ABSTRACT
Global climate change in the 21st century will depend on the interaction of three trajectories – population growth (which is essentially going to be in urban areas of developing countries), economic growth and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This chapter addresses it with a comprehensive study of the interrelationship between economic development, urbanization and GHG emissions (carbon footprint). First acknowledging the literary associations between: economic development and GHGs, which is epitomized with North-South debates in the global environmental governance; and urbanization and GHGs, which is a relatively newer area of interest. This is followed by augmenting discourse on the interrelationship between economic development, urbanization and GHGs, with evidence from global and Indian historical data, using time-series analysis. In order to seek clarity on this subject, spatial analytics are applied, which for the first time considers urbanization as an independent parameter and, in accordance with the development status of different countries, recognizes or differentiates these carbon footprints.
