Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban Environments (Global Environmental Studies)

This book tackles the challenging issues raised by the growth of large megacities from diverse perspectives and approaches. The central question raised by the growth of megacities is what effect their growth will have on the ability of the global population to live in sustainable, livable, and safe societies. In Part I, important issues on the relationships between megacities and sustainability of the global environment are specified. Part II shows what can be learned from the history and diversity of megacities to solve challenging issues of the present. We present practical approaches that can solve the issues of megacities particularly focusing on human activities that seek the more harmonious relationship between life amenities and the natural environment: population density and urban built environment; production and trade; and environmental education and enlightenment. Part III aims to answer the question, what aspects of megacities should be measured and assessed? Barometers are necessary to control human activities in megacities. We consider how to measure and assess performances of megacities, reviewing some cases of indicators that authors have developed. This publication highlights the challenging issues of the relationships between megacities and sustainability of the global environment and related issues that have accrued from them, based on the following three scales: long-term time scale from the past to the present and future; a vast spatial scale that links global space with local spaces; and the scale of various aspects of human socio-economic activities in megacities. Preface 7 Contents 9 Contributors 11 List of Figures 13 List of Tables 15 Chapter 1: Megacities as a Global Center of Sustainability Issues: Overview of the Book 17 1.1 Light and Shadow of Cities 17 1.2 What is a City? 20 1.3 Megacities and Global Environment 23 1.4 Overview of this Book 24 1.5 Contents of this Book 25 References 27 Part I: Issues in Megacities 30 Chapter 2: The Management of Urbanization, Development, and Environmental Change in the Megacities of Asia in the Twenty-First... 31 2.1 Introduction 31 2.2 Clearing the Decks: Three Central Ideas for Understanding the Nexus Between Urbanization, Development, and Environmental C... 33 2.2.1 Idea I: The Centrality of the Urbanization Process 33 2.2.2 Idea II: Building Adaptable, Resilient, Livable Cities, and Urban Regions 37 2.2.3 Idea III: Building New Systems of Urban Government, Governance, and Eco-Governance 41 2.3 Conclusion 43 References 44 Chapter 3: Historical Ecology of Societal Nucleation and Collapse 48 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 Natural Analogs of Societal Conurbations 49 3.3 Nucleation and Nature 50 3.4 Select Mechanisms of Historical Ecology 50 3.5 The Politics of Urban Messiness 51 3.6 Hierarchy and Complexity 53 3.7 Human-Mediated Disturbance in the Medium Term 54 3.8 Applied Historical Ecology and the Principle of Plenitude 55 References 56 Chapter 4: Diversity and Historical Continuity of the Residential Landscape of a Megacity: A Case Study on the Jakarta Metropo... 58 4.1 Research Purpose and Background 58 4.2 Classification of the Residential Landscape 60 4.2.1 Method 60 4.2.2 Setting of Indicators 61 4.2.3 Classification Unit 62 4.3 Application of the Residential Classification to Jakarta 63 4.3.1 Four Types of Classification and Spatial Distribution 63 4.3.2 Verification of Classification Validity 66 4.4 Residential Landscape and Historical Continuity: The Case of Kampung in Jakarta 70 4.4.1 Proportions of Residential Area Types by Administrative Distinction 70 4.4.2 Origin of the Estimation of kampung in the Colonial Period 71 4.5 Discussions 74 4.6 Conclusions 75 References 77 Chapter 5: Regional Diversity and Sustainability of Megacities in Global Historical Perspective 79 5.1 Introduction 79 5.2 Proposed Regions and Eras Based on Urban Morphology 82 5.2.1 The Six Historical Eras 82 5.2.2 The Six Types of Regional Environments 86 5.3 The Population and Urban Area of the World ́s Big Cities 88 5.3.1 Demographics of Regions and Eras 88 5.3.2 Urban Populations Before 1900 89 5.3.3 Urban Populations from 1900 to 1950 94 5.3.4 Urban Populations After 1950 95 5.3.5 Urban Areas 98 5.4 A Closer Look at the 18 Megacities 100 5.4.1 Five Conditions for a Megacity from a Historical Perspective 101 5.4.2 Dwelling Styles of the Megacities from a Regional Perspective 107 5.4.3 Future Megacities from a Regional Perspective 108 5.5 Conclusion 110 References 111 Part II: Approaches to Sustainable Megacities 114 Chapter 6: Generation of Urban Morphologies Through Long-Term Evolution of Socio-Ecological Urban Systems: Regional Characteri... 