SUSTAINABILITY AND THE MEGALOPOLIS:
Facing the urban reality of the 21st century

The report was launched on 17th March. The report is now available to download online -please click here.

MEGALOPOLISES & SUSTAINABILITY

During January to June 2009, the UCL Environment Institute held a series of six seminars exploring a variety of issues raised by the pursuit of sustainability for megalopolises, i.e. the mega-cities that are a feature of our urban landscape. Altogether some 21 presentations were made leading to lively discussion among the seminar participants.

This report is a synthesis of these 18 hours of seminars, drawing out the key themes that emerged.

Launch of the UCL Environment Institute Report on Megalopolises and Sustainability

Presentation by Professor Yvonne Rydin followed by a Panel Discussion and then refreshments.

Panel participants:

Professor Jane Wills, Queen Mary, University of London (to be confirmed)

Professor Simon Joss, University of Westminster

Dr. Gareth Jones, London School of Economics (to be confirmed)

Dr. Paula Vandergert, CABE

Shirley Rodrigues, Sustainable Development Commission

Copies of the report will be made available to participants of this event.

The seminar series was supported by the EPSRC-funded Bridging The Gaps Programme.

Seminar Summaries and Background:

Cities and Climate Change programme for 2008/9

sponsored by:

In a series of seminars held over 2008/9, the Cities and Climate Change programme brought together expertise from across UCL’s array of departments, schools and institutes to address the problem of sustainability and the megalopolis.

We live in an era of urbanisation but also of increasing urban scale. Not only are cities getting bigger, but they are increasingly best seen as forming parts of urban regions with complex internal inter-connections. A variety of terms have been used to capture this emerging urban reality but megalopolis is particularly useful, suggesting the importance of scale and of governance across a complex urban area.

Since such megalopolises are increasingly going to define the urban experience in the 21st century, it is critical to understand how they engage with the goal of sustainability. Can a megalopolis ever be sustainable? How can they be made more sustainable? Are megalopolises particularly vulnerable to climate change and other 21st century hazards? How can they be made more resilient? Do they have a particular role to play in accentuating or mitigating climate change? How big do they get before they become unsustainable?  What breaks down as size increases?

Six seminars which started in January and finished in the June addressed these and other questions over Wednesday afternoons. Informal lunchtime discussion, followed by presentations given by invited speakers and more discussion focused on a series of interrelated topics:

Climate change and the megalopolis - Click here for a summary report of this seminar
21st January 2009 (lunch 1-2pm, presentations and discussion 2-5pm)
UCL, Pearson Building, Room 301

Transport, energy and water infrastructure, sustainability and the megalopolises Click here for a summary report of this seminar                
25th February 2009 (lunch 1-2pm, presentations and discussion 2-5pm)
UCL, Pearson Building, Room 301.                  

Health, climate change and the megalopolis Click here for a summary report of this seminar 
18th March 2009 (lunch 1-2pm, presentations and discussion 2-5pm)
UCL, Pearson Building, Room G07.

Security, resilience and the megalopolis Click here for a summary report of this seminar    
29th April 2009  (lunch 1-2pm, presentations and discussion 2-5pm)
UCL, Pearson Building, Room 301.  

Sustainability, society and culture in the megalopolis Click here for a summary report of this seminar    
20th May 2009   (lunch 1-2pm, presentations and discussion 2-5pm)
UCL, Pearson Building, Room 301.

Policy frameworks for megalopolises: economics, planning and governance Click here for a summary report of this seminar
17th June 2009 (lunch 1-2pm, presentations and discussion 2-5pm)
UCL, Pearson Building, Room 301.  

Each seminar will be written-up after each event and placed on the Environment Institute website as a record of emerging areas of agreement and contention. The seminars will culminate in a final report: the UCL report on “Sustainability and the Megalopolis”.

Contacts

Yvonne Rydin, Co-Director of the Environment Institute on Cities & Climate Change