Climate Change and Sustainable Urban Development in Africa and Asia
This book is about African and Asian cities. Illustrated through selected case cities, the book brings together a rich collection of papers by leading scholars and practitioners in Africa and Asia to offer empirical analysis and up-to-date discussions and
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Belinda Yuen Asfaw Kumssa ●
Editors
Climate Change and Sustainable Urban Development in Africa and Asia
Editors Belinda Yuen Singapore Institute of Planners Singapore [email protected]
Asfaw Kumssa UNCRD Africa Office Nairobi, Kenya [email protected]
ISBN 978-90-481-9866-5 e-ISBN 978-90-481-9867-2 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-9867-2 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover Illustration: Photograph taken by Belinda Yuen in China Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
Climate change is a grim reality that poses a major threat to humanity and sustainable development. It will result in short and long-term problems, including drought, flooding, storms, increases in sea level temperature and rise, the melting of glaciers, etc. These developments will have repercussions on food security, water availability, epidemic vectors such as malaria, rural–urban migration and other socioeconomic problems. In this regard, climate change has become a major national, regional and international problem, cutting across developed and developing countries. In developing African and Asian countries, climate change has impacted adversely the livelihoods of people by producing more erratic weather patterns, eroding coastlines, spreading pests and waterborne diseases. With erratic rainfalls and frequent droughts, rural dwellers find it very difficult to work on their farms and are forced to abandon their rural settlements and migrate to urban areas in search of green pastures. The growth in urban dwellers has put further pressure on urban service delivery systems. Since most of these migrants are simple farmers with limited skills and education, oftentimes they end up in the informal sector of the urban economy and settle in slums and shanty towns in the peripheries of cities where poverty, overcrowding, unemployment, crime and environmental degradation are common. Cities are generally the centre of innovation and have the capacity as well as the technical know-how to deal with climate change. At the same time, cities are also the major contributors to greenhouse gases which are responsible for climate change. To better understand the impacts of climate change on sustainable urban development, the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) and the Singapore Institute of Planners (SIP) organized a senior policy seminar on Climate Change, Housing and Liveable Cities in Africa and Asia from 25 to 27 June 2009 in Singapore. The overall objective of the seminar was to discuss, exchange informa
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