This report investigates relationships between the water and electricity sectors, emphasizing their shared challenges in the context of climate change and urbanization. As both sectors are crucial for modern society, their evolution towards sustainability is increasingly vital. The report begins...

Urbanisation has increased the need for sustainable urban development by positioning smart cities as critical frameworks for addressing environmental, economic, and social challenges. This study evaluates the sustainability strategies of three leading smart cities Zurich, Oslo, and Copenhagen by...

As countries rapidly urbanize, settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This analysis considers spatial urbanization patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985 and 2020 in 55 countries in the Europe and Central Asia region. The evidence in this report suggests that...

Iceland continues to face CO₂ emission challenges despite its near-total reliance on renewable energy. This study analyzes the effects of GDP per capita, renewable energy consumption (RENC), foreign direct investment (FDI), and urbanization on CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2023, using an ARDL...

This study evaluates urbanization's impact on carbon emission rights value in China using translog production functions and carbon shadow pricing models. Firstly, the MK trend test and decoupling analysis divided the city into four carbon emission pressure types, where an enhanced translog...

Transport is among the fastest-growing contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, where rapid urbanization, population growth, and high mobility demand continue to shape energy use. This study aims to quantify the extent to which economic growth...

During the Scramble for Africa, European colonization relied on private concessionary companies that established distinctive institutional frameworks. This paper provides new empirical evidence suggesting that colonial corporate governance produced divergent long-run development trajectories. I...

This study revisits Pakistan's level of urbanization using satellite imagery and the Degree of Urbanization methodology. While official statistics report that 39 percent of the population resides in urban areas, this analysis reveals that the true figure is closer to 88 percent. The substantial...

This report investigates relationships between the water and electricity sectors, emphasizing their shared challenges in the context of climate change and urbanization. As both sectors are crucial for modern society, their evolution towards sustainability is increasingly vital. The report begins...

We examine the urban learning and schooling premium in Peru using two approaches: 1) estimating the effect of local population density on pupils' value-added in learning between grades two to eight, 2) quasi-experimental Census estimations on the effects of the duration of urban exposure in...

The integration of peri-urban areas into smart city initiatives is crucial for addressing regional inequalities and fostering inclusive urban development. In the context of India’s rapid urbanization, peri-urban regions often remain neglected despite their critical role in supporting urban...

Using data from Kenya's 2016 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises survey, the 2017 Census of Establishments, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions, this paper examines the patterns of structural transformation as well as its drivers and barriers in Nairobi. The findings show that...

Cities worldwide have developed policies to promote and control urban densification. However, a high proportion of densification takes place without the purview of strategic planning. It is driven by individual landowners, who hold a strong position in deciding if land is developed or not....

The growing importance of energy efficiency and the sharing economy as critical drivers of sustainable economic development (SED) has garnered significant attention, particularly in rapidly industrializing economies like China. This study explores the impact of these factors on SED in China over...

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 (SDG 11.7) is primarily used to assess the sustainability of urban public spaces. Urban spatial structure (USS) can profoundly influence the level of SDG 11.7. Existing research has typically focused on the impact of single-dimensional USS...

Urban sprawl poses significant challenges to urban sustainability, spatial efficiency, and social equity, particularly in mid-sized cities within resource-constrained settings. This study addresses critical gaps in understanding the interplay between urban sprawl and densification processes in...

Urban centers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asian (SA) regions face challenges like urban sprawl, low-density development, and heavy investment in road infrastructure, worsened by fragmented governance and political instability. This study adopts a qualitative approach,...

This paper examines how African cities can reconcile rapid urbanization and development imperatives with urgent decarbonization goals through structural transformation. It begins by mapping key sources of urban carbon - energy poverty, inefficient buildings, poor planning, transport systems,...

This study conducts a spatial analysis in urban centres in northern Ghana using Earth observation and spatial analysis techniques to understand the local and regional context of urbanisation processes. The spatial analysis informs potential planning interventions and evaluates their impacts. The...

Within the frame of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) work on transformative innovation for climate resilience, in collaboration with DG CLIMA as orchestrator of the European Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change and DG Research and Innovation, JRC's Unit B7 "Innovation...

Energy is vital for economic development because it is an input in almost every sector of the economy. For households, it is considered a basic necessity. Given the significance of energy in driving the economies, the issue of energy poverty is a serious concern for policymakers worldwide....

"Ageing and Urban Planning provides a critical analysis of urban planning in the face of demographic change. It emphasises the importance of international approaches and practices to address age-friendly planning. This process requires collaboration between professionals and the community, going...

This study investigates the impact of green open spaces in reducing the probability of flooding and open waste burning in urban areas in Indonesia's three largest metropolitan cities: Surabaya, Jakarta, and Medan. This study employs urban village microdata from the 2014 and 2018 Village...