topic: Urban Planning

topic: Urban Planning

Social media activity version | Lean version

Borneo and Sumatra megaprojects are carving up clouded leopard forests
- Massive infrastructure projects currently underway on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra are set to severely erode forest connectivity across key habitats of the Sunda clouded leopard.
- Two major highway networks and the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city to Borneo will further fragment the domain of the arboreal predator that has already experienced steep population declines in recent decades due to the expansion of oil palm and poaching.
- Experts say the findings will help to target conservation actions, but they add that road design standards and development planning processes remain woefully inadequate in the region.
- The authors call for improved development strategies that seriously consider sustainability and include data-based environmental assessments and mitigation measures, such as wildlife crossings and avoidance of sensitive ecosystems.

Controversy brews over proposed dam on Kathmandu’s Bagmati River
- A proposed dam on Kathmandu’s Bagmati River aims to collect rainwater during the wet season and release it in the dry season to rejuvenate the river, but skeptics question its viability and safety.
- Concerns include environmental impact, potential destruction of trees, pollution and the risk of dam failure in earthquake-prone Nepal.
- Political, ecological and community-related questions remain unanswered, with some advocating for alternatives and further analysis before proceeding.

The Amazon’s archaeology of hope: Q&A with anthropologist Michael Heckenberger
- A professor at the University of Florida, Michael Heckenberger has been visiting and studying Indigenous peoples at the Upper Xingu River for decades and says the Amazon is already facing its tipping point: “It’s a tipping event.”
- In this interview for Mongabay, he tells how he and his colleagues have been practicing an “archeology of hope” — helping the Indigenous peoples in the region to prepare for climate change, using ancestral knowledge pulled out from archaeological research.
- “It should be the default, not the exception, to assume that there were Indigenous people living or dwelling in some way on almost every inch of Brazilian land,” he says about the marco temporal thesis, which aims to limit new Indigenous territories, now being discussed in Brazilian Congress.

Elders call for Indigenous cultural preservation in new Indonesia capital
- The Balik and Paser Indigenous communities worry that traditions risk becoming supplanted by Indonesia’s new capital city on the east coast of Borneo.
- More than half of the new capital estate could be considered customary territory, according to the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago.
- Indigenous elders said that if rituals are to be conserved, then the customary territories must be maintained, while the local government says it is working on programs to uphold local culture.

São Paulo students plant mini-forests on school grounds as urban oases
- Four thousand students planted nearly 10,000 trees on public school grounds in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2022, and another eight mini-forests will be planted in 2023.
- The project, created by the NGO formigas-de-embaúba, could be implemented at 650 public schools in the city, according to a MapBiomas study.
- Guarani leaders from the Jaraguá Indigenous Territory participate in the project, which was inspired by Indigenous knowledge and cosmology.
- Specialists see mini-forests at schools as a strong strategy for creating a democratic network of “cooling places” or urban oases in the face of intensifying global warming.

Opposition grows to Indonesia’s resumption of sea sand exports
- Marine conservation and fisheries activists in Indonesia are pushing for exports of sea sand to be scrapped, saying the activity harms the environment and community livelihoods.
- Indonesia imposed a ban on exports of dredged sea sand in 2003, but reversed the policy through a regulation issued in May this year.
- Activists say the policy directly threatens the future of Indonesian fishing and coastal communities in the world’s largest archipelagic nation, where millions of people are dependent on fishing for their livelihoods.
- Others say the resumption of exports will benefit foreign interests, including Singapore, which has expanded its land area by 20% thanks largely to Indonesian sand, and China, which is building artificial islands to shore up its claims to parts of the South China Sea.

Five ways to increase tree cover in cities (commentary)
- As cities in the U.S. and other nations suffer from current heat waves, one proven way to cool urban areas and clean the air is by planting trees.
- The solution sounds simple but there are numerous barriers to increasing tree cover in urban areas, from high mortality rates to capacity limitations within municipal forestry, parks, and recreation departments.
- “Trees are as integral to city infrastructure as sidewalks and power lines,” a new op-ed that shares useful resources says: people need improved information and tools to advocate for, plan, and implement urban tree conservation, maintenance, and planting activities to support cities’ future livability, equity, and public health.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesian architect presses vision for low-cost homes from nature
- Architect Yu Sing is among a number of notable Indonesian architects prizing natural materials and traditional techniques as part of contemporary design.
- For more than a decade, Yu Sing’s Bandung-based Studio Akanoma has built projects great and small, from showpiece convention spaces to communal bamboo kitchens for women farmers.
- In 2009, Yu Sing published a book, Mimpi Rumah Murah, setting out his vision for affordable homes using locally available natural materials.

