At the dawn of the third millennium, planet Earth entered a zone of turbulence. The 2008
crisis added economic uncertainty to the threat of global warming and extreme events such …

The character of the city has been changing for as long as people have been urban
dwellers. Its diverse functions have included marketplace, theatrical stage, place of …

Interest in the sustainable city is growing around the world and with it come important
questions about governing sustainable urban development. Why are there blockages to …

Over the last two decades, demographic and economic changes have propelled cities and
urban centres to become the principal habitat of humankind. Cities are not only where rapid …

The size of modern cities, too, in terms of numbers as well as physical scale, is
unprecedented: in 1800 there was only one city with a million people–London. In the 19th …

This book examines the sustainability of cities and regions and concludes that currently
sustainability is not achievable. By identifying how cities and regions in the past have …

Human capital development, attractions of sustainable living standards and renewed
concerns for the planet have redirected city planners to a new frontier: the creation of …

This paper presents a concepualisation of the research and practice challenges facing those
of us working towards sustainable cities. I argue that these challenges are quite fundamental …

Cities are the most dramatic manifestations of human activities on the surface of the earth.
These human-dominated organisms—ie, cities—degrade natural habitats, simplify species …

Our current pattern of urban growth is simply unsustainable from any perspective. This
chapter is a discussion of possible sustainable pathways for our cities and regions. We can …