ABSTRACT
Our planet is indeed facing significant demographic challenges. Earth’s population has increased exponentially, and it continues to rise. Today, more than half of the population lives in (mega)cities (Nam and Pardo, 2011). This percentage jumps to more than 66% in the European Union (Eurostat, 2014). Some analysts predict that 70% of the world population will be living in cities by 2050 (The UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study On Sustainability 2013, 2013). The fast growth of the urban population implies numerous economic and societal challenges in domains like mobility, housing, employment, education, culture, security, and natural resource management: water, waste and energy (Nam and Pardo, 2011).
