This workshop is focused on urban population, development and environment (PDE) dynamics in developing countries. The selected papers represent policy-relevant papers that accurately present some aspect of the current PDE dynamics in a given urban agglomeration (i.e., case studies on specific cities based on original research), the findings of which can be applied to solving problems associated with rapid urbanization in contexts of high poverty and growing strains on the environment and natural resources, as well as to promote policies to achieve Millennium Development Goal 7 and its associated targets.

The workshop is sponsored by PERN and the following organizations:

• African Population & Health Research Centre (APHRC)
• Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) of Columbia University
• Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography (CICRED)
• Programme for International Research on the Interactions between Population, Development and Environment (PRIPODE)

To download the papers or view the program agenda, please visit: http://www.cicred.org/Eng/Seminars/Details/Seminars/PDE2007/PDEpapers.htm

Background

The world is rapidly urbanizing. The UN Population Division estimates that by 2007 half the world’s population will be urban. As indicated by Redman and Jones (2004):

“[C]ities occupy 4% or less of the world’s terrestrial surface, yet they are home to almost half the global population, consume close to three-quarters of the world’s natural resources, and generate three-quarters of its pollution and wastes. Moreover, the UN estimates that virtually all net global population and economic growth over the next 30 years will occur in cities, leading to a doubling of current populations. This growth will require unprecedented investment in new infrastructure and create undreamed of challenges for political and social institutions.” (page 1)

Urbanization is particularly rapid in the developing world, where major economic restructuring in countries like China, and the lack of rural employment opportunities in many African and Asian countries, is provoking an exodus from rural areas to towns and cities. Although much of the focus has been on the growth, infrastructural and environmental problems of megacities (those over 10 million in population), the reality is that much urbanization is projected to take place in the small to medium sized cities (e.g., former provincial towns), and not just large or “primate” cities. This poses numerous challenges the environment and health ranging from conversion of cropland, forest and wetlands to urban “built up” areas (and the consequent loss of ecosystem services); adequate provision of improved water and sanitation, particularly in informal settlements; waste removal; and air pollutant emissions from industry and transportation.

The overall purpose of the meeting is to better understand urban population-development-environment linkages with the aim of informing policy and programmes to improve the situation of the urban poor as well as to protect the environment.  This meeting will bring together scientists who have conducted research in individual cities (or perhaps comparative work on a number of cities) exploring these linkages. It will seek to extract from the studies recommendations for improved urban governance. Papers will be solutions-oriented, seeking to identify the leverage points and approaches necessary to meet the housing and service needs of growing populations while seeking greater urban environmental sustainability. Target audiences for the results will be urban managers (mayors, planners, city officials, and agency staff) and other researchers addressing these linkages.

References

Redman, Charles and Nancy S. Jones. 2005. “The Environmental, Social and Health Dimensions of Urban Expansion.” Population and Environment 26(6): 505-520. (See also the PERN Cyberseminar background paper upon which this paper was based.)

Sanchez-Rodriguez, Roberto, Karen C. Seto, David Simon, William Solecki, Frauke Kraas, Gregor Laumann. 2005. Science Plan: Urbanization and Global Environmental Change. Bonn, Germany: IHDP.

Tannerfeldt, Göran and Per Ljung. 2006. More Urban, Less Poor. London: Earthscan.

This invited session at the IUSSP International Population Conference examined a number of different aspects of population-enviornment linkages.

Chair: Landis MacKellar, IIASA
Discussant: Alex de Sherbinin, PERN Coordinator and CIESIN, Columbia University

This workshop was organized by PERN with funding from MacArthur Foundation's Population, Consumption and Environment (PCE) initiative. The purpose of this workshop was to explore a research agenda and methodological approaches for studying the linkages between population, consumption and environment in both developed and developing countries. It built upon earlier research agendas set by the National Research Council's Environmentally Significant Consumption: Research Directions (Stern et al. 1997), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) sustainable consumption initiative (OECD 2002). The agenda was as follows; papers that are linked are available for download. Click here for a workshop summary.

References

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 2002. Towards Sustainable Household Consumption? Trends and Policies in OECD Countries. Paris: OECD.

Stern, P.C., T. Dietz, V.W. Ruttan, R.H. Socolow, and J.L. Sweeney (eds.). 1997. Environmentally Significant Consumption: Research Directions. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. (Available online)