For urban poor in Global South, nature-based solutions have always been a way to get by
- Nature-based solutions are increasingly being seen as a way of providing societal benefits and conserving biodiversity.
- Informal settlements, which lack necessary infrastructure and are often at the forefront of climate change and other natural disasters, can benefit from nature-based solutions and improve residents’ quality of life.
- A recent study explored the different forms of nature-based solutions in practice in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, their benefits and disadvantages, and identifies factors that make them successful.
- While the term “nature-based solutions” has recently been popularized in the Global North, researchers note that communities in many parts of the world have engaged in these practices for centuries.

Experts, activists unite to blast Indonesia’s U-turn on sea sand exports
- Indonesia will resume exporting sand dredged from the sea, commonly used in reclamation projects, ending a 20-year ban.
- Environmental activists and marine experts have criticized the policy, saying the resumption caters only to business interests and fails to consider the damage to marine ecosystems and fishing communities.
- The government says it will only allow dredging on seabed areas where sediment from land runoff has accumulated, adding that this will also help ease ship traffic.
- But critics say these arguments are meaningless and a form of greenwashing, and have called for widespread public opposition to the policy.

Soil carbon in urban parks important in fighting climate change, study shows
- A recent study shows that urban parks and green spaces throughout the world have a similar amount of carbon stored in their soils as in natural regions close to cities, which means urban green spaces can be important to global carbon sequestration and mitigating the potential effects of climate change.
- Soil microbes in urban green spaces play a vital role in carbon storage, but that carbon is also vulnerable to loss through microbial respiration in an increasingly warmer world; researchers emphasize the need for greater understanding of the soil microbiome in urban policies and planning.
- For context, Suriname has 93% forest cover nationwide and is often referred to as the world’s “greenest” country — but the capital city, Paramaribo, lacks a structural approach to urban greenery.
- Researchers conducted a project to promote a greener and more livable Paramaribo, with the aim of mitigating the effects of climate change and raising awareness among citizens.

Human migration to Nepal’s tiger capital adds to conservation challenges
- Chitwan district in central Nepal is home to the eponymous national park that’s come to symbolize the country’s success in growing its tiger population.
- But the district’s human population is also growing, at a rate far higher than the national average, driven by migrants seeking better health services and other urban amenities.
- Conservationists have raised concerns that the growing human presence in the area will pose additional challenges to conservation efforts and put a strain on natural resources such as forests, rivers and land.
- Some warn of an increase in human-tiger conflict, especially involving migrants who don’t share the same traditional knowledge that Indigenous residents have of coexisting alongside the big cats.

Cambodia’s elites swallow up Phnom Penh’s lakes, leaving the poor marooned
- Lakes in Phnom Penh are fast being filled in and parceled off as prime real estate to wealthy and politically connected individuals.
- Families who have for generations fished and practiced aquaculture on the lakes and surrounding wetlands face eviction and the loss of livelihoods.
- At the same time, experts warn that filling in these natural rainwater reservoirs risks exacerbating flood intensity and damage in the Cambodian capital.
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.

Engineers bet on a miracle to bring Nepal’s holy river back to life
- Officials in Nepal hope to start reviving the sacred Bagmati River that runs through Kathmandu with the help of a rainwater reservoir.
- The Dhap Dam is expected to go into operation in October, when it will start providing water for the Bagmati during the dry season — a period when the river can shrink to just 3% of its monsoon peak.
- Unlike most other rivers in Nepal, the Bagmati doesn’t flow from the Himalayan icepack, and instead is fed by springs that, in recent decades, have dried up as a result of urbanization.
- But with the river so polluted that a study declared it “not suitable for aquatic life,” even those behind the project acknowledge that the best they can hope for is to improve its condition, not bring it back to life.

