- Home
- Studies
- Urban growth imperatives
Urban growth imperatives
« Rapid urban growth has become one of the major challenges facing the international community »
Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the United Nations, World Urban Forum, December 2004, Barcelona
Mastering this urban proliferation is indispensable because it affects not only the quality of life but also economic development : most wealth being created in cities. The correct functioning of a metropolitan area depends on the quality of its infrastructure and the way in which this is organized. This reality is all the more demanding in that new needs are appearing in terms of services : water and its treatment, fighting pollution, waste disposal, energy distribution systems, communication and transportation networks, etc. In developing countries controling the urban phenomenon is a major development issue. This is why the Institute has made it one of its priorities.
Studies launched by the Institute
Ecological footprint - establishing a tool to measure and manage urban energy use in India and China
Partner: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India
Period of study: 2007-2008
Considering urban growth and the energy demand, this study analyses the ecological footprint of urban households' energy consumption and its impact on the environment. In an initial phase, it redefines the method in order to make it more dynamic and more efficient. In a second phase, an assessment of this indicator will be done in two cities, one in China and the other one in India.
The contribution of public transportation to urban sustainable development
Partner: Francis Beaucire, Professor of geography, Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University, France
Period of study: 2003-2005
So as to take into account not only energy consumption and air pollution aspects but also the wider dimension of urban centre revitalisation or the cohesion between the various social territories that make up urban mosaics, it was considered useful for the purpose of this study to analyse urban travel as a whole. This approach implies recalling some fundamental data but also defining a methodology in order to better measure the different parameters of mobility.
The new constraints of urban development
Partners: Rémy Prud'homme, University of Paris XII and Gabriel Dupuy, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France.
The analysis of Rémi Prud'homme(Emeritus professor at Université Paris XII, France) and Gabriel Dupuy (Professor of urban planning at Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France) put an emphasis on the margin for action between innovation and financial constraints in order to structure urban development. Daphné Boret ( Graduate from the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France) studied how environmental services can bring solutions when faced to news contraints due to the expansion of cities.
Urban segregation, transport and household wellbeing: Economic representation, ethical assessment
Partners: Jean-Charles Hourcade, Director of Research, CNRS, Head of the International Centre for Research on the Environment and Development (CIRED), Paris, France; Elisabeth Tovar, post-graduate, CIRED.
Period of study: 2002-2005
The aim is to develop theoretical and applied instruments to account for the effects of variations in transport prices and supply on the wellbeing of urban households. The objective therefore is to measure with an economic model the impact of a transport policy that includes green measures (fuel price increases and enhanced public transport supply) on the wellbeing of households, depending on their place of residence and their travelling needs.
Conferences
October 2009 « Trade, urbanization and the environment »
October 28-30, 2009 - Beijing, P. R. China
Partners: Center for Human and Economic Development Studies (CHEDS), Peking University.
