This volume presents innovative work on innovative methods, tools and practices aimed at supporting the transition of Asian and Middle Eastern cities and regions towards a more smart and sustainable dimension. The role of the built and urban environment are becoming more pronounced in Asia and Middle East as the regions continues to experience rapid increase in population and urbanisation, which have only led to an increase in environmental degradation but also rise in energy consumption and emissions. Individual chapters covers timely topics such as sustainable infrastructure, transportation, renewable energy, water and methods supporting an innovative and sustainable development of urban areas. Real-world examples are presented to highlight recent developments and advancements in design, construction and transportation infrastructures. This volume is part of the proceedings of the 1st GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures, Egypt 2017.

While there has been much recent research into achieving sustainability in urban areas, most of this is specific to a particular region. This volume broadens these discussions by extending the analysis from North American and European cities to include East Asian cities. Many cities in Asia have deep historical roots, have sustained dense populations through time and have grown prosperous in recent decades. They also face significant environmental degradation and other planning challenges. In bringing together and comparing strategies and experiences from three distinct global regions, this book offers unique insights and new perspectives on the challenges of moving towards greater urban sustainability. While questioning which strategies can promote sustainable cities in a global context, the book also illustrates that while formulae generated out of American and European experience cannot be universally applied, some of the analytical approaches and experience of the other developed countries can offer insights for those working in different contexts. It argues that managing urban change for greater urban sustainability in diverse regions requires detailed understanding of local issues and regional strategies as well as strong support from local communities.

With cities rapidly encroaching onto surrounding lands, the notion of “eco-city” proposes an innovative yet pragmatic approach to designing, building and operating cities in a way that the destructive impact of human urban activity upon nature will be significantly reduced.This book comprises of papers from a workshop organized by the East Asian Institute on Eco-cities in East Asia on 27 February 2009 in Singapore. Contributed by scholars, officials and environmental specialists from Japan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, the papers focus on how individual governments in these countries undertake eco-city projects. The book also highlights best practices that are useful to policy makers and anyone else who seeks to learn from the experiences of other countries in order to reduce their ecological footprints.

With Asia’s cities undergoing unprecedented growth in the 21st century, lauded the ‘urban century’ by many, Sustainable Cities in Asia provides a timely examination of the challenges facing cities across the continent including some of the projects, approaches and solutions that are currently being tested. This book uses numerous case studies, analysing topical issues ranging from city cycling in India, to green spaces in China, to the use of community-led energy generation projects in post-Fukushima Japan. Containing contributions from an international team of scholars, it also takes a multi-disciplinary approach and draws on examples from a wide range of countries, including China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, by providing a comprehensive discussion of the broader debates around the shape of sustainable urbanism, it demonstrates that Asia is one of the most active regions in terms of the development of sustainable city strategies. Tackling the contemporary issues of key importance for sustainability, such as property markets, migration and transport, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Urban Geography, Sustainability, Environmental Studies and Asian studies.

To assess urban sustainability performance, this book explores several clusters of cities, including megacities, cities of the Global South, European and North American cities, cities of the Middle East and North Africa, cities of Central and South East Asia, a city state of Singapore and a large group of global cities. It applies a multi-criteria approach using a panel of environmental, economic, social and smart indicators to assess progress and policies in global cities including London, New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Los Angeles, São Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and many others. Additional attention is given to the issues of climate change, poverty and smart dimensions, with renewable energy and the drivers of urban CO2 emissions playing the central role. This book is abundant with case studies considering strategies, policies and performance of the leading cities, including San Francisco, Stockholm and Seoul in greater depth, exploring how their successes can be used by other cities. The book identifies key linkages between different smart and sustainability dimensions as well as investment opportunities in cities with sustainability potential. This book will be of great interest to policy makers, city and regional authorities as well as scholars and students of urban planning and sustainable development aiming to facilitate a sustainability transition in our cities around the world.