‘Lost’ Amazonian cities hint at how to build urban landscapes without harming nature
- Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Pre-Columbian urban settlement that spans more than 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) in Bolivia’s Llanos de Mojos region, in the Amazon rainforest.
- This is the latest proof that large, complex urban societies existed in the Amazon before the arrival of the Spanish, challenging the idea that the rainforest was always a pristine, untouched wilderness.
- Some experts say we could learn from these Indigenous urban planning strategies, which, with a sophisticated land and water management system, show us how cities and the rainforest once co-existed without degrading the environment.

In Kathmandu, a struggle for water amid worsening floods
- In Kathmandu, residents face the dual challenges of freshwater aquifers running dry, and increasingly unpredictable monsoons causing flash floods.
- The combination of climate change and a rapidly growing urban population is straining an already overwhelmed municipal water system, forcing many residents to have to buy water by the tank at high prices.
- An ambitious project to pipe water to the city from a nearby river was shut down within months of its long-delayed start — a victim of the monsoon floods that destroyed a dam and water treatment plant.
- Another solution being explored is rainwater harvesting, which proponents say should be complemented by restoration of Kathmandu’s green areas and restrictions on drawing groundwater.

As populations grow, how will thirsty cities survive their drier futures?
- The world’s rapidly expanding cities are on a collision course with climate change, presenting unprecedented challenges to municipal and national governments as they work to continue providing residents with access to safe and sufficient water.
- Increasingly, calls are made to rethink the way we develop urban watersheds and the way we live in them — with water sourcing, transport, use and reuse planning key to the process. One approach, water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) entails a complete reimagining of the role and use of water in urban areas.
- WSUD embraces the water cycle, and considers the entire watershed where cities are located. It uses green infrastructure such as permeable pavements, green roofs and rain gardens, to greatly reduce stormwater runoff. Conscious design allows water to be recycled and reused repeatedly for various purposes. Waste is greatly reduced.
- Some cities are already changing their development pathways to be more resilient to inevitable future climate extremes, with Singapore and Cape Town leading the way. Future water stress can be overcome, but work needs to start now before extreme weather events, including mega droughts and floods, hit.

Black Death aside, we know surprisingly little about rodents and disease
- Rodents make up 40% of all mammal species on the planet, and an estimated 10.7% of them are known hosts of zoonotic diseases, such as cat scratch disease, bartonella, hantavirus, Lyme disease, leishmaniasis, leptospirosis, and the plague.
- A recent letter in the journal Conservation Biology calls for more attention and funding to be directed toward studying small rodents, “the wildlife species most likely to be abundant, come into contact with humans, and be potential reservoirs in future zoonotic outbreaks.”
- Controlling and mitigating the risk of zoonotic diseases through rodent control is another area that lacks research, with the current approach of killing and poisoning rodents in urban areas actually posing the risk of causing more disease.
- Experts call for evidence-based, whole-system approaches to control rodents and champion the One Health approach to address zoonotic disease, acknowledging that human, environmental, and animal health are all interconnected.

Ecuadoran water fund transforms consumers into conservationists
- The Regional Water Fund of Southern Ecuador (FORAGUA) operates in 14 municipalities, serving 500,000 residents, and has restored 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of land and put an additional 337,000 hectares (833,000 acres) under conservation.
- By 2030, the fund aims to work in 39 municipalities, serving 1 million people and conserving 600,000 hectares (1.48 million acres) of land.
- A pilot project to incentivize landowners to rewild their properties and take up alternative livelihoods shows that where landowners could earn 50 times more per hectare cultivating guanabana, a local fruit, than raising cattle.
- Municipal residents pay on average $1 per month to FORAGUA for their water consumption, with 90% of funds raised going to conservation projects.

The perils of relying on high-tech networks in a warmer world (commentary)
- Wild snowstorms paralyzed electricity infrastructure in Texas, a state in the country with the world’s largest economy.
- Just imagine what climate change fueled extreme weather will do to our cities as infrastructure and ICT systems become increasingly interconnected.
- Many see high-tech “smart cities” as a climate solution, but just how smart are they?
- This article is a commentary and the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

The promise of ‘bird-friendly’ cities: Q&A with author Timothy Beatley
- University of Virginia professor Timothy Beatley lays out a case for building cities that are better hosts to birds and the broader natural world in The Bird Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats.
- His case rests on the benefits that birds provide, and he discusses the need for equal access to nature for all city-dwelling communities.
- From small home improvements to skyscrapers covered in greenery, Beatley covers the adaptations necessary for more “natureful” cities around the world.

