Noting that urbanization has created particular opportunities and threats facing human societies, Seyyed Mohsen Tabatabaei, the secretary of IUESA said the importance of cities’ economic dimensions are increased day by day and the cities’ share of GDP is more than their population share across the world.

 Saying that cities’ 50 percent share in GDP is considered in countries with urbanization rate of more than 30 percent, he added that the increasing growth has caused cities to have destructive impacts on global environment.

 Emphasizing that cities leave ecological footprints because of the increasing growth, he further said “according to the researches, if all people are supposed to enjoy standard level of the US, we may need three Earth planets in order to fulfill it.”

 He further maintained that more than two-third of the world energy is used in cities, and nearly 82 percent of greenhouse gasses are produced in cities, adding “it is only a part of a term called ‘Entrepose’, which means the era of human impact on Earth’s ecosystems and climate.”

 He stressed that it is time to act after years of discussion, exchange and analysis of issues and moving toward ecological and healthy cities, adding “eco-cities are the perspective of the world’s tomorrow's cities.”

 There will be no alternative but focusing on sustainable development and considering environmental issues if the cities are supposed to move in the path of sustainability and create ideal life for citizens.

 The pioneer of Eco cities was a non-profit organization called urban ecology in Berkeley, California in 1975 aiming to reconstruct cities in balance and relationship with the nature and reduce the trend of the Earth’s heat, extinction of animals and species, and social and environmental inequities with cooperation of other related organizations; as a result, the first international conference on Eco cities was held in California in 1990.

 From then on, this conference has been held regularly; 1992 in Adelaide, Australia, 1996 in Yoff, Senegal; 2000 in Curitiba, Brazil; 2002 in Shenzhen, China; 2006 in Bangalore, India; 2008 in San Francisco, USA; 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey, 2011 Montreal, Canada; 2013 Nantes, France; and finally in 2015 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Source : Mehr News Agency

News ID: 3673532

Date : Tue 31 May 2016