Editorial

摘要

Today, all cities within the international milieu compete to be perceived as favourable places with international reputations for safety and investment. This resulting competition, along with the increasing urban population and heterogeneous quality, the expansion of urban areas, the intensification of developments within existing cities and towns, the continued proliferation of the high rise and other intensive building types, and the deterioration of both natural and cultural resources has been threatening the image and identity of settlements in the last few decades. In this context, urbanisation and globalisation processes, which have caused a rapid change to our environments, need to be considered together and the concept of identity, which in turn reflects on urban sustainability, to be reintegrated into the agenda of architects, urban designers and planners while hopefully challenging today's orthodoxies. In line with these ideas, the Editorial Panel of Urban Design and Planning has decided to bring into focus the problems and challenges of the cities and towns in the era of globalisation.