Download or read book Balanced Urban Development Options and Strategies for Liveable Cities written by Basant Maheshwari and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-08-29 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a unique synthesis of concepts and tools to examine natural resource, socio-economic, legal, policy and institutional issues that are important for managing urban growth into the future. The book will particularly help the reader to understand the current issues and challenges and develop strategies and practices to cope with future pressures of urbanisation and peri-urban land, water and energy use challenges. In particular, the book will help the reader to discover underlying principles for the planning of future cities and peri-urban regions in relation to: (i) Balanced urban development policies and institutions for future cities; (ii) Understanding the effects of land use change, population increase, and water demand on the liveability of cities; (iii) Long-term planning needs and transdisciplinary approaches to ensure the secured future for generations ahead; and (iv) Strategies to adapt the cities and land, water and energy uses for viable and liveable cities. There are growing concerns about water, food security and sustainability with increased urbanisation worldwide. For cities to be liveable and sustainable into the future there is a need to maintain the natural resource base and the ecosystem services in the peri-urban areas surrounding cities. This need is increasing under the looming spectre of global warming and climate change. This book will be of interest to policy makers, urban planners, researchers, post-graduate students in urban planning, environmental and water resources management, and managers in municipal councils.

Download or read book Balancing Environment and Development in an Area of Rapid Urban Growth written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) is an ambitious effort to balance development and environmental concerns in an area of rapid urban growth. In return for setting up a 500,000-acre conservation reserve, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game granted the county and cities in western Riverside County a 75-year "take" permit for endangered species. The take permit allows the cities and county to approve development projects outside the reserve that could negatively affect 146 sensitive plant and animal species. The plan is supposed to speed the frequently time-consuming and litigious process of permitting new highway and development projects while establishing an integrated conservation reserve rather than the patchwork of uncoordinated reserves that was so often the case in the past. The Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) acquires land for and manages the reserve. This monograph examines the value of the land needed for the reserve, the financial consequences of acquiring the land over different periods of time, and the projected costs of operating the reserve. It compares projected costs and revenues and identifies potential funding sources to fill any resulting funding gap. It also examines the prospect for achieving the MSHCP's habitat-conservation goals and whether the MSHCP has, in fact, streamlined the permitting processes. Finally, it identifies issues that the RCA Board of Directors, RCA staff, and stakeholders should address to ensure the plan's success and the ongoing economic and ecological health of the county.

Download or read book Quantitative Analysis of Resource Conflict and Urban Sustainability in Central North Carolina written by Jasraj Vinayak Gramopadhye and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The purpose of this dissertation was to devise a quantitative method to compare socioeconomic development and the associated urban growth, with the state of the natural environment. This research was developed on the premise that socioeconomic development is one of the major factors that drive urbanization and, urbanization impacts the environment. Especially when a geographic region experiences rapid urban growth, a preference for economic growth conflicts with the need to protect the quality of the natural environment in and around urban areas. This requires urban policy makers to design policies that balance the conflicting priorities. This research has developed quantitative metrics which have the potential to make it easier for policy makers and stakeholders to strike the balance between priorities for economic growth and environmental protection. And thus, help them make effective urban policies that are better suited for sustainable urban growth. This work assessed the sustainability of urban growth in fifty three counties in central North Carolina with the help of sustainability indicators. The indicators were used as the tools to quantify economic growth and the state of the natural environment. And based on their characteristics, the indicators were aggregated either into a composite index for economic growth or, an index for environmental quality. The results are expressed with the help of these indices which conveyed multivariate information in a way that experts as well as the general public can comprehend. In so doing, this research offered improvements in the procedure for selecting sustainability indicators, and in a method used to compute influence of individual indicator on the overall sustainability."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.

