Editorial: Design and planning for an urban planet

摘要

Urbanisation is one of the four mega-trends of our age, according to Joan Clos (Executive Director of UN-Habitat, and former Mayor of Barcelona) - along with globalisation, information and communications technology and climate change (UN-Habitat, 2011). Indeed, the majority of the world's population now lives in towns and cities. As humanity becomes an increasingly urban species, the urban built environment is increasingly the signature human habitat. The prerogative for urban designers and planners to shape that environment for the better has never been greater.