Cities in developing countries are experiencing unprecedented population growth, which is exacerbating their problems in providing shelter and basic services. This volume draws on advances in technologies and management strategies made in recent decades to suggest ways to improve urban life and services. Four challenges to developing countries' megacities are addressed: labor markets, housing, water and sanitation, and transportation, along with a synthesis of general thinking on how to meet megacity challenges and be competitive in the twenty-first century.

World human population is expected to reach upwards of 9 billion by 2050 and then level off over the next half-century. How can the transition to a stabilizing population also be a transition to sustainability? How can science and technology help to ensure that human needs are met while the planet's environment is nurtured and restored? Our Common Journey examines these momentous questions to draw strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and societies' efforts to achieve environmentally sustainable improvements in human well being. The book argues that societies should approach sustainable development not as a destination but as an ongoing, adaptive learning process. Speaking to the next two generations, it proposes a strategy for using scientific and technical knowledge to better inform future action in the areas of fertility reduction, urban systems, agricultural production, energy and materials use, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation, and suggests an approach for building a new research agenda for sustainability science. Our Common Journey documents large-scale historical currents of social and environmental change and reviews methods for "what if" analysis of possible future development pathways and their implications for sustainability. The book also identifies the greatest threats to sustainabilityâ€"in areas such as human settlements, agriculture, industry, and energyâ€"and explores the most promising opportunities for circumventing or mitigating these threats. It goes on to discuss what indicators of change, from children's birth-weights to atmosphere chemistry, will be most useful in monitoring a transition to sustainability.

Megacities of over 10 million inhabitants are unique entities in their own right, both challenging and supporting the policies, governance and cohesion of states. In developing and developed economies, the rise of megacities can be seen to have negative and positive effects; from exacerbating and deepening societal problems inherent in inequality and poverty, to increasing opportunities for innovation, education, interconnectivity and development.The Rise of Megacities takes a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to analysis of their growth. It examines both the major new challenges that the expansion of megacities brings for development at large, and the opportunities they might create for the public good. In addition, it shows how more established cities, such as Tokyo, New York or European examples can provide lessons for governance and development of rapidly urbanizing populations. Using case studies and academic theory it takes into account both the similarities and differences of megacities and gives a comprehensive study of them. This book is perfect for students and researchers of development economics, urban studies, international relations and the social sciences, as well as those interested in how the world economy is changing through globalization.

The International Encyclopedia of Human Geography provides an authoritative and comprehensive source of information on the discipline of human geography and its constituent, and related, subject areas. The encyclopedia includes over 1,000 detailed entries on philosophy and theory, key concepts, methods and practices, biographies of notable geographers, and geographical thought and praxis in different parts of the world. This groundbreaking project covers every field of human geography and the discipline’s relationships to other disciplines, and is global in scope, involving an international set of contributors. Given its broad, inclusive scope and unique online accessibility, it is anticipated that the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography will become the major reference work for the discipline over the coming decades. The Encyclopedia will be available in both limited edition print and online via ScienceDirect – featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit http://info.sciencedirect.com/content/books/ref_works/coming/ Available online on ScienceDirect and in limited edition print format Broad, interdisciplinary coverage across human geography: Philosophy, Methods, People, Social/Cultural, Political, Economic, Development, Health, Cartography, Urban, Historical, Regional Comprehensive and unique - the first of its kind in human geography

Launched in May 2011, the new global magazine Southern Innovator is about the people across the global South shaping our new world, eradicating poverty and working towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They are the innovators. Issue 1 covered the theme of mobile phones and information technology. Issue 2 covered the theme of youth and entrepreneurship. Issue 3 covered the theme of agribusiness and food security. Issue 4 covered the theme of cities and urbanization. Issue 5 covers the theme of waste and recycling. Follow the magazine on Twitter @SouthSouth1. If you would like hard copies of the magazine for distribution, then please contact the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation in New York, USA (www.southerninnovator.org). Learn about the Global South-South Development Expo here: www.southsouthexpo.org. Also contact us about opportunities to sponsor the magazine here: southerninnovator@yahoo.co.uk. Sponsors help us to print and distribute more copies.

