Urban Environmental Pollution
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, a trend that is rapidly
accelerating, especially in developing countries. In the USA, urban areas are merging into huge
megalopitan areas, especially along interstate highways. Cities require and use large quantities
of energy and materials, metabolizing them and generating large quantities of waste products and
pollutants, resulting in unsustainable environments that adversely affect ecological integrity and
diversity and human health and well-being. The effects of cities on people are not well-
understood. Cities require huge amounts of energy, resulting in large quantities of waste
products, causing unsustainable environments. Cities are sources of air, water and soil pollution.
Light and noise pollution are now known to adversely affect urban people. The role of urban heat
on human health is beginning to emerge. Lack of green space may have psychological effects for
urban dwellers. Looking more widely, cities only encompass 2% of the world’s land surface, yet
they are responsible for consuming over 75% of the planet’s resources and produce 75% of the
world’s waste. Many of the cities of tomorrow are more likely to be mega or super cities, with
single mega-cities spawning sprawling urban regions representing the largest, most complex
manmade structures ever created. For all of these reasons, we view the urban environment as a
pressing issue requiring prompt attention. The opportunities are immense, but the problems are
acute and the time to deal with them is already upon us. The urban environment therefore
demands urgent attention as huge commitments are currently being made for the future in the
absence of a coherent urban environmental policy framework. This is occurring at a time when
the majority of the world’s population lives in cities and other urban areas, many of which are
already experiencing difficulty in meeting
accelerating, especially in developing countries. In the USA, urban areas are merging into huge
megalopitan areas, especially along interstate highways. Cities require and use large quantities
of energy and materials, metabolizing them and generating large quantities of waste products and
pollutants, resulting in unsustainable environments that adversely affect ecological integrity and
diversity and human health and well-being. The effects of cities on people are not well-
understood. Cities require huge amounts of energy, resulting in large quantities of waste
products, causing unsustainable environments. Cities are sources of air, water and soil pollution.
Light and noise pollution are now known to adversely affect urban people. The role of urban heat
on human health is beginning to emerge. Lack of green space may have psychological effects for
urban dwellers. Looking more widely, cities only encompass 2% of the world’s land surface, yet
they are responsible for consuming over 75% of the planet’s resources and produce 75% of the
world’s waste. Many of the cities of tomorrow are more likely to be mega or super cities, with
single mega-cities spawning sprawling urban regions representing the largest, most complex
manmade structures ever created. For all of these reasons, we view the urban environment as a
pressing issue requiring prompt attention. The opportunities are immense, but the problems are
acute and the time to deal with them is already upon us. The urban environment therefore
demands urgent attention as huge commitments are currently being made for the future in the
absence of a coherent urban environmental policy framework. This is occurring at a time when
the majority of the world’s population lives in cities and other urban areas, many of which are
already experiencing difficulty in meeting