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General Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2020

By
Claudia R. Binder ,
Romano Wyss  and
Emanuele Massaro
Edited by
Claudia R. Binder ,
Romano Wyss  and
Emanuele Massaro
Claudia R. Binder
Affiliation:
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Romano Wyss
Affiliation:
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Emanuele Massaro
Affiliation:
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
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Summary

The sustainability of urban systems is a pressing topic now, and will be even more so in the future. Currently, more that 50 percent of the world’s population (74 percent in the EU) lives in cities, and this share is expected to keep increasing, posing new challenges for sustainable development. Although cities only cover 3 percent of the earth’s surface, they account for 75 percent of global CO2 emissions, and consume about 75 percent of resources and produce 50 percent of the waste worldwide. However, cities also provide income (80 percent of global GDP) and education, and are hotspots for innovation (Acuto & Panel 2016; Wigginton, et al., 2016). The ambiguous role of cities poses large challenges and renders it necessary to develop tools to assess urban strategies and developments from a sustainability perspective.

Type
Chapter
Information
Sustainability Assessment of Urban Systems , pp. 1 - 4
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

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Wigginton, N. S., Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink, J., Wible, B., & Malakoff, D. (2016). Cities are the future. Science, 352(6288), 904–905. DOI:10.1126/science.352.6288.904.Google Scholar

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