (UNU and Tokyo University).

In 2007 the world is passing the point where more than half of its population is living in cities. This is often portrayed as a threat to sustainable development. Cities (and particularly cities in the developing world) are seen as dirty, overcrowded and dangerous places, with huge concentrations of consumption and transportation and alienation from nature. While such concerns are not inappropriate, these growing urban places are also the seedbeds of new and innovative solutions. Especially in rapidly developing regions, such as East and Southeast Asia, we are witnessing glimmers of hope for the future. To be sure, structural changes in the speed, timing and emergence of environmental burdens often lead to increasing chaos and concentrations of problems for both ecosystems and human health. But simultaneously, we see that those living in the cities of the developing world are doing so with lower environmental impact than we, their counterparts in the developed world, manage to do. Moreover, the whirlwind of current rapid urban development in lower income economies also appears to offer the potential for novel solutions. Although technological innovations often come from the developed world, many Asian cities are experimenting with their implementation.

Periode	7 mrt. 2007
Evenementstype	Andere
Locatie	Amsterdam, NederlandToon op kaart
Mate van erkenning	Nationaal