developing countries in tropical or temperate zones. The megacities show unprecedentedly intricate patterns of human–environmental interaction, and they have a
massive influence on the global environment and other regions they rely
on. Megacities should be fully consistent with the sustainability of the global
environment for ensuring that human beings on Earth can continue to live safely.
Discussions about sustainability include not only the environmental dimension but
also economic and social dimensions. Cities produce socioeconomic prosperity due
to increasing returns to scale while they impose costs, such as congestions and
enlarging distributional inequity. We simultaneously need to consider both the
positive and negative sides of cities. Ideal types of megacities need to satisfy
sustainability criteria in all three dimensions, although they are diverse. We have
approached the concepts of diverse ideal megacities.
This book is partly based on the project on “Megacities and the Global Environment. How Should Megacities be Changed and Developed in Order to Make Human
Beings on Earth Sustainable?” This project was implemented as one of the full
research projects conducted at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
(RIHN) in Kyoto during the 2010–2014 fiscal years.
1.5 Contents of this Book
The title of the book is Living in Megacities: Towards Sustainable Urban Environments. Focusing on megacities, we provide innovative ideas and perspectives on the
way of living and human activities for sustainability. As we mentioned above, cities
are one of the centers for sustainability issues, and the negative impact of cities
spreads beyond their boundaries. For tackling global sustainability issues, we need
to discuss how we can and should wisely manage the way of living in megacities.
This book consists of three parts. Part I clarifies the challenging issues we should
tackle in terms of megacities and sustainability of the global environment. McGee
provides a historical overview of the challenges of megacities in Chap. 2. He
mentions that we are now in a situation that new ideas are necessary to develop
policy solutions to the challenges we face, such as global environmental change, a
rapidly urbanizing world, the reshaping of world energy systems in the face of “peak
oil scenarios,” economic restructuring in response to increasing global economic
volatility, and problems of societal adjustment. In this context, he argues three
central ideas for understanding the nexus between urbanization, development, and
environmental change in the twenty-first century. In Chap. 3, Balée gives an
interesting perspective on the relationships between urbanization (landscape transformation in general) and societal collapses from the viewpoint of historical ecology.
He points out that societal collapses occur due to contingencies such as catastrophes,
overshoots (environmental degradation), climate change, and other identified factors, and that collapses also bring about innovations in societies. Therefore, it turns
out that no single explanation can be given about linkages of intensification of
landscape transformation with societal collapses. He insists that we need to study
1 Megacities as a Global Center of Sustainability Issues: Overview of the Book
9
massive influence on the global environment and other regions they rely
on. Megacities should be fully consistent with the sustainability of the global
environment for ensuring that human beings on Earth can continue to live safely.
Discussions about sustainability include not only the environmental dimension but
also economic and social dimensions. Cities produce socioeconomic prosperity due
to increasing returns to scale while they impose costs, such as congestions and
enlarging distributional inequity. We simultaneously need to consider both the
positive and negative sides of cities. Ideal types of megacities need to satisfy
sustainability criteria in all three dimensions, although they are diverse. We have
approached the concepts of diverse ideal megacities.
This book is partly based on the project on “Megacities and the Global Environment. How Should Megacities be Changed and Developed in Order to Make Human
Beings on Earth Sustainable?” This project was implemented as one of the full
research projects conducted at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
(RIHN) in Kyoto during the 2010–2014 fiscal years.
1.5 Contents of this Book
The title of the book is Living in Megacities: Towards Sustainable Urban Environments. Focusing on megacities, we provide innovative ideas and perspectives on the
way of living and human activities for sustainability. As we mentioned above, cities
are one of the centers for sustainability issues, and the negative impact of cities
spreads beyond their boundaries. For tackling global sustainability issues, we need
to discuss how we can and should wisely manage the way of living in megacities.
This book consists of three parts. Part I clarifies the challenging issues we should
tackle in terms of megacities and sustainability of the global environment. McGee
provides a historical overview of the challenges of megacities in Chap. 2. He
mentions that we are now in a situation that new ideas are necessary to develop
policy solutions to the challenges we face, such as global environmental change, a
rapidly urbanizing world, the reshaping of world energy systems in the face of “peak
oil scenarios,” economic restructuring in response to increasing global economic
volatility, and problems of societal adjustment. In this context, he argues three
central ideas for understanding the nexus between urbanization, development, and
environmental change in the twenty-first century. In Chap. 3, Balée gives an
interesting perspective on the relationships between urbanization (landscape transformation in general) and societal collapses from the viewpoint of historical ecology.
He points out that societal collapses occur due to contingencies such as catastrophes,
overshoots (environmental degradation), climate change, and other identified factors, and that collapses also bring about innovations in societies. Therefore, it turns
out that no single explanation can be given about linkages of intensification of
landscape transformation with societal collapses. He insists that we need to study
1 Megacities as a Global Center of Sustainability Issues: Overview of the Book
9