GIS in Sustainable Urban Planning and Management
Over the last few decades, the world has seen an increased gathering of its population in urban areas. This trend is far from new. Indeed, its persistence is marked by a remarkable increase in the absolute number of urban dwellers worldwide (UN-HABITAT, 2016). While in 1990, 43% (2.3 billion) of the world’s population lived in urban areas, by 2015, this had grown to 54% (4 billion). And it continues to increase: aggregated predictions of the United Nations indicate that by 2050, the share of urban population is expected to reach 66% (UNDESA, 2014). Although this figure needs to be interpreted with caution due to inconsistencies in definitions and data availability, it emphasizes the urgent need to pay serious attention to this trend and to consider the positive and negative social, economic, and environmental consequences carefully.
Urbanization fosters economic growth and is generally associated with greater productivity and a better quality of life for all. Nevertheless, urbanization also often brings with it urban sprawl, environmental degradation, poor living conditions, and severe problems of accessibility. The unceasing migration of rural population to urban regions follows on from the relative attractiveness of cities. Cities provide a wide variety of opportunities and offer a large number of facilities and services – opportunities for generating income, finding a job, pursuing education, accessing healthcare services, visiting social and cultural events, and so forth. Moreover, most urban infrastructures are better developed than their rural counterparts, although it must be noted that some urban dwellers cannot access or benefit from these infrastructures.
Although virtually no region of the world can report a decrease in urbanization, the increase in urban population has not been evenly spread. Nowadays, the highest growth rates can be found in Asia and Africa, particularly in less-developed regions and in middle- and low-income countries. This presents a major challenge to building and sustaining adequate infrastructure and public services for these growing populations. Along with increases in urban population, the land area occupied by cities is increasing at an even higher rate. Projections for the period 2000–2030 indicate that the urban population in developing countries will double, while the area occupied by their cities will triple (Angel et al., 2011).
Urban planning and management is the technical, social, and political process concerned with the design, development, and maintenance of land use in an urban environment, which includes attention to air and water quality and the infrastructure into and out of urban areas (e.g., transportation, communication, and distribution networks).
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