115 6.1 Objectives and Background 115 6.1.1 Urban Planning and the Global Environment 116 6.1.2 The ``Compact City ́ ́ 116 6.1.3 Urban Morphology influenced by the Ecological Environment 117 6.2 The Ecological Environment and Urban Morphology 119 6.2.1 Measuring the Degree of Compactness 119 6.2.1.1 Indicators for Measuring City Degree of Compactness 119 6.2.1.2 The Degree of Compactness of Cities 121 6.2.2 The Ecological Environmental Elements that Regulate a City ́s Urban Morphology 121 6.2.2.1 Indicators of the Ecological Environment and Socioeconomic Contexts of Cities 121 6.2.2.2 Multiple Regression Models and Results 124 6.2.3 The Ecological Environment ́s Influence on Urban Morphology 125 6.2.3.1 Hypotheses for the Correlations Between RPI and the Individual Ecological Environmental Elements 125 6.2.3.2 Hypotheses on the Correlations Between Population Density and the Ecological Environmental Elements 128 6.3 Sustainable Managements of Megacities 129 6.3.1 The Association Between Urban Morphology and the Ecological Environment for Each Region 129 6.3.1.1 Asia 130 6.3.1.2 Africa and the Middle East 130 6.3.1.3 North America and Europe 131 6.3.1.4 Latin America 131 6.3.2 Different Target Shapes for Each City 131 6.3.3 Urban Models Dependent on Regional Ecospheres 132 Appendix 133 References 134 Chapter 7: Human Utility of Marine Ecosystem Services and Behavioral Intentions for Marine Conservation: Implications for Urba... 136 7.1 Background 136 7.2 Food Preferences of Urban Consumers 137 7.3 People ́s Behavioral Intentions for Marine Conservation 139 7.4 Discussion 141 References 143 Chapter 8: From Sanitary to Sustainable to Sacred: Metro Nature Experiences and Engagement 144 8.1 Introduction 144 8.2 The Sanitary City 145 8.3 The Sustainable City 146 8.3.1 Green Infrastructure for Sustainability 147 8.3.2 Human Health and Wellness 148 8.4 The Sacred City 151 8.4.1 What Is Sacredness? 151 8.4.2 Civic Appropriateness 152 8.4.3 Philosophical Traditions 153 8.4.4 Nature and Sacred 153 8.4.5 Social Constructions 154 8.4.6 Creating Place 155 8.5 Benefits of Nature-Based Sacred Spaces 156 8.5.1 Importance of Nature Encounters 157 8.5.2 Importance of Quiet 157 8.5.3 Importance of Mindfulness 158 8.6 Civic Environmental Stewardship 158 8.6.1 Nature and Meaning 159 8.6.2 Sacred and Stewardship 160 8.7 Is the Sacred City Possible? 161 8.7.1 Policy Precedents 161 8.7.2 Research Opportunities 162 8.7.3 Challenges: Planning and Equity 163 References 165 Part III: Urban Sustainability Indicators 169 Chapter 9: The City Sustainability Index (CSI): How Should the Sustainability of Megacities Be Assessed? 170 9.1 Introduction 170 9.2 Sustainability 172 9.3 City Sustainability 176 9.4 Comparative Assessment Methods for City Sustainability 177 9.5 City Sustainability Index (CSI) 178 9.6 Sustainability Assessment of Megacities 181 9.7 Discussion 185 9.7.1 Top-Down Approach and Bottom-Up Approach 185 9.7.2 Analysis of Policies: The Third Indicator Category as an Indicator of Specific Characteristics 186 9.8 Conclusion 186 References 187 Chapter 10: The Urban Sustainability Indicators in Québec 190 10.1 Introduction 190 10.2 The Urban Sustainability Indicators Project in Québec 191 10.3 Key Findings and Issues 194 10.4 Criteria for Interpreting USI 195 10.4.1 Criterion 1: USI Scores 195 10.4.2 Criterion 2: Minimal Compensation Between Indicators 196 10.4.3 Criterion 3: Improvement Over Time 196 10.5 Empirical Analysis 197 10.5.1 Indicators ́ Estimation and Cities ́ Comparability 200 10.5.2 Compensation Between Indicators 202 10.5.3 Comparison of the Indicators Over Time 205 10.6 Conclusion: Implications for Megacities 207 References 208 Chapter 11: Sustainability and Urban Functions from the Perspective of the Global Power City Index (GPCI) 211 11.1 Introduction 211 11.2 GPCI and Its Environment Indicators 212 11.2.1 GPCI and Its Methodology 212 11.2.2 GPCI ́s Environment Indicators and Their Definitions 214 11.2.2.1 Under the ``Ecology ́ ́ Indicator Group 215 11.2.2.2 Under the ``Pollution ́ ́ Indicator Group 215 11.2.2.3 Under the ``Natural Environment ́ ́ Indicator Group 216 11.3 Analysis of GPCI ́s Target Cities 217 11.3.1 Forty Global Cities 217 11.3.2 GPCI ́s Top Four Cities: London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo 220 11.3.3 Six Major Asian Cities 221 11.3.4 Six Major European Cities 222 11.3.5 GDP Indicators and the Environment Score 224 11.4 Conclusion 228 References 230