Future Cities: All That Matters

Description

In Future Cities: All that Matters Camilla Ween will outline the challenges of meeting the anticipated growth of world cities over the next few decades. By 2030 it is predicted that between 80-90 % of the world's population will be living in cities, in several countries this will be 100%; Singapore is already classified as having a 100% urban population. There will be many cities with populations of over 20 million. The infrastructure required to support these cities will be a massive challenge for city planners and governments. Never in the history of civilisation has the need to deliver so much been so urgent - and with dwindling world resources. Tackling the challenges will be further complicated by pressure to develop solutions that are sustainable and include climate change mitigation measures. Some advocate geo-engineering - the large-scale engineering and manipulation of the world's environment e.g. ocean fertilisation to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, as the answer to tackling climate change. Others see this as a doomsday scenario and believe the solution lies in behaviour adaptation, changing the way we live and making do with less. Despite the difficulties, the book will chart how some cities are already tackling the problems, policies that are emerging to meet these challenges and will highlight innovations that are currently being explored.

Camilla Ween is an architect, urbanist and transport expert with extensive experience in sustainable development, regeneration and transportation. She is a director of Goldstein Ween Architects and is a registered architect and Harvard Loeb Fellow. Improving the quality of future cities and the concept of 'livability' is at the forefront of her work. She writes and lectures extensively on the subject and regularly contributes to government and independent panels looking at urban growth, city infrastructure and the integration of public transport systems into the urban fabric. As a Harvard Loeb Fellow she spent a year researching sustainable urban development and climate change. She worked for Transport for London from 2000 to 2011, advising on the impact of land use development and transport strategy. Her book, Future Cities, published in July 2014, looks at the challenges facing future megacities and proposes solutions for a sustainable future. She has contributed to Green Cities of Europe, Global Lessons in Green Urbanism (now published in Chinese) and Harvard Graduate School of Design's Ecological Urbanism.