UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific
Environmental Urban Strategies for the Asia-Pacific Region:
Our roadmap to 2015 and beyond
Cities in the Asia-Pacific region have currently an urbanization of42 percent and growth rate of 2.5 percent, having to accommodatean additional 1.7 billion people in the next 40 years.This represents a doubling of the current urban population.
UNESCO, the UN nodal agency for education, science, culture and architecture, has made sustainability a key topic in its development oriented activities.
Introduction
The UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific Region, was established on 01 August 2008 and is held by Professor Steffen Lehmann. It is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and The University of Newcastle, Australia. The mission of the UNESCO Chair is to conduct pragmatic and innovative strategic research, as well as to offer advice and capacity building in order to support sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific Region.
The Challenge: A new roadmap for solving Global Warming
Climate change presents the region with tremendous challenges. The Asia-Pacific Region is the world’s fastest growing region and one of the major sources of greenhouse gases, likely to be severely affected by the impact of global warming on regional economies, environment, society and the lives of ordinary citizens.
The mission and aims of the new UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development in Asia and the Pacific Region are in line with the UNESCO mission and programmes: International research collaboration and capacity building, with a special focus on initiatives within the region. The forecasts of the UN Habitat Forum indicate that over 90 per cent urban growth over the next 15 years which will occur primarily in developing countries. Asia alone will account for more than half of the world’s urban population. While the Asia-Pacific Region is experiencing rapid economic growth and extensive urbanization, coupled with continued population increases, the region still faces the challenging issues of poverty and insufficient sustainable management of its urbanization processes. Many of the current developments negatively impact on natural resources and the environment through poor planning, misinformed urban design, air and water pollution and an increase in waste generation.