Podcast: Finding nature in cities
- Today we’re exploring nature in cities with author Kelly Brenner and urban forester Georgia Silvera Seamans.
- To help us dive into urban ecology, we speak with Kelly Brenner, a naturalist and writer whose most recent book is called Nature Obscura: A City’s Hidden Natural World. Brenner, who lives in Seattle, Washington, joins us today to discuss some of the wildlife encounters she details in the book and to provide some tips on how anyone can go about exploring nature in the city they live in.
- We also welcome to the program Georgia Silvera Seamans, an urban forester who has spearheaded a number of “hyper local urban ecology” projects in New York City. Silvera Seamans is here to tell us about the Washington Square Park Eco Projects, which include monitoring, educational, and advocacy efforts in the iconic NYC park, and to tell us how urban ecosystems benefit all city-dwellers.

As lockdown ends, Manila’s dirty air is back. It doesn’t have to stay
- It’s still possible to maintain improved air quality even as lockdown eases in Metro Manila, a newly released report says.
- The air quality in the Philippine capital region improved after the start of the lockdown on March 15, but began deteriorating in May, when authorities started easing the measures.
- The report recommends adapting many of the measures implemented during the lockdown, including maintaining limited work arrangements and coming up with “people-centric” urban planning designs.
- Local governments should shift to technologies that depend less on fossil fuels and encourage this transition by providing incentives to both private citizens and companies, the report suggests.

Nature needs cities, and cities need nature (commentary)
- At a time when the world is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate, and that loss has been linked to disease outbreaks, urban nature is more important than ever. Yet urbanization is a major cause of habitat loss – which drives much of the staggering loss of biodiversity
- With thoughtful planning, cities can connect habitats within and outside of city limits in ways that help protect populations of animals and plants that would otherwise be fragmented and vulnerable to extinction.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

A watery onslaught from sea, sky and land in the world’s fastest-sinking city
- The Indonesian capital has 300 days of rain a year and 13 rivers running through it, so it doesn’t lack freshwater; but rampant development has left much of its area paved over, preventing this water from replenishing the aquifers.
- Instead, the water it gets — from rain and from rivers — often leads to flooding because it can’t be absorbed into the ground and can’t run out to sea.
- City authorities and planning experts agree that the extraction of water from the aquifers must end, but to do so will require providing universal access to clean water.
- Efforts are underway to clean up waterways, educate the public to not dump waste in rivers, and build infiltration wells that will allow the earth to once again capture rainwater.

A vital mangrove forest hidden in Vietnam’s largest city could be at risk
- A majority of the flora in the area was killed by defoliants sprayed by the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.
- Today, the replanted forest protects the city from storms, and stores huge amounts of carbon dioxide, though development plans and aquaculture pose threats to Can Gio’s continued health.

Indonesia’s new capital in the Bornean jungle on hold amid COVID-19 crisis
- Plans to kick off the construction of Indonesia’s new capital city in Borneo have been put on hold pending the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top official says.
- The government had planned to begin building the infrastructure for the new city in the second half of this year, but has come under criticism for seeming to prioritize this project over its handling of the pandemic.
- Environmental experts who continue to oppose the project, citing its impact on the forests, people and wildlife of Borneo, have welcomed the news of its sidelining and say its funding should be reallocated to the COVID-19 fight.
- As of April 15, the Indonesian government has recorded 5,136 infections from the coronavirus and 469 deaths — the most of any Asian country outside China, where the outbreak began.

Vervet monkeys thrive despite habitat loss in South Africa
- Vervet monkeys, native to Africa, have rapidly adapted to urban areas seeking food in peoples’ gardens and trash.
- Researchers in South Africa found that despite an abundance of food for vervets in such spaces, populations aren’t booming.
- By understanding vervet populations and behavior, researchers hope to minimize human-animal conflict in cities.

