This paper, produced through the New Climate Economy Cities Research Programme, identifies three groups of cities that will be particularly important for the global economy and climate: Emerging Cities, Global Megacities and Mature Cities.
The world's first cities were in the Uruk cluster in Mesopotamia. The largest was Ur, which appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh (one of the earliest known works of literature, set around 3,500 BCE). Extending over 60 hectares, Ur was home to about 24,000 people.
The greening of urban development is finally receiving increased attention. This is long overdue, as the globe’s burgeoning urban population is using ever more resources and energy, which intensifies environmental pressures.
Regardless of average income, cities and towns have been acting as the engines of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which now hosts half of the world’s mega-cities.
This study explores the complex process of transit and land-use integration in rapidly growing cities in developing countries. It first identifies barriers to and opportunities for effective coordination of transit infrastructure and urban development.
The project on Green Growth Strategies for Indian Cities was started in January 2014.
Part of a series of four entitled Urban Patterns for a Green Economy, this guide (Working with Nature) focuses on the effect of unplanned, rapid growth of cities on the functioning of a city-region's natural systems.
Part of a series of four entitled Urban Patterns for a Green Economy, this guide explores the compact city and its benefits within the developed and developing world's contexts.
Part of a series of four entitled Urban Patterns for a Green Economy, this guide argues that strategic investment in physical infrastructure with the diversification of economies allows cities to play a specialised role in polycentric urban development.