'Grow first, clean up later' environmental strategies in the developing economies of East Asia pose a critical regional and global sustainability challenge in this area of continuing rapid urban-based industrial growth which is the most polluted region in the world. Using detailed case studies...

The world's environmental future will be determined in significant part by what happens in the rapidly industrializing and urban economies of Asia. This work examines the prospects for and pathways to the shaping of a development future that is far less energy-, materials- and waste-intensive.