Living in the Megacity: Towards Sustainable Urban Environments

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? Barometersare 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.