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The twenty-first century is already an urban one. Cities are pivotal to sustainability concerns – globalization, climate change, food security, environmental protection, and innovation. 

Today’s urban actors, both citizens and their leaders, have a major responsibility as trustees of the future: their present actions will influence the shape and structure of cities, so that the generations to come may live healthy and contented lives.

This volume takes the reader straight to the heart of how cities work, and identifies contemporary trends, mechanisms and tools that can influence current strategies and choices.

The authors show that the urbanization is not a problem per se for sustainable development, but rather that cities, in all their diversity and complexity, offer solutions as well as challenges.

The reader will be inspired by vital analyses of the next decade’s windows of opportunity for sustainable urban growth.

This book is a part of a series of annual publications on sustainable development (A Planet for Life) that started in 2007. In this overview, we take a global perspective on 2009, assess the state of collective action required to meet today’s sustainable development challenges and explain why cities have been chosen as the focus of the 2010 edition.