High rises and hotel buildings in Punta Pacifica, Panama City, Panama.
Photo: Gerardo Pesantez/World Bank

By Anthony Wallace

An urban environment expert at The Australian National University (ANU) is among leading scientists calling for a greater say on a new international plan for cities of the future, ahead of a major United Nations conference currently being held.

Professor Xuemei Bai from ANU is one of the scientific leaders of the Urban Knowledge Action Network to be launched at the UN Habitat III conference in Ecuador.

Cities already account for about 75 per cent of global energy use and contribute an equivalent share of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Delegates from the world over are currently in Quito to adopt a new global framework that will guide sustainable urban development for the next 20 years – the New Urban Agenda (NUA).

“Unfortunately science didn’t play a major role in the drafting of the NUA,” said Professor Bai from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.

Read more here.

This story first appeared in Spatial Source magazine.