Chapter 2
The Management of Urbanization,
Development, and Environmental Change
in the Megacities of Asia in the Twenty-First
Century
Terry G. McGee and Koichiro Mori
2.1 Introduction
This chapter argues that the challenges presented by global environmental change
are bringing about many problems of societal adjustment and economic
restructuring. These challenges are the result of a rapidly urbanizing world and the
reshaping of world energy systems due to the volatility in global energy production
and markets. This creates a scenario where new ideas are needed to develop policy
solutions. In particular, policy makers must recognize that the ideas used to interpret
social and economic change in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries should be
recast to reflect the new realities of the twenty-first century. Although these previous
ideas have become dysfunctional, they remain embedded in the present, a fact that
becomes even more apparent as the world becomes more urbanized.
In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we are faced with an apparently
unresolved dilemma. At a global level, there exist two apparently irreconcilable
visions of the global future. The first vision gives priority to a form of economic
growth that emphasizes the materiality of cities in an increasingly urbanized world.
Cities are seen as engines of growth that are central to the creation of modernized,
high consumption developed societies. A second vision sees cities as “arenas” in
which this economic emphasis is presenting many challenges to their very sustainability. A successful response will largely involve the adoption of policies that create
“low-carbon cities” with a view that the development of new lifestyles, consumption
T. G. McGee
Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
K. Mori (*)
Faculty of Economics, Shiga University, Hikone, Shiga, Japan
e-mail: ko-mori@biwako.shiga-u.ac.jp
© Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2021
S. Muramatsu et al. (eds.), Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban
Environments, Global Environmental Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56901-5_2
17
The Management of Urbanization,
Development, and Environmental Change
in the Megacities of Asia in the Twenty-First
Century
Terry G. McGee and Koichiro Mori
2.1 Introduction
This chapter argues that the challenges presented by global environmental change
are bringing about many problems of societal adjustment and economic
restructuring. These challenges are the result of a rapidly urbanizing world and the
reshaping of world energy systems due to the volatility in global energy production
and markets. This creates a scenario where new ideas are needed to develop policy
solutions. In particular, policy makers must recognize that the ideas used to interpret
social and economic change in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries should be
recast to reflect the new realities of the twenty-first century. Although these previous
ideas have become dysfunctional, they remain embedded in the present, a fact that
becomes even more apparent as the world becomes more urbanized.
In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we are faced with an apparently
unresolved dilemma. At a global level, there exist two apparently irreconcilable
visions of the global future. The first vision gives priority to a form of economic
growth that emphasizes the materiality of cities in an increasingly urbanized world.
Cities are seen as engines of growth that are central to the creation of modernized,
high consumption developed societies. A second vision sees cities as “arenas” in
which this economic emphasis is presenting many challenges to their very sustainability. A successful response will largely involve the adoption of policies that create
“low-carbon cities” with a view that the development of new lifestyles, consumption
T. G. McGee
Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
K. Mori (*)
Faculty of Economics, Shiga University, Hikone, Shiga, Japan
e-mail: ko-mori@biwako.shiga-u.ac.jp
© Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2021
S. Muramatsu et al. (eds.), Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban
Environments, Global Environmental Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56901-5_2
17