This book contains papers presented at The Sustainable City 2010 conference, which was the sixth edition of the International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability. That event followed the very successful meetings held previously in Rio (2000), Segovia (2002), Siena (2004), Tallinn (2006) and Skiathos (2008) and proved one more time the necessity of this scientific forum to discuss the challenging situations that the urban areas are confronting nowadays. Innovative tools are required for understanding the high complexity of contemporary cities. It is urgent to promote a more scientific approach to urban studies, inspired by Prigogine's dissipative structures, and to highlight relations between different systems and between systems and the environment. This series of conferences addresses the multidisciplinary aspects of urban planning, a result of the increasing size of the cities, the amount of resources and services required and the complexity of modern society.

ECOSUD is a challenge for the creation of a new science in line with Prigogine's statement that "at all levels we observe events associated with the emergence of novelties and narrative elements, which we may associate with the creative power of nature." This is not only a platform to present novel research related to ecological problems from all over the world; it also gives opportunities for new emergent ideas in science arising from the cross fertilization of different disciplines, including mathematical models and eco-informatics, evolutionary thermodynamics and biodiversity, structures in ecosystems modelling and landscapes to mention but a few. The Seventh International Conference in the well-established series on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development contains papers on the following topics: Greenhouse issues; Ecosystems modelling; Mathematical and system modelling; Natural resources management; Environmental indicators; Sustainability development studies; Recovery of damaged areas; Energy and the environment; Socio economic factors; Soil contamination; Waste management; Water resources; Environmental management.

A sustainable city is widely recognised as one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In "The Sustainable City V" many interrelated aspects of the urban environment from transport and mobility to social exclusions and crime prevention are addressed. The papers included were originally presented at the Fifth International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability and will be of interest to city planners, architects, environmental engineers and all academics, professionals and practitioners working in the wide range of disciplines associated with creating a viable urban environment.In this book, the papers are published under the following topics: Architectural issues; Cultural heritage; Energy resources systems; Environmental management; Healthy cities; Indicators: ecological, economic, social; Land use and management; Mega cities; Planning issues; Planning, development and management; Public safety; Revitalisation strategies; Socio-economic issues; Spatial modelling; Strategy; Sustainable transportation and transport integration; The community and the city; Traffic and transportation; and, Urban-rural relationships.

Is the concept of sustainability strongly founded on solid scientific bases? And can this elusive concept be introduced in the economic framework and embodied in people's behavior as well as public and private institutions' decision making? This book presents a view of sustainability that starts from the acknowledgment of physical conditions and limits that humans can no longer neglect. It also includes some epistemological foundations of the concept of sustainability and historical backgrounds. The view is optimistic to the extent that economics, the compass of our industrial society, is open to inputs and suggestions coming from outside orthodox schemes. Transdisciplinary science is one key element of such a change, and this book is a transdisciplinary project.In the field of the criticism to GDP as an omni-comprehensive instrument, the book also describes the methodology of the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), proposed by H. Daly and John Cobb in 1989. They proposed some revisions to the System of National Accounts and GDP in order to add information for policy makers towards sustainability.Starting with consumption, some adjustments are proposed to allow for inequality of income distribution, environmental problems (such as pollution costs, long term environmental damage, depletion of non-renewable resources) and social issues (such as commuting costs, urbanization costs, public expenditure for health and education). Computations for different nations have shown that ISEW increases together with increasing GDP up to a point, beyond which it stagnates or even decreases, due to the environmental and social pressure of economic growth. The ISEW is a feasible calculation and some experiments at the local level in Italy are presented. Advances in integrating different sustainability indicators (both economic-based and physical-based) are also presented as well as their use under a sustainability viewpoint.

Combining sciences and thoughts is essential for the sustainability of ecosystems as well as for understanding human life. Ecology, economics, chemistry, physics, climatology, informatics are pieces to be put together in order to compose the transdisciplinary picture of our complex world. This Volume contains the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development that was held in Coimbra (Portugal) in September 2007. ECOSUD offers a unique opportunity and encourages the interdisciplinary communication between scientists, engineers and professionals working in ecological systems and sustainable development. The Conference objectives have evolved over the years, seeking to integrate thermodynamics, ecology and economics into "ecodynamics".The proceedings has been arranged in the following sections: Ecosystem modelling; Environmental management; Mathematical and system modelling; Environmental risk; Natural resources management; Sustainability indicators; Ecological areas studies; Energy and the environment; Socio economic factors; Sustainable tourism; Soil and agricultural issues; Sustainable waste management; and, Water resources.

Urban areas produce a series of environmental problems arising from the consumption of natural resources and the consequent generation of waste and pollution. These problems contribute to the development of social and economic imbalances. All these problems, which continue to grow in our society, require new solutions. This book addresses the many inter-related aspects of the urban environment from transport and mobility to social exclusion and crime prevention. Publishing papers from the Fourth International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability, the volume includes topics such as: Strategy and Development; Planning; Development and Management; Environmental Management; Planning Issues; Socio-economic Issues; The community and the City; Cultural Heritage; Architectural Issues; Traffic and Transportation; Land Use and Management; Public Safety; Conservation of Resources; Sustainable Transportation and Transport Integration; Depleted Ecological Resources; Environmental Pollution; Energy Resources Systems.

Beyond the specific dimension of the individual, learning is a primary characteristic of life. Shifting our attention to local systems we can consider ecosystems and traditional communities as learning 'minds', according with Bateson's thought. We call environmental wisdom the explicit knowledge that emerges from long periods of co-evolution of people and nature in local systems, cast in the same lot. Environmental wisdom rises both from trial-and-error and from more subtle kinds of knowledge, involving aesthetic and intuition. It sediments as tradition or religion and deeply contribute to landscapes creation, keeping ecosystems and humans alive together. It is our belief, that in order to survive, local communities should re-connect themselves with their biological basis. As a first option we need to pay new attention to our boundaries: not to avoid contacts, exchanges, cross-fertilization with other people and other lands, but to reduce the impact of globalization and to retain cultural biodiversity. Only a network of self-centred communicating communities can provide a sufficient basis of diversity to achieve long-term sustainability.We believe we are living a moment of general crisis, a re-learning transition period that is inherently uncertain, and therefore we have to enlarge our cultural and technological basis, avoiding homogenization as the primary source of fragility. This book contains the proceedings from the fifth International Conference on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development. With over 70 contributions divided into sections such as: Biodiversity; Conservation and management of ecological areas; Environmental and ecological policies; Natural resources management; Recovery of damaged areas and Remote sensing.

Exploring the latest experiences, achievements and state-of-the-art practices and methodologies in sustainability and the urban environment, this book contains 70 papers presented at the Third International Conference on the Sustainable City. It will be of interest to city planners, architects, environmental engineers and all academics, professionals and practitioners involved in the wide range of disciplines associated with this important and highly topical subject. Strategy and Development; Planning, Development and Management; Environmental Management; Cultural Heritage and Architectural Issues; Land Use and Management; Restructuring and Renewal; Spatial Configuration and Landscaping; Socio-Economic Issues; The Community and the City; Public Safety and Security; Conservation of Resources; Traffic and Transportation; and Urban Waste Management.