Water flowing up the mountain: Development devours forest reserve in Zambia
- A forest reserve outside Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, has shrunk to just 716 hectares (1,770 acres) from its original 1,750-hectare (4,320-acre) span to make way for housing and lifestyle developments.
- The developments are also pumping sewage into the Chalimbana River, contaminating the fish and water that local communities rely on, and leading to outbreaks of diarrhea.
- Top government officials have been named among the recipients of some of the plots, including the vice president, chief justice, and ministers.
- Activists mounting a legal challenge to end the construction and restore the forest to its previous state saw an earlier ruling in their favor overturned, and are skeptical about getting justice in what they call “an engineered case.”

How cities can lead the fight against climate change using urban forestry and trees (commentary)
- Comprehensive urban forestry planning can influence the everyday lives of citydwellers by reducing storm water runoff, decreasing wildfire risk and severity, reducing urban heat islands, decreasing utility costs, increasing economic growth, and providing clean drinking water.
- Urban trees also have the ability to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and serve as long-term carbon sinks. However, cities seem to be lacking in language and planning to link together various mitigation and adaptation strategies specifically to sequester and store CO2 within urban trees.
- While there are examples of cities incorporating forest carbon storage and sequestration policies into their planning, these are limited, and often only in our largest cities. Many cities have excellent programming to encourage tree plantings and green space but are not quite comfortable taking a leap into climate mitigation claims and calculations. Here’s a look at what cities are doing.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Bali mangrove bay is now a conservation zone, nixing reclamation plan
- Indonesia’s maritime ministry has designated Bali’s Benoa Bay a conservation zone for religious and cultural activities, and traditional and sustainable fisheries.
- The decision effectively kills a $2 billion plan to reclaim land in the mangrove-rich bay for a tourism development featuring hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and a convention center.
- While opponents of the development project have welcomed the decree, they say it’s only the first step toward ensuring that the bay receives full and permanent legal protection against such development plans.

New lease on life beckons for Arroceros, Manila’s hidden jungle
- Arroceros Forest Park in the heart of Manila is one of the few green spaces left in the bustling Philippines capital.
- Successive governments have tried to get rid of it for new developments, but the city’s newly elected mayor has announced plans to retain and rehabilitate it as part of his “green city” proposal.
- The park is home to more than 3,000 trees, including 60 native species, and serves as a rest stop for migratory birds.
- Often dubbed the “lung” of Manila, Arroceros has been shown to mitigate the city’s notorious air pollution, and plays a key role in minimizing flooding, another of the capital’s litany of problems.

Decolonizing trees in a tropical city to nurture multi-cultural identity
- The survey found that 73 percent of trees in Georgetown were cultivated for their edible fruits.
- The random distribution of trees suggests social cohesion, fostered by a sharing of food traditions, and could provide a blueprint for other multicultural cities.
- But climate change and economic growth mean tree preservation and planting are needed to mitigate social and environmental impacts.

For Indonesia’s Kendari Bay, silting is a death sentence
- Researchers say the Kendari Bay, on the island of Sulawesi, is rapidly disappearing.
- The main culprit is land clearing for development projects around the bay and the rivers the feed it. The land clearing releases sediment into the water that eventually settles on the bottom of the bay.
- The bay may be decades from filling up completely, but studies suggest hope of saving its plant and animal life may already be lost.

Audio: Environmental justice and urban rat infestations
- Today we speak with Dawn Biehler, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, whose research focuses on the history and public health impacts of rats and other pest species in Baltimore.
- The issue of urban pests like rats in Baltimore has been in the news lately due to tweets sent by US President Donald Trump about the city being “rat and rodent infested.” Trump isn’t the first American politician to use this kind of rhetoric to target communities that are predominantly made up of people of color, while ignoring the fact that policies deliberately designed to marginalize communities of color are at the root of the pest problems in many cities.
- Biehler, who is also the author of the 2013 book Pests in the City: Flies, Bedbugs, Cockroaches, and Rats, joins us on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast to discuss how rat infestations in cities are actually an environmental justice issue and how they can be dealt with in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Indonesian governor latest official busted for bribes in environmental case
- Three local officials, including a governor, have been arrested and charged for allegedly taking bribes in a land reclamation project.
- The businessman behind the project in Sumatra’s Riau Islands, who has also been arrested, planned to build a resort and tourism site on reclaimed land in a bay designated as protected.
- Observers say that projects involving land reclamation activities are prone to corruption.

