ABSTRACT
For many people urban areas are concentration points of environmental decay, where pollution, noise annoyance and congestion can mean a serious threat to human welfare and well-being. The majority of the world population lives in urban areas, and this proportion is increasing. And there are no signs of a change in this pattern of a world-wide urbanization. At face value it seems as though cities are exerting a strong centripetal force, so strong that all negative externalities of the city are to be accepted. However, some words of caution are in order. A necessary condition for implementing an effective planning system for urban environmental management is the development of a system of suitable urban environmental indicators. Such indicators, which should represent a balance between the necessary quality of information and the costs involved, would have to be related to economic, social, spatial and cultural dimensions of the city.
