The urbanscape – why cities are at the core of sustainability

Much on sustainable development is written from the perspective of countries, or from one of the multitude of people to have attended some related UN conference. Cities as the single largest drivers of the world’s economy, and the single largest generators of pollution and waste, are relatively quiet in the sustainable development debate. This is mostly by design, as cities usually defer to national (or state/provincial) representatives. Local imperatives are often difcult to contextualize in global conversations.