Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:53:31.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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
Get access

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acuto, M., & Parnell, S. (2016). Leave no city behind. Science, 352(6288), 873. DOI:10.1126/science.aag1385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Binder, C. R., Feola, G., & Steinberger, J. K. (2010). Considering the normative, systemic and procedural dimensions in indicator-based sustainability assessments in agriculture. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 30(2), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2009.06.002.Google Scholar
Brundtland, G. H. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: “Our Common Future.” United Nations.Google Scholar
Daly, H. E. (1997). Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development. Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Parris, T.M., & Kates, R. W. (2003). Characterizing and measuring sustainable development. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 28, 559–86.Google Scholar
Pezzey, J. (1992). Sustainable Development Concept: An Economic Analysis. The World Bank.Google Scholar
Pope, J., Annandale, D, & Morrison-Saunders, A. (2004). Conceptualising sustainable development. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 24, 595–616.Google Scholar
Wiek, A., & Binder, C. (2005). Solution spaces for decision-making: A sustainability assessment tool for city-regions. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 25(6), 589–608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2004.09.009.Google Scholar
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

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×