ABSTRACT
Cities now are vital settlements for the survival of humanity and provide scope for the expansion of future life on this planet. The vitality and viability of human exertion towards global sustainability shall also be determined by the future of our cities. The pace of urbanisation worldwide has been increasing with rising consumption of resources and pollution. In 1800, just 5 percent of the global population lived in urban areas. In industrialised countries, this increased to just under 15 percent in 1900. In 2008, over half of the world’s population lived in cities. It is now predicted that around 68 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050 – an increase of 2.5 billion people and almost 90 percent of this population growth will occur in Asia and Africa (UN DESA 2018a). Several Asian cities simultaneously demonstrate dichotomous phenomena, including poverty and wealth, formality and informality, and new and modern skylines along with historic and dilapidated core areas (Bharne 2013). The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) constitute a major share of the global urban population and are also among the fastest-growing economies in terms of urbanisation (Chen et al. 2014, UN DESA 2018a). However, the nature of rapid urbanisation varies with the level of existing development in a country and its cities. Unlike advanced economies, where higher urbanisation translates into higher economic wealth (Chauvin et al. 2017), the relationship is more complex in emerging economies where rapid urbanisation does not always lead to rapid economic growth (Chen et al. 2014). With limited resources and rising urban populations, emerging economies need innovative policy measures to meet the goals of sustainable urban development.
