CITIES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY BRANTLEY LIDDLE AND FRED MOAVENZADEH OR at least 4000 years, cities have been centers of cultural, social, technological Fand economic innovation, inventions and their application, and political power. Only in the last 200 years, the industrial era, have urban areas grown so rapidly, and their populations increased so dramatically that their impacts on the natural environ- ment are being felt beyond their immediate geographic surroundings. As the 21" cen- tury dawns, megacities-great and far-reaching concentrations of power and influ- ence-have become centers of the phenomena of globalization and information ex- change. These concentrations of people and activity are placing stress on the natural environment so great that it is beginning to have extensive regional, and even global impacts. However, asconcentrations ofpower-political, economic, andintellectual- these great urban centers share with the ancestral cities of past millennia the resources to consciously shape the future. The management of these megacities (those having populations of over eight million) in their current formative stages so taxing to natural systems,paradoxicallypresents theopportunity torestoresustainableregional and global environments. Environmental problems consequent to urban growth have two sources: pov- erty and affluence. These two conditions often coexist in dramatic contrast within the same city, particularly in developing countries. In terms of environmental impact, poverty-based problems tend to have local effects, while affluence-based problems usually have transboundary and/or global effects.

Clients today expect their construction contractors to be familiar with emerging environmental technology... able to help them deal with environmental regulations effectively and confidently... and ready to assist them in reducing and eliminating waste at the source. The pressure from environmental demands on even traditional construction work is growing every day. And so are the opportunities. From the production of building materials to dealing with the waste created by construction itself... from the improvement of building operating efficiency to the building of recycling and reprocessing facilities... from environmental services for hazardous waste remediation, solid waste management, and air pollution to wastewater treatment, water supply, and energy conservation - the scope of the construction industry is mind-boggling. This book gives you a complete overview. Featuring presentations and discussions given at a recent symposium sponsored by MIT's Center for Construction Research and Education and Japan's Hazama Corp., it addresses all the key issues and opportunities for today's construction industry. You'll find full discussions of the... Background - how the construction industry has entered environmental markets, beginning with sewage plants and water treatment facilities and expanding into hazardous waste and site clean-up projects; . Barriers and entry points - the best strategies for participation, from starting up or acquiring specialized divisions or subsidiaries to alliances, plus the marketplace barriers to innovative technologies and potential solutions and the EPA's countermeasures; . Policy and regulations - the major U.S. legislation, analyzing the various forms ofregulation and the shift from centralized control to incentives and market-based approaches; . Technology - a wide range of environmental technologies, including the important areas of solid waste and hazardous waste management and remediation and cleaner, more efficient energy use and generation; . Opportunities and markets - new, highly profitable segments where a low-risk, low-regulation climate favors R&D; marketplace breakdowns with abundant data and analyses; and world market trends for the EEC, Pacific Rim, and former Soviet bloc; and. Survey results - the results of an authoritative survey conducted by the Center for Construction and Education at MIT that examines the opportunities in construction industry. Many construction firms are entering this burgeoning market; let this book help your firm be among the leaders.

Covering a topic of massive contemporary importance, this well written volume demonstrates how transportation strategy and environmental sustainability can be pursued in a comprehensive and harmonious, rather than unconnected and potentially conflicting, set of public policies. It applies lessons from several urban areas (e.g., Bogota, Singapore, Mexico City, Sao Paulo), including "success stories" and less successful "hard-won lessons," to a case study in Guangzhou.

CITIES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY BRANTLEY LIDDLE AND FRED MOAVENZADEH OR at least 4000 years, cities have been centers of cultural, social, technological Fand economic innovation, inventions and their application, and political power. Only in the last 200 years, the industrial era, have urban areas grown so rapidly, and their populations increased so dramatically that their impacts on the natural environ- ment are being felt beyond their immediate geographic surroundings. As the 21" cen- tury dawns, megacities-great and far-reaching concentrations of power and influ- ence-have become centers of the phenomena of globalization and information ex- change. These concentrations of people and activity are placing stress on the natural environment so great that it is beginning to have extensive regional, and even global impacts. However, asconcentrations ofpower-political, economic, andintellectual- these great urban centers share with the ancestral cities of past millennia the resources to consciously shape the future. The management of these megacities (those having populations of over eight million) in their current formative stages so taxing to natural systems,paradoxicallypresents theopportunity torestoresustainableregional and global environments. Environmental problems consequent to urban growth have two sources: pov- erty and affluence. These two conditions often coexist in dramatic contrast within the same city, particularly in developing countries. In terms of environmental impact, poverty-based problems tend to have local effects, while affluence-based problems usually have transboundary and/or global effects.

This book explores how the issues of transportation strategy and environmental sustainability interact in the context of megacities, especially those megacities in the developing world where the rapid rates of growth in population and economic development outpace the supply of infrastructure. While much of the current literature assumes a tradeoff between transportation and environmental sustainability, this book looks to the synergy between the two if public policies are crafted in the proper way. Transportation infrastructure capacity is typically a serious constraint in urban areas worldwide. Problems in providing additional infrastructure a" whether related to available financial resources, environmental protection, local institutional capabilities, available technology, available land and land use, social disruption, and other factors a" tend to be magnified in rapidly developing megacities. Given the reality of these constraints, there are nevertheless several ways in which the demand for transportation and the efficient operability of the available supply can be managed successfully to relieve the pressure on existing infrastructure, accommodate the time needed to build additional capacity, and balance the competing requirements among urban mobility, economic development, and environmental sustainability such that each area sees gains. This book demonstrates how transportation strategy and environmental sustainability can be pursued in a comprehensive and harmonious, rather than unconnected and potentially conflicting, set of public policies. It applies lessons from several urban areas around the world (e.g., Bogota, Singapore, Mexico City, Sao Paulo), including both"success stories" and less successful "hard-won lessons," to a case study in Guangzhou. From these examples, a number of useful guidelines emerge on how the competition for resources between transportation policy and environmental sustainability can be resolved to support continued economic development in megacities. Among the themes identified in the book that contribute to a successful, sustainable transportation strategy are the need for a comprehensive approach that is tailored to local institutional and cultural norms, the need to understand the tradeoffs among competing goals and resolve them in a balanced strategy, the importance of demand-side management as compared to traditional approaches of investment in new capacity, the usefulness of a range of options in public-private partnerships to strengthen the financial and institutional capabilities needed for sustainable transportation, and a" regardless of the policy that is finally implemented a" the critical role of government in providing leadership and the underlying institutional framework needed to ensure success.