No environmental permit for Bali bay reclamation plan amid opposition
- The Indonesian government says it won’t issue a key permit for a plan to build artificial islands in Bali’s Benoa Bay as long as locals remain strongly opposed to the project.
- The plan is to build artificial islands for a multibillion-dollar complex featuring hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and a convention center.
- The project appeared to die last August when another permit, the location permit, expired without the government renewing it. The fisheries ministry later issued a new location permit.
- With the developer now seeking to obtain an environmental permit, local communities are gearing up for another fight against a project they say could damage the mangrove-rich area on which their livelihoods depend.

In traffic-blighted Penang, transport upgrade plans raise hopes and fears
- The government of Penang, Malaysia, has big plans to upgrade the state’s transport system via a new network of highways, bridges, tunnels and rail lines.
- While many are hopeful the new roads will ease the island’s infamous traffic, conservationists are concerned that the plan will lock Penang into a car-oriented future.
- One highway project has already been hit by a deadly landslide, adding to residents’ concerns.

The view from the bottleneck: Is nature poised for a big comeback?
- A new theory, from bottleneck to breakthrough, posits that urbanization, falling fertility and the end of extreme poverty could result in a much greener world than the one we inherited.
- The scientists behind the idea believe that conservation must continue to “hold on” to species and places as nations make their way through the tightening bottleneck.
- If trends today persist, the global population could urbanize and fall dramatically in the next couple of centuries, turning conservation into restoration.
- This post is part of “Saving Life on Earth: Words on the Wild,” a monthly column by Jeremy Hance, one of Mongabay’s original staff writers.

Urbanization in Asia provides a window of hope for tigers, study finds
- The transition to cities by Asia’s human population is likely to affect the continent’s remaining tiger populations, according to a new study.
- Depending on policy decisions around migration, urbanization, education and economics, the trend toward urbanization could provide more space for tiger numbers to rebound.
- A team of researchers modeled five different “socioeconomic pathways” for the continent, showing that a focus on sustainable living could result in fewer than 40 million people living within the tiger’s range by the end of the century.
- But that number could also balloon to more than 106 million people if countries veer away from international cooperation and poor management of urbanization.

Cities could help conserve pollinator communities
- While cities are generally considered to be poorer in biodiversity than rural areas, new research finds that urban areas could actually play a key role in conserving pollinator communities.
- A team of researchers led by scientists at the UK’s University of Bristol studied pollinators and floral resources at 360 sites in four British cities representing all major urban land uses, including allotments (community gardens), cemeteries, gardens, man-made surfaces like parking lots, nature reserves and other green spaces, parks, sidewalks, and road verges.
- After sampling 4,996 insects and documenting 347 flower-visiting pollinator species interacting with 326 plant species, the researchers found that gardens and allotments provide especially good habitat for pollinators, and that lavender, borage, dandelions, thistles, brambles, and buttercups are important plant species for pollinator communities in cities.

A development project in a Bali mangrove bay gets a new lease on life
- A controversial plan to reclaim land in Bali’s Benoa Bay for a commercial and entertainment development project was thought to have ended in August when its permit expired.
- In late November, Indonesia’s maritime ministry issued the developer a new permit that effectively revives the plan.
- Reclamation can only proceed, however, if the developer can obtain approval for its environmental impact assessment from the environment ministry. Its failure to do so earlier this year was what led to its initial permit expiring.
- Activists say they will continue to oppose the project, which they fear will destroy the mangrove-rich ecosystem and harm the livelihoods of thousands of local fishermen.

Jakarta cancels permits for controversial bay reclamation project
- The Jakarta administration has revoked permits to develop 13 of 17 artificial islands that are part of a $40 billion land reclamation project off the coast of the Indonesian capital.
- The project aimed to slow the high rate of land subsidence in Jakarta, but its critics, including the current governor, say it harms the environment and threatens the livelihoods of local fishing communities.
- An NGO leading the opposition to the project has called for permanent measures to halt the project, given that earlier suspensions to the same effect were eventually lifted.
- Four of the affected islands have already been completed; the city administration says it will put these to use in the public interest.

