Urban sustainable development is based on sound urban environmental planning and management. The goal of urban environmental planning and management is to improve and maintain the wellbeing of people as well as improve and or maintain the wellbeing of the ecosystem products to achieve the highest possible wellbeing of its people. Thus urban environmental planning is concerned with the whole system, defined as the people within their ecosystem. People depend on the ecosystem. People are supported more...

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UNEP, wrote on 'ideas for development' blog : « Images of the Beijing sky-line, seemingly bathed in a soup of smog and haze have been never far from the world’s TV screens over recent days and weeks. International reporters with hand-held air pollution detectors have been popping up on street corners checking the levels of soot and dust...»

This Primer is a tool for city governments in the East Asia Region to better understand how to plan for climate change impacts and impending natural disasters through sound urban planning to reduce vulnerabilities. It gives local governments information to actively engage in training, capacity building, and capital investment programs that are identified as priorities for building sustainable, resilient communities. The World Bank. (PDF, 176 pages)

Published by LGA, UK. Adapting to the changes brought about by climate change is one of the most important issues facing local government. These changes affect almost every aspect of our work: our buildings and infrastructure; our health and wellbeing; the landscape, habitat and species around us; and the goods and services we provide. There is a growing consensus that councils should be leading the national effort to tackle climate change. Recent opinion polling by the LGA has shown that over t more...

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability proudly bestowed the organization’s top climate protection award on the City of San Francisco today. The international award, part of ICLEI’s Five Milestone climate protection process, was presented to Mayor Gavin Newsom at an event where the City released updated emissions inventory data and the day after Newsom signed a landmark green building ordinance. San Francisco is one of only 13 local governments in the U.S. to receive all five climate prot more...

Year and Location: Aug 2005 –July 2007 Indonesia. Client: PBSI, Dutch Government. The objective of this two-year project is to strengthen the Urban and Regional Development Institute (URDI) as a institutional home for training, advisory services, dissemination of knowledge and research for urban management and regional development in Indonesia through: * Assisting URDI in becoming a centre of excellence in local governance and urban management capacity building; * Building capacity at URDI more...

The essays of the finalists and winners of the 2008 competition entitled 'Shaping the City of Your Dreams' are now available. Follow the link to find the practical proposals of: Pal Saptarshi from India (winner of the first prize), Mengting Wang from China (winner of the second prize), Maria Angelica Rodriguez from Colombia (winner of the third prize), Ashis Himali from Nepal, Hermann Hokou, Ivory Coast, Sara Abreu Machado from Brazil, Katarina Marsha Nugroho from Indonesia
and Jonah Obaje more...

EMBARQ's Istanbul Project Director Sibel Bulay warns Turkey's business elite that successful development will require more sustainable transportation policies. Speaking to Turkey’s business and political elite at the Turkish Business Council for Sustainable Development’s recent biennial congress, EMBARQ-Istanbul Project Director Sibel Bulay noted that 45% of Istanbul residents spend at least two hours each day commuting, drastically reducing overall efficiency in the city. Bulay warned that more...

Once known as the world’s ‘bicycle kingdom,’ China has experienced rapid urbanization leading some to declare the beginning of the end for China’s bikes. While it’s true that from 1995 to 2005, China’s bike fleet declined by 35 percent and private car ownership more than doubled, there is no evidence today that bicycles are a thing of the past on Beijing’s streets. Increased urbanization and growing diversification of transport has only meant cycling Beijing streets is becoming a g more...