The growing environmental footprints of cities in Australia and the
Asia-Pacific region are intensifying the consumption of natural
resources and creating growing problems of pollution and waste
disposal. Additionally, there is growing sociospatial inequality and
problems of social exclusion, increasing the likelihood of urban social
conflict. This research program will primarily address social and
environmental sustainability in cities experiencing global economic
forces, as well as on the impacts of and policy responses to climate
change at the systemic level of cities and their regions. Whereas the
Program on ‘Community Sustainability and Social Infrastructure’
emphasizes the social dimension of sustainability, this Program
emphasizes the physical infrastructure side of adaptation to
globalization and climate change. The emphasis throughout will be on
developing adaptive strategies to ameliorate the globally induced urban
pressures; thus the program will have a strong applied research and
public-policy cast. |