As Bali reclamation project dies, activists seek conservation status
- Activists in Bali have welcomed the automatic cancellation of a permit for a reclamation project in the Indonesian resort island’s Benoa Bay.
- The permit expired after the developer failed to secure government approval for its environmental impact assessment for the project.
- The planned development would have cleared large areas of the bay’s mangrove ecosystem for new artificial islands to host a convention center, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.
- The activists have called on the government to restore the bay’s status as a strictly protected area for future conservation.

Amid corruption scandal, Malaysia switches track on future of rail network
- Before he was voted out of office and slapped with criminal charges, former prime minister Najib Razak presided over a hugely ambitious rail expansion plan.
- Newly elected prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has suspended several key projects, citing cost overruns and concerns about China’s involvement.
- Public transit programs in the Kuala Lumpur region made significant gains under Najib, but revelations about the nexus of infrastructure projects and corruption leave the future of rail development in question.
- This is the fourth in a six-part series of articles on infrastructure projects in Peninsular Malaysia.

A river restored breathes new life into Kuala Lumpur
- Inspired by a global trend of urban river restorations, then-prime minister Najib Razak in 2012 launched a megaproject to clean up the Kuala Lumpur’s rivers and beautify riverfront areas.
- Ridiculed at first, the River of Life project has made notable strides towards its goals, and officials say it is on track to be completed on time and below budget.
- The initiative is part of a complex legacy left by Najib, who was swept out of power amid a corruption scandal and is currently awaiting trial for breach of trust and abuse of power.
- This is the third article in a six-part series about infrastructure projects in Peninsular Malaysia.

Cracks appear in Malaysia’s building spree, once a model for development
- Mongabay is launching a six-part series on infrastructure projects in peninsular Malaysia. The series will explore the magnitude and environmental consequences of massive infrastructure projects undertaken in the name of modernizing Malaysia.
- We discovered that while the concerns about the security of air, water and land are justified, this program produced unexpected economic gains, as well as considerable financial and political challenges.
- Surprise election results in May brought in a new government, placing into question the future of several planned projects.

US urban areas are losing 36 million trees every year, study finds
- Forest Service researchers estimate that urban areas in the U.S. lost a collective total of 1 percent of their tree cover between 2009 and 2014. In total, around 175,000 acres of tree cover was lost annually.
- At the same time, they found “impervious surfaces” like asphalt roads and buildings increased at 1 percent per year.
- Trees provide a variety of benefits to cities from shielding buildings from the sun and reducing cooling costs and energy consumption, filtering pollutants from water and air, mitigating flooding and erosion, and helping in the fight against global warming by storing carbon. In total, analysts estimate urban trees save the U.S. around $18.3 billion every year. Impervious surfaces do not provide these benefits and often have the opposite effect.
- The researchers urge changes to management policy to prioritize tree cover and create more programs focused on protecting urban forests.

Mexico City dwellers shoulder future of their urban ‘Water Forest’
- The territory, which conservationists and area residents are working to preserve, includes a large swath of southern Mexico City.
- The term “urban forest” typically describes public parkland or a collection of shade trees, but Mexico City’s Water Forest is an actual forest.
- The Water Forest also hosts endangered volcano rabbits (Romerolagus diazi) and Sierra Madre Sparrows (Xenospiza baileyi) as well as pumas, bobcats, white-tailed deer, and at least 10 percent of the bird species known in Mexico.

The uncertain future of Bogotá’s shantytowns
- Colombia’s massive population of internally displaced is second only to Syria, and thousands fleeing violence make homes in the forests outside of cities.
- Outside of Colombia’s capital of Bogotá, thousands live in groups of makeshift homes that form a range of communities from villages to shanytowns.
- The shanytowns present worsening health and public safety problems, and have a devastating impact on the forests where communities are established and growing.

Jakarta reclamation project allowed to resume, but opposition remains
- Indonesia’s central government has allowed work to resume on a project to build 17 artificial islands off the coast of Jakarta.
- The project, which proponents say will help address the city’s land subsidence and overcrowding problems, was suspended last year over environmental concerns and a corruption scandal.
- Opponents of the project include environmental activists, traditional fishermen and Jakarta’s newly inaugurated governor.

