Framework elements for assessing urban environmental performance

The extent of urbanisation today is unprecedented in human history. Some 90 per cent of global urban growth takes place in developing countries which are projected to triple their built-up urban areas between 2000 and 2030. An estimated 400,000 square kilometres will be constructed in just 30 years
the equivalent of the world’s entire built-up urban area in 2000 (Suzuki et al, 2010). These massive processes of urbanization are inevitably at the centre of our environmental future. Cities and urban areas rely on a wide range of resources from outside their geographical boundaries, including water, food and raw materials for manufacturing. These demands can have significant environmental effects in distant locations. Urban areas also use large amounts of energy and contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Locally, inadequate provision of water, sanitation and drainage, and the generation of large amounts
of solid waste, air pollution and water pollution, can have major environmental impacts and lead to a
severe health burden for urban residents. These issues are particularly acute in low-income countries
and coastal areas. If urban areas are the source of much environmental decay, both directly and indirectly, they are also a stepping stone to the solution of many environmental problems. For instance, the high density of urban settlements makes efficient mass transit systems possible and reduces the energy consumption by households for heating, cooling and lightning. Air, noise, and water pollution can all be partly addressed inside the city, even when the policies involved may originate at the national or regional level (Sassen, 2009).

Addressing the Goldman Sachs ‘Top Five Risks Conference’ in 2008, Professor Nicholas Stern
underlined the importance of regional considerations: “A few hundred square miles of the Himalayas are the source of all the major rivers of Asia, the Ganges, the Yellow River, the Yangtse where three billon people live. That’s almost half of the world’s population.”

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