Download or read book Planning Development and Management of Sustainable Cities written by Tan Yigitcanlar and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of ‘sustainable urban development’ has been pushed to the forefront of policymaking and politics as the world wakes up to the impacts of climate change and the destructive effects of the Anthropocene. Climate change has emerged to be one of the biggest challenges faced by our planet today, threatening both built and natural systems with long-term consequences, which may be irreversible. While there is a vast body of literature on sustainability and sustainable urban development, there is currently limited focus on how to cohesively bring together the vital issues of the planning, development, and management of sustainable cities. Moreover, it has been widely stated that current practices and lifestyles cannot continue if we are to leave a healthy living planet to not only the next generation, but also to the generations beyond. The current global school strikes for climate action (known as Fridays for Future) evidences this. The book advocates the view that the focus needs to rest on ways in which our cities and industries can become green enough to avoid urban ecocide. This book fills a gap in the literature by bringing together issues related to the planning, development, and management of cities and focusing on a triple-bottom-line approach to sustainability.

Download or read book Green Cities written by Matthew E. Kahn and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Brookings Institution Press has just published my new book. This pdf presents the introduction of this book.Rapid urban growth and suburban sprawl have heightened concern in many quarters about sustainable development. Are economic growth and environmental health always mutually exclusive goals? Nearly everyone would choose to pursue both given the chance, but many believe that it would be overly optimistic - perhaps naive - to expect both. Green city proponents, however, do hope to realize both ambitions.What exactly is a green city? What does it mean to say that San Francisco is greener than Houston, or that Vancouver is a green city while Beijing is not? When does urban growth lower environmental quality, and when does it produce environmental gains? These are the questions that drive this smart and engaging book.In Green Cities, Matthew Kahn surveys the burgeoning economic literature on the environmental consequences of urban growth. He discusses the environmental Kuznets curve, which theorizes that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita income follows a bell-shaped curve. The heart of the book unpacks and expands this notion by tracing the environmental effects of economic growth, population growth, and suburban sprawl. Kahn considers how cities can deal with the environmental challenges produced by growth. His concluding chapter addresses the role of cities in promoting climate change and asks how cities in turn are likely to be affected by this trend.Kahn considers the evidence for and against rival perspectives throughout the book. Despite being labeled as purveyors of a dismal science, economists are often quite optimistic about the relationship between urban development and the environment. In contrast, many ecologists remain wary of the environmental consequences of free-market growth. Green Cities does not try to settle this dispute. Instead, it marshals data and arguments to convey the excitement of an ongoing debate, enabling readers to formulate well-informed opinions and priorities on this critically important issue.

Download or read book Better Not Bigger written by Eben Fodor and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 1999 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contrary to accepted wisdom, rapid urban growth can leave communities permanently scarred, deeply in debt, with unaffordable housing, a lost sense of community, and sacrificed environmental quality. In Better NOT Bigger, Fodor explodes the fundamental myth that growth is good for us and that more development will bring in more tax money, add jobs, lower housing costs, and reduce property taxes. Lively and well-illustrated, Better NOT Bigger provides insights, ideas, and tools to empower citizens to switch off their local "growth machine" by debunking the pro-growth rhetoric. Highly accessible to ordinary citizens as well as professional planners.

Download or read book Sustainable Development Goals and Indian Cities written by Ashok Kumar and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2021-12-28 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book critically examines Sustainable Development Goals and cities in developing countries with special reference to climate change, inclusion, diversity, and citizen rights in India. It discusses global issues of sustainability and climate change in the context of rapid urbanisation and focuses on the role of equitable and just processes of urban development aimed at protecting social diversity, redeeming natural environments and, pursuing economic growth geared towards improving the quality of life. The volume looks at the nature of opportunities and future challenges presented to cities and codifies ways to transcend these. It explores key themes such as mitigation of risks from heat island effects, devastating floods, and extreme weather events like droughts; improvement of air quality; compact development; reduction in urban sprawl and protection of agriculturally productive lands for long-term food security; growth of small and medium towns; protection of rural landscapes; access to basic services like water sanitation, primary education, and housing; protection of forest and green spaces for the conservation of biodiversity; renewable energy sources; enhancement of mobility through efficient public transit systems like metro systems or suburban rail; effective and equitable governance for the vulnerable; balanced regional development; inclusive human development; securing the right to the city; and climate risk and resilience. Based on new research and data presented by global experts on climate change and sustainability, this book advances multiple discourses of sustainable urbanisation by connecting social challenges such as democracy, equity, diversity, and inclusion to create an enabling environment for a better future for cities in the developing world. Lucid and topical, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of urban studies, urban planning, development studies, sociology, public policy and administration, political sociology, city studies, geography, architecture, and economics and also to professionals and NGOs.

