Focusing on megacities, conurbations with more than five million inhabitants, the contributors analyze their impact on the environment and identify solutions to the worst problems. They propose ways of making the management of megacities more sustainable. "
Since the beginning of the Doi Moi reforms, Vietnam's economy and society have been profoundly transformed. While in 1986 less than 13 million of Vietnam's inhabitants lived in areas classified as urban (20%), the number has risen to more than 30 million inhabitants today (35% of the total population). This massive urbanisation was made possible by the rapid transformation of the former agricultural state into an industrial and service state and extensive migration processes from rural areas to the fast growing cities and megacities. Fifteen articles analyse the current situation.
Myanmar is a land of many contrasts. Fascinating discoveries await in the dense crowds of the capital metropolis, as well as in the remoteness of the Chin Mountains. When you go beyond the tourist highlights in Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake, you can now experience the authentic Myanmar. Many regions have been inaccessible for decades, which is how so many places of breathtaking originality and rare cultural achievements survived. The co-authors offer knowledgeable and entertaining insights into their own favourite places and lead you to the secluded and impressive gems.
Megacities are gaining importance as hubs of globalisation processes in a world increasingly dominated by cities. A deeper understanding of the multiple causes and drivers of their development is needed in order to shape the global urban transformation towards sustainability. The interdisciplinary research programme “Megacities – Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change” aimed at understanding the connections between informal mega-urban processes and global change by investigating the situation in the two mega-urban areas of the Pearl River Delta/China and Dhaka/Bangladesh. The research focused on processes and interactions in four fields with high development dynamics and social relevance: new forms of governance and self-organisation, differentiation of urban economies, dynamics of matter and resource flows, and informal settlement development.
The Socio-Economic Atlas of Myanmar focuses on the analysis and evaluation of regional differences in geographical conditions, natural resources, infrastructure and, in particular, the socio-economic development in the states and regions of the country in the current transformation process of Myanmar. The Atlas is based on international literature, statistical data, qualitative research and spatial information in a Geographic Information System on Myanmar. The spatial analyses aim to increase the state of knowledge about Myanmar both within the country and abroad, and to support decision-making on spatial development policy.
The momentum of urbanization and its impacts are so massive that we must face up to this trend. In view of the existing cognitive, technical, economic and institutional path dependencies, a policy of business as usual – i. e. an unstructured, quasi-automatic urbanization – would lead to a non-sustainable ‘world cities society’. Only if cities and urban societies are sufficiently empowered can they make use of the opportunities for sustainability and successfully follow the urban transformation pathways. The success or failure of the Great Transformation will be decided in the cities. The WBGU discusses the relevant conditions for the success of this transformation in this report.
Megacities are new urban phenomena, results of globalisation and subject to as well as motors of global ecological, socio-economic, and political change. New are the dimensions of growth, concentrations of population, infrastructure, economic power and decisions - and the simultaneous, self-energising acceleration processes of development. But one must be wary of generalised statements since differences of economic performance, social coherence, infrastructure conditions and governance structures should not be ignored: The publication aims at analysing current transformation processes of Yangon/Myanmar, as spearhead of national development, bridge to Southeast Asia and the world.
German Geographical Research on East and Southeast Asia
Dies ist die Zusammenfassung des WBGU-Hauptgutachtens zum Thema Urbanisierung. Die Wucht der derzeitigen Urbanisierungsdynamik und ihre Auswirkungen sind so groß, dass sich weltweit Städte, Stadtgesellschaften, Regierungen und Internationale Organisationen diesem Trend stellen müssen. Ein „Weiter so wie bisher“, würde ohne gestaltende Urbanisierungspolitik zu einer nicht-nachhaltigen Welt-Städte-Gesellschaft führen. Nur wenn Städte und Stadtgesellschaften ausreichend handlungsfähig werden, können sie ihre Kraft für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung entfalten: In den Städten wird sich entscheiden, ob die Große Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit gelingt. In diesem Buch werden die Erfolgsbedingungen dafür diskutiert.