Climate Action 2012-2013

The Built Environment
A NEW PARADIGM
FOR URBAN PLANNING
By Dr Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-Habitat
The demographic and economic shifts of the last two decades have transformed cities and urban centres into
the dominant human habitats. Cities have a disproportionately large effect on climate change, contributing
as much as 70 per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions, while occupying as little as 2 per cent of the land,
according to UN-Habitat’s latest Global Report on Human Settlements, Cities and Climate Change.
The way our cities develop has a critical
bearing on the success or failure of sustainable
development. The cities of the world’s emerging
economies are becoming the drivers of the global
economy while the planet’s resources are rapidly
being depleted. Without effective urban planning
this can result in urban sprawl, the degradation
of the environment and the proliferation of
slums. We must urgently find a way to achieve
economically and socially equitable growth
without further cost to the environment or
increase in urban inequality.
Over the course of the United Nations Rio+20
Summit, we heard a great deal of discussion about
the way forward on sustainable development. It
is more critical than ever that United Nations
member states and agencies put sustainable
urbanisation at the heart of discussions. When
managed poorly, urbanisation can be detrimental
to sustainable development. However, when
“Many cities now find
themselves locked into an
unsustainable model of
urbanisation.”
urban planning is efficiently implemented, cities
can contribute positively to reducing per capita
greenhouse gas emissions and improving the
standard of living for all citizens.
‘GREEN’ CITIES?
The current design of many cities is based
primarily on a 20th-century model with a focus
on zoning areas for specific and exclusive land use.
However, this model results in sprawl, segregation
and congestion, with many cities actually
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