Transportation plays a substantial role in the modern world; it provides tremendous benefits to society, but it also imposes significant economic, social and environmental costs. Sustainable transport planning requires integrating environmental, social, and economic factors in order to develop optimal solutions to our many pressing issues, especially carbon emissions and climate change. This essential multi-authored work reflects a new sustainable transportation planning paradigm. It explores the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable transportation, describes practical techniques for comprehensive evaluation, provides tools for multi-modal transport planning, and presents innovative mobility management solutions to transportation problems. Students of various disciplines, planners, policymakers and concerned citizens will find many of its provocative ideas and approaches of considerable value as they engage in the processes of understanding and changing transportation towards greater sustainability. This text reflects a fundamental change in transportation decision making. It focuses on accessibility rather than mobility, emphasizes the need to expand the range of options and impacts considered in analysis, and provides practical tools to allow planners, policy makers and the general public to determine the best solution to the transportation problems facing a community. The book starts by placing transportation within the broader sustainability discussion, emphasising a comprehensive approach to sustainability planning and introducing the notion of 'regenerative transportation'. In sections on policymaking and planning the book examines how decisions are currently, and how they should be, made - explaining the complex and often misunderstood area of public participation. The authors explain demand management as applied to transportation and present lessons from other public arenas and areas of application, especially in urban-suburban areas. The text takes readers through each and every mode of transport, beginning with human-powered modes and ending in motorized modes, including marine and air transport. The modes are analyzed separately and in comparison with others according to several criteria: Capacity/utility/functionality considerations; infrastructure demands; resource consumption; land use considerations; pollution; and costs. In ways that non-technically trained readers as well as planning students professionals can find useful the book includes guidance on how to optimize transportation systems; balancing economic, social and environmental objectives while creating just, robust, and diverse, rather than one-size-fits-all, solutions. The modes are grouped and compared within their respective contexts, and there is vital discussion and differentiation between passenger and freight-goods transport. The final section develops a comprehensive summary of the previous chapters and develops arguments for sustainable transportation policymaking and integrated planning, providing international examples and case studies and extracting from them general applications for integrated sustainable transportation. Featuring extensive international examples and case-studies, textboxes, graphics, recommended reading and end of chapter questions, the authors draw on considerable teaching and researching experience to present an essential, ground-breaking and authoritative text on sustainable transport.

The knowledge economy has become an important part of contemporary development for cities in a time of globalization and expansion. Examining theories of knowledge transfer and urban advancement allows for better adaptation in a changing global society. Knowledge-Based Urban Development in the Middle East provides emerging research on the contemporary practices of architecture, urban design, and implementation in contemporary Middle Eastern cities. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics, such as creative economy, knowledge development, and learning communities, this book is an important resource for academics, researchers, practitioners, and decision makers seeking current research on the issues and challenges of implementing knowledge-based urban development in Middle Eastern cities.

This book explores a number of important issues in the area of occupational safety and hygiene. Presenting both research and best practices for the evaluation of occupational risk, safety and health in various types of industry, it particularly focuses on occupational safety in automated environments, innovative management systems and occupational safety in a global context. The different chapters examine the perspectives of all those involved, such as managers, workers and OSH professionals. Based on selected contributions presented at the 15th International Symposium on Occupational Safety and Hygiene (SHO 2019), held on 15–16 April, 2019, in Guimarães, Portugal, the book serves as a timely reference guide and source of inspiration to OSH researchers, practitioners and organizations operating in a global context.

This book explores Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, providing insights into viable pathways and policy designs for a transition towards sustainable, inclusive and resilient cities. The volume discusses existing scientific literature on SDG 11 and provides conceptual frameworks relating to systemic transitions, sectoral transitions and behavioural transitions for overcoming challenges related to governance and implementation. Through detailed case studies from cities and settlements, in Europe, Middle East and Asia, it showcases the dynamic processes involved in urban transformations. Drawing from these comparative analyses, the book provides robust frameworks and tools for better solutions and viable pathways to achieve SDG targets in diverse urban settings. Rich in empirical data, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of development studies, environment studies, urban studies, urban sociology, political economy, political studies, public policy and sociology. It will also be useful for policy makers, professionals, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and think tanks working in the area of sustainable development and urban planning.