next 30 years or 80% of world urban growth (UNO. Department of Economic and
Social Affairs 2008).Given the fact that the early post-WWII economic growth of
Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan has now been matched by other
Asian countries, particularly the two economic giants of China and India, Asia seems
poised to become the major pivot of the global economy over the next 30 years. If
this region were eventually to achieve the economic and consumption levels of the
developed world without adequately addressing its environmental challenges, this
would present major challenges to the social and economic well-being of Asian
nations. It should be emphasized that this argument is reinforced by the fact that a
large volume of the population in Asia is going to be involved in this urban
transition, much of which will be concentrated in large urban regions accounting
for more than 50% of the global population living in agglomerations of more than
8 million in 2010 (Brinkhof 2010).
Especially in Asia, global warming will pose major threats to the urban environment because of the location of many of these IMRs in deltaic regions reliant upon
the water of major river systems for public, industrial, and agricultural use. This
region has already shown signs of river flow depletion as a result of upstream dams
and diversions and fluctuations in runoff discharges to the river systems. This may be
further compounded by the rise in sea levels that raise the salinity of water in the
coastal zone of these rivers and create increased possibilities of flooding. On top of
the threat to water supplies for domestic and industrial uses are threats to the supplies
for agriculture that produces a large part of the food consumed in these IMRs. Thus,
the mega-urban regions of Asia that are home to an increasing proportion of the
region’s population face major environmental challenges as urbanization increases.
This means policies that emphasize “sustainable urbanization” will become
imperative.
At present, policy responses to the issue of the role of urbanization in the face of
global environmental change falls into two broad areas. First are the global responses
that focus on the reduction in the output of GHGs. Much of the evidence that
establishes the increase in global warming is assembled by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides the evidence that it is used to
develop policies of mitigation that are designed to reduce GHGs. These have been
developed at international meetings in Kyoto and Copenhagen that influence
national and local policies.
A broader and more holistic policy response may be labeled adaptation. Drawing
its intellectual roots from the study of biology, this model sees the environmental
deterioration as stemming from the human relations with the environment and
suggests that human societies have the capacity to transform these relationships.
These strategies are directed toward long-term adaptation in the biotic environment
as well as planning and management of the impacts of environmental deterioration
by human societies.
But it must be stressed that human reaction to this situation is socially determined
and that the ability of human systems to adapt is affected by aspects of adaptation
including vulnerability, resilience, susceptibility, and adaptive capacity. There are
three components involved in this process. The first is structural adjustment
24
T. G. McGee and K. Mori
Social Affairs 2008).Given the fact that the early post-WWII economic growth of
Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan has now been matched by other
Asian countries, particularly the two economic giants of China and India, Asia seems
poised to become the major pivot of the global economy over the next 30 years. If
this region were eventually to achieve the economic and consumption levels of the
developed world without adequately addressing its environmental challenges, this
would present major challenges to the social and economic well-being of Asian
nations. It should be emphasized that this argument is reinforced by the fact that a
large volume of the population in Asia is going to be involved in this urban
transition, much of which will be concentrated in large urban regions accounting
for more than 50% of the global population living in agglomerations of more than
8 million in 2010 (Brinkhof 2010).
Especially in Asia, global warming will pose major threats to the urban environment because of the location of many of these IMRs in deltaic regions reliant upon
the water of major river systems for public, industrial, and agricultural use. This
region has already shown signs of river flow depletion as a result of upstream dams
and diversions and fluctuations in runoff discharges to the river systems. This may be
further compounded by the rise in sea levels that raise the salinity of water in the
coastal zone of these rivers and create increased possibilities of flooding. On top of
the threat to water supplies for domestic and industrial uses are threats to the supplies
for agriculture that produces a large part of the food consumed in these IMRs. Thus,
the mega-urban regions of Asia that are home to an increasing proportion of the
region’s population face major environmental challenges as urbanization increases.
This means policies that emphasize “sustainable urbanization” will become
imperative.
At present, policy responses to the issue of the role of urbanization in the face of
global environmental change falls into two broad areas. First are the global responses
that focus on the reduction in the output of GHGs. Much of the evidence that
establishes the increase in global warming is assembled by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides the evidence that it is used to
develop policies of mitigation that are designed to reduce GHGs. These have been
developed at international meetings in Kyoto and Copenhagen that influence
national and local policies.
A broader and more holistic policy response may be labeled adaptation. Drawing
its intellectual roots from the study of biology, this model sees the environmental
deterioration as stemming from the human relations with the environment and
suggests that human societies have the capacity to transform these relationships.
These strategies are directed toward long-term adaptation in the biotic environment
as well as planning and management of the impacts of environmental deterioration
by human societies.
But it must be stressed that human reaction to this situation is socially determined
and that the ability of human systems to adapt is affected by aspects of adaptation
including vulnerability, resilience, susceptibility, and adaptive capacity. There are
three components involved in this process. The first is structural adjustment
24
T. G. McGee and K. Mori