There is much to be commended, and much to be weeded out, in Foster's vision for a new London airport in the Thames Estuary and the proposal for a new transport, utilities and data spine running the length of the country.
...but with the Al Maktoum International Airport, the logistics centre in Jebel Ali, and a flourishing of small-scale economic life, evidence would suggest otherwise, as Michele Acuto observes.
While Bangalore has a longer history of globalisation than Gurgaon, both are facing major inequality and infrastructure deficits, and both have the human capital to overcome these problems.
The C40 has pushed through major agreements with the Clinton Foundation and the World Bank. But what are the real purposes of these agreements and where does this put cities on the world stage?
A national urban policy must set the strategy for the national urban system--the balancing of small, medium and large cities--and offer a 'global city' future for Australia's regional cities and outer suburban centres.
The cities of the twenty-first century are too big for the old hub-and-spokes models; cities like Los Angeles, London and Sydney should be planned as tapestries, with ruthless disregard for the traditional dominance of our city centres.
The clear strategies employed by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group to exchange lessons and best practices on climate change action between mayors provide a great lesson in knowing what one can really achieve, in order to fully achieve it.
Michele Acuto is CPD Research Fellow at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School, PhD Candidate at the Australian National University…
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
