Sustainable Development and Planning III (Electronic book text)

The increasing urbanisation of the world, coupled with the global issues of environmental pollution, resources shortage and economic restructuring, demand that we make our cities places worth living in. However, problems of environmental management and planning are not restricted to urban areas. Environments such as rural areas, forests, coastal regions and mountains face their own problems that require urgent solutions in order to avoid irreversible damage. The use of modern technologies in planning gives us new potential to monitor and prevent environmental degradation.With papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning, this book addresses the subjects of sustainable development and regional planning in an integrated way keeping in mind that present generations have to find the appropriate way to satisfy their needs without compromising the ability of future generations. It has become apparent that planners, environmentalists, architects, engineers, policy makers and economists have to work together in order to ensure that sustainable development and planning can be achieved. The increase in spatial problems that can be seen in many countries has lead to planning crises. Planning problems are often connected with uneven development, deterioration of the quality of urban life and environmental pollution.