Download or read book Balancing Environment and Development written by Lloyd S. Dixon and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2008 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) is an ambitious effort to balance development and environmental concerns in an area of rapid urban growth. In return for setting up a 500,000-acre conservation reserve, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game granted the county and cities in western Riverside County a 75-year "take" permit for endangered species. The take permit allows the cities and county to approve development projects outside the reserve that could negatively affect 146 sensitive plant and animal species. The plan is supposed to speed the frequently time-consuming and litigious process of permitting new highway and development projects while establishing an integrated conservation reserve rather than the patchwork of uncoordinated reserves that was so often the case in the past. The Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) acquires land for and manages the reserve. This monograph examines the value of the land needed for the reserve, the financial consequences of acquiring the land over different periods of time, and the projected costs of operating the reserve. It compares projected costs and revenues and identifies potential funding sources to fill any resulting funding gap. It also examines the prospect for achieving the MSHCP's habitat-conservation goals and whether the MSHCP has, in fact, streamlined the permitting processes. Finally, it identifies issues that the RCA Board of Directors, RCA staff, and stakeholders should address to ensure the plan's success and the ongoing economic and ecological health of the county

Download or read book Global Urban Growth written by Donald C. Williams Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2012-04-06 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the rapid expansion of urban areas worldwide, especially within the previous 50 years, identifying the factors that have contributed to this phenomenon and exploring its many consequences. Global Urban Growth: A Reference Handbook examines urbanization and the challenges associated with rapid urban growth and urban sprawl from a truly global perspective, rather than presenting only a limited exploration of the subject by addressing a single city, country, or region. Investigating urbanization and related policy challenges as both a general phenomenon of all modern societies and one that varies greatly in different regions of the world, the book charts different growth trajectories in these societies and varying policy responses. Significant variations in culture, historical background, economic factors, and political and social development are considered. A chapter on the United States and Canada documents how urbanization trends have occurred in North America and presents our policy approaches in comparison and contrast with the rest of the world. The author offers a balanced overview by marshaling the facts and clearly presenting both the benefits and the drawbacks for readers.

Download or read book Green Cities written by Matthew E. Kahn and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is a green city? What does it mean to say that San Francisco or Vancouver is more "green" than Houston or Beijing? When does urban growth lower environmental quality, and when does it yield environmental gains? How can cities deal with the environmental challenges posed by growth? These are the questions Matthew Kahn takes on in this smart and engaging book. Written in a lively, accessible style, Green Cities takes the reader on a tour of the extensive economic literature on the environmental consequences of urban growth. Kahn starts with an exploration of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)—the hypothesis that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita income follows a bell-shaped curve. He then analyzes several critiques of the EKC and discusses the implications of growth in urban population and surface area, as well as income. The concluding chapter addresses the role of cities in promoting climate change and asks how cities in turn are likely to be affected by this trend. As Kahn points out, although economics is known as the "dismal science," economists are often quite optimistic about the relationship between urban development and the environment. In contrast, many ecologists and environmentalists remain wary of the environmental consequences of free-market growth. Rather than try to settle this dispute, this book conveys the excitement of an ongoing debate. Green Cities does not provide easy answers complex dilemmas. It does something more important—it provides the tools readers need to analyze these issues on their own.

Download or read book Our Common Future written by and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Urbanization and Sustainability in Asia written by Brian Roberts and published by Asian Development Bank. This book was released on 2006 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book considers urbanization in Asia and presents case studies of sustainable development "best practice" from 12 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Download or read book Green Consensus and High Quality Development written by CCICED. and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book is based on the research outputs of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) in 2020. It covers major topics of Chinese and international attention regarding green development, such as climate, biodiversity, ocean, BRI, urbanization, sustainable production and consumption, technology, finance, value chain, and so on. It also looks at the progress of China's environmental and development policies,and the impacts from CCICED. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing insight for policy makers in environmental issues.