Whether we realize it or not, microbes play an ever-present role in our daily lives. Foodborne infections, epidemics, and pandemics are frequently headline news. The Microbial Challenge: Science, Disease, and Public Health, Second Edition, presents a fascinating look at human-microbe interactions and examines the disease producers while discussing how, with knowledge-based preparation, we can live in harmony with microbes. It also discusses the ways in which beneficial microbes are involved in the cycles of nature and in the food industry, and how they are used as research tools. Ideal for undergraduate non-science majors and allied and public health students, this unique text is a hybrid of microbiology and public health and includes material on prions, helminths (worms), biological warfare and terrorism, antibiotic resistance, the global impact of microbial diseases, and immunization. The text helps students better understand the biology of the microbial world and the societal factors that are both the cause and consequences of microbial disease. With up-to-date content, current information on health organizations, including the CDC and WHO, and a new chapter on bacterial genetics, The Microbial Challenge provides a gripping account of the burden of microbial diseases throughout the world.

It took New York City (the world's largest metropolis in 1950) nearly a century and a half to expand by eight million residents. Mexico City and Sao Paulo will match this growth in less than fifteen years. Asia's mega-cities, too, are exploding in number and size. This kind of unprecedented growth is being echoed in the urban centers of developing nations around the globe. The essays in this volume address the wide array of problematic issues--as well as the opportunities and advantages--that are the natural outgrowth of such rapid urbanization. Third World Cities examines three sets of vital issues. Drawing on the experience and evidence of the past two decades, the book's initial chapters assess theoretical frameworks upon which urban and migration policies are based. The authors of the middle section press for fresh approaches to the increasing demands placed on institutions and individuals in the largest cities of the developing world. The final chapters examine the complex demographic, social, and economic processes of urban growth. Students, professionals, and policymakers in development and urban studies, public administration, sociology, political science and comparative politics, geography, and ethnic studies will find Third World Cities to be a refreshing and innovative look at this growing concern. "Third World Cities offers a range of new ideas on the demographic, social spatial, and environmental changes that are 'occurring so quickly that up-to-date evidence is elusive' . . . Third World Cities is both thought-provoking and highly readable." -The Economic Times

This book examines a range of issues related to the mega-city phenomenon. Part one deals with the growth of mega-cities and explores demographic issues, labour force change in the big cities of Asia, the effect of macroeconomic forces on the world city system, and the relations between technology and the city. In part two, the discussion focuses on the economic and social consequences of mega-city growth. Part three looks at the crucial issue of the management of mega-cities, taking up such issues as infrastructure financing, land and shelter needs, transportation, and environmental management. The final chapter examines priority urban management issues in developing countries and derives a research agenda for the 1990s. (Adapté du résumé de l'éditeur).

Hans van Ginkel Rector, United Nations University The challenges of the world's future are linked to the growing share of the global population that will reside in urban areas. UN projections indicate that by 2030 the world's urban population share will rise to 60 percent. Of the two billion added to the global population, 99 percent will be added to the urban areas of the world. Of this number, 95 percent will be in countries of the developing world. As most people will live in urban areas we had better work to build and organize them as both attractive and less resource consuming places. That is, to promote sustainable urban development is to promote the creation of dense human settlements that are livable and have reduced their impacts on larger scale ecosystems. While much attention has been focused on the "mega-cities," those with a population of over 10 million, the amount of people living in these places will remain almost constant while the smaller and medium size cities will be the great absorbers of the world's urban population. Indeed, it is predicted that while the absolute number of people that will live in urban centers of 10 million or more will increase from approximately 263 to 375 million between 2000 and 20 IS, their share of the total urban population will only increase from 9. 2 percent to 9. 8 percent, a 6. 34 percent increase.