ABSTRACT
Human activity and environment are interdependent. Historically, human civilization grew around such geographical locations which could sustain the population requirements. Some such examples are ancient cities like Varanasi (India), Henan (China), Hanoi (Vietnam), and Cairo (Egypt).The population growth has led to the creation of new settlements and cities which necessarily are not as sustainable in view of environmental issues such as global warming, food shortages, land degradation, etc.
As per the United Nations Sustainable Development Network Report, Europe is the top region with highest sustainable development scores. In Asia, the only countries that rank high on sustainable development scores are Japan and South Korea. At the same time, in Asia, the emerging market economies that indicate high potential for sustainability have nurtured several innovative companies, and there is also ongoing research and development and investment in the area of building urban sustainability. With the United Nation’s sustainable development goals, the initiatives are manifold towards sustainable growth and consumption across Asia and linking of emerging smart cities. This chapter aims to explore the sustainable initiatives across select Asian countries and how such initiatives are helping to build smart cities. The countries considered will be some leading ASEAN nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore), China, and India. The chapter will analyze the various initiatives by policymakers and how the overall stakeholders play a vital role in developing smart cities with sustainability as the primary motive.