Trees provide ecosystem services worth $500 million to the world’s megacities
- Just as they do in forests and other natural ecosystems, trees deliver a variety of ecosystem services in cities. They sequester carbon and reduce air pollution and stormwater runoff, for instance.
- Researchers looked at 10 megacities on five continents that lie in five different biome types: Beijing, China; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; London, UK; Los Angeles, United States; Mexico City, Mexico; Moscow, Russia; Mumbai, India; and Tokyo, Japan.
- They determined that trees provide an average of $505 million in benefits to each megacity every year, or about $1.2 million per square kilometer of trees.

Urban heat island effect could more than double climate costs for cities
- The higher climate toll that cities will pay is due to the urban heat island effect, which is caused by the replacement of vegetation and bodies of water by concrete, asphalt, and other materials that trap more heat. The effect is only further exacerbated by the abundance of things like cars and air conditioners in urban areas, which emit more heat and global warming pollution.
- An international team of researchers with the UK’s University of Sussex, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and Vrije University Amsterdam looked at 1,692 cities around the world in order to determine just how much the urban heat island effect could compound the losses already expected to result from global warming.
- The researchers found that, on average, economic losses from higher temperatures could be 2.6 times higher in cities than they would be if heat island effects weren’t factored into the equation.

Controversial Jakarta land reclamation project gets legal go-ahead
- Islet G, the center of the controversy, is part of a plan to build 17 artificial islands off the coast of Jakarta.
- Proponents say the plan will ease both pollution and a housing shortage; opponents fear it will cause environmental damage and destroy the local fishing industry.
- The project was suspended after a corruption scandal involving the developer, and a lower court victory for a coalition of anti-reclamation activists.
- In October, a high court ruled the project can continue.

Can nature thrive in cities? New book looks at changing face of nature in Bangalore
- By digging into Bengaluru’s dynamic past, Nagendra provides a gripping narrative of how the city’s inhabitants have constantly molded the city’s boundary and landscape over the past few centuries.
- Nagendra’s extensive research spanning nearly a decade shines through the book.
- The book takes its readers through the evolution and role of Bengaluru’s home gardens, public parks, village forests, sacred groves, trees lining the city’s roads, as well as the city’s rich network of lakes.

Life finds a way: the surprising biodiversity of cities

Public perception of wildlife tends to be tied to natural habitats such as forests, ocean and other wild settings. However, cities can provide habitat for many animals and plants. In the largest global assessment of urban biodiversity to date, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, researchers examined the biodiversity of urban areas and found […]
Can the millions in urban India live among greenery?

An interview with urban ecologist Harini Nagendra Large swathes of wilderness alternating with pockets of urbanization may be a reality in some countries, but in India boundaries are soft. Where a city ends and where a village begins in its outskirts is somewhat fuzzy. Rapidly developing megacities like Bangalore and Pune, localities like Gurgaon outside […]
New York City may mandate composting of food scraps to cut garbage bill

The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, is preparing to roll out a new composting plan for the city, aimed at diverting some of the 100,000 tons of food scraps that ends up in landfill every year. Bloomberg, who is due to leave office early next year, has called food waste the “final recycling frontier”. […]
Greener neighborhoods have less violent crime

Turn your neighborhood green and it may prevent violent crime in the long run, according to a new study in Landscape and Urban Planning, which found that violent crimes (assaults, robberies, and burglaries) occurred less often in greener areas of Philadelphia. The connection between greener neighborhoods and less violent crime even stood up after researchers […]
Energizing Sustainable Cities: Assessing Urban Energy – book review

Energizing Sustainable Cities: Assessing Urban Energy, edited by Arnulf Grubler and David Fisk, is a very well written book describing challenges and opportunities to define, analyze, and implement sustainable energy development for 21st Century urban centers. Urban populations, while roughly 50% of the global population, consume over 75% of the globe’s energy. Therefore, developing frameworks […]
From Intelligent to Smart Cities – a book review

From Intelligent to Smart Cities brings together recent and leading research on transitioning to smart cities from intelligent cities. Intelligent cities are multi-layered systems that focus on integrating institutional capacities within cities. This focuses on how institutions can cooperate employing advanced communication techniques. An example of an intelligent cities’ activity would be an innovation cluster, […]

Feeds: news | india | latam | brasil | indonesia