GENERAL

Sustainable infrastructure, environmental and resource management for high dynamic metropolises

The world is currently experiencing unprecedented urban growth. In 2008, for the first time in its history, more than half of the world’s population were living in towns and cities. Urbanisation is truly a global phenomenon and is expected to continue for decades to come. Existing infrastructure becomes strained as population increases. A central issue is the inadequate or uneven provision of basic critical infrastructure - water, waste disposal, and power - to urban residents. Currently, energy and space demand are increasing much faster than the number of inhabitants. Therefore it becomes more and more important to identify the underlying factors for these phenomena as a basis for developing regulatory measures. In addition, comparable data about new forms of urban living, and working, etc. are essential to simulate integrated technical and social structures.

New technologies such as satellite imagery and computerised geographical information systems, have on the one hand, made it easier to get a “bird’s eye view” of urban conditions. Yet, information on the ground – even for such basic items as the number of households and businesses served by infrastructure, the family composition of informal settlements, and the ownership of contested parcels of land – often remains unknown. Here, a lack of basic information becomes an impediment to action. 6, 1

[1]  THE WORLD BANK / URBAN DEVELOPMENT & LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTURBANDEVELOPMENT/Resources/336387-1169585750379/Brochure_6_pages.pdf (19.06.2011)

[1] WBGU (2011): Welt im Wandel. Gesellschaftsvertrag für eine Große Transformation. Hauptgutachten. – 420 S.; Berlin

In co-operation with corresponding partners from the BMBF “Future Megacities” Addis Ababa, Casablanca, Gauteng, HCMC, Lima and Urumqi and UN-Habita