Download or read book Analysis of Urban Growth and Sprawl from Remote Sensing Data written by Basudeb Bhatta and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-03-03 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive discussion on urban growth and sprawl, and how they can be analyzed using remote sensing imageries. It compiles views of numerous researchers that help in understanding the urban growth and sprawl; their patterns, process, causes, consequences, and countermeasures; how remote sensing data and geographic information system techniques can be used in mapping, monitoring, measuring, analyzing, and simulating the urban growth and sprawl and what are the merits and demerits of available methods and models. This book will be of value for the scientists and researchers engaged in urban geographic research, especially using remote sensing imageries. This book will serve as a rigours literature review for them. Post graduate students of urban geography or urban/regional planning may refer this book as additional studies. This book may help the academicians for preparing lecture notes and delivering lectures. Industry professionals may also be benefited from the discussed methods and models along with numerous citations.

Download or read book Improving the Urban Environment written by Kenneth John Button and published by Pergamon. This book was released on 1989 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paperback. This paper is concerned with the problems of developing policies which stimulate urban economic development without causing sub-optimal damage to the environment. It is, therefore, concerned with policies which lead to sustainable urban growth. The objective is to illustrate not only that the consequences of the inadequate consideration of environmental factors in urban policy-making have harmful long-term environmental effects but also that these effects can impede the economic development of urban areas as measured more conventionally in terms of job creation and monetary incomes. Further, it is argued that, given the interactive nature of both environmental effects and the remedial policies available to tackle them, it is preferable to consider the application of a portfolio of policy measures rather than pursue a single problem/target strategy. To this latter end a dynamic approach to the long-term application of such a portfolio is explo

Download or read book Pathways to Urban Sustainability written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth in the last decade. More than half the world's population lives in urban areas, with the U.S. percentage at 80 percent. Cities have captured more than 80 percent of the globe's economic activity and offered social mobility and economic prosperity to millions by clustering creative, innovative, and educated individuals and organizations. Clustering populations, however, can compound both positive and negative conditions, with many modern urban areas experiencing growing inequality, debility, and environmental degradation. The spread and continued growth of urban areas presents a number of concerns for a sustainable future, particularly if cities cannot adequately address the rise of poverty, hunger, resource consumption, and biodiversity loss in their borders. Intended as a comparative illustration of the types of urban sustainability pathways and subsequent lessons learned existing in urban areas, this study examines specific examples that cut across geographies and scales and that feature a range of urban sustainability challenges and opportunities for collaborative learning across metropolitan regions. It focuses on nine cities across the United States and Canada (Los Angeles, CA, New York City, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Grand Rapids, MI, Flint, MI, Cedar Rapids, IA, Chattanooga, TN, and Vancouver, Canada), chosen to represent a variety of metropolitan regions, with consideration given to city size, proximity to coastal and other waterways, susceptibility to hazards, primary industry, and several other factors.

Download or read book Environmental Change and Sustainability written by Steven Silvern and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2013-05-08 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environments around the globe are undergoing human-induced change. Human population growth, rapid urbanization, expanding global economy, and the diffusion of western consumer lifestyles are placing increasing pressure on natural and social systems. Global institutions, nation-states, and local communities are seeking to identify and employ sustainable solutions to these environmental and socio-economic challenges. Sustainability has emerged as a policy discourse that seeks to balance the desire and need for economic growth with the protection of the environment, and the promotion of social and environmental justice. This book contributes to the study and search for sustainable responses to global environmental change. The authors of this volume explore environmental change in different places around the world and the diverse responses to such changes. The chapters demonstrate the need for place-specific sustainable development; the authors suggest the need to see sustainable responses to environmental change as a negotiated outcome between various social actors living and working in diverse spatial, environmental and socio-economic contexts. Environmental Change and Sustainability is a timely international examination of the relationship between environmental change and sustainability. As an InTech open source volume, current and cutting edge research methodologies and research results are quickly published for the academic policy-making communities. Dimensions of environmental change and sustainability explored in this volume include: Natural science approaches to study of environmental change Importance of perception in human understanding of environmental change Role of external events and institutions in shaping sustainable responses to environmental change Importance of bottom-up sustainable development as key to reducing environmental risk and community vulnerability The need for place-based sustainable development that combines local conditions with global processes Creation of a sustainable development model that synthesizes local, traditional knowledge of the environment and environmental management with the techniques and understandings generated by modern environmental science