[Originally posted to Where] The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is currently showing an exhibition on Tulou, an affordable-housing prototype designed by Chinese architecture firm Urbanus for the city of Guangzhou, China. The Tulou prototype includes 245 apartments, an inn, exercise facilities, a library, storefronts, and varied public space. The exhibition will feature two bedrooms at actual size, as well as images, models, and project information. It runs from October 3, 2008 to April 5, 2009 at 2 East 91st Street in New York. (more…)

Environment & Urbanization is a journal that focuses on urban environmental issues in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It offers free English translation to French-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-speaking researchers from these regions in order to bring their work to a wider audience. It is sponsored by the International Institute for Environment and Development (iied) and edited by David Satterthwaite.

E&U sample papers and popular downloads (including an article by Gabriel García Márquez)

Interview with David Satterthwaite on “The Humanitarian Impact of Urbanisation” in IRIN

IRIN Africa reports that residents of slums have been experiencing rampant crime and destitution as a result of ethnic conflict sparked by the recent elections in Kenya. An article entitled “Arson, riots leave slum dwellers destitute” relates the experience of several slum residents in Nairobi. City neighborhoods with high rates of poverty are particularly vulnerable during political unrest and other crises, a problem that must be addressed in establishing sound urban development initiatives.

Photo of Red Cross workers in Nairobi’s Mathare slums appears on the IRIN website

Quoted from an article in IRIN, titled “Slum-dwellers hit hard by post-election crisis”: The majority of the city’s inhabitants live in its sprawling slums and it is this impoverished population, together with tens of thousands of displaced people in western Kenya, that has borne the brunt of the violence and disruption unleashed in the wake of the 27 December presidential and parliamentary elections.

Urban Planet is a collection of features on urbanization from the BBC News. It includes an interactive map that tracks the growth of the world’s largest cities, as well as comparisons of the environmental effects of urban and rural life.

Photo from the BBC Photojournal: Chad urban migrant’s story

The 2007 report assesses progress toward the eight Millennium Development Goals between the years 2000 and 2005. Under “Assure Environmental Sustainability” there is a section on extreme poverty in urban slums.

Rapid urbanization has given rise to increased slum populations throughout the developing world. While cities represent hope for many, destitute conditions severely threaten human well-being. It’s interesting that the section on slums is grouped with the environmental sustainability goals.

Photo from page 9 of the Millennium Development Goals Report 2007

Quoted from the Millennium Development Goals Report 2007 (PDF): Already, nearly half the world’s population live in cities in towns. But due to urban migration and rapid population growth, the number of urban dwellers will continue to expand, from 3.2 billion people today to nearly 5 billion by 2030, with most of the growth taking place in Africa and Asia.

A Washington Post Feature on Life in Vukani, a South African Squatter Community. Outstanding pictures reveal the challenges facing residents of urban slums in the context of globalization.

Quoted: Vukani means “Wake up!” and represents a cry for help. The people who live in the squatter camp of Vukani near Grahamstown, South Africa, struggle daily in small homes that do not have electricity or clean water.

The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements (2003), by the United Nations Human Settlements Program, is an influential report on urbanization in the developing world. It provides excellent case studies on the origins, problems, and solutions associated with urban slums in the context of contemporary globalization.

Quoted: The most authoritative and up-to-date review of the development of the world’s cities and other human settlements. The first global assessment of urban slums, the challenges they present and the ways to improve the lives of slum dwellers. Statistical annexes provide essential information on demographic, spatial & economic, housing, and environment & infrastructural indicators…

A Washington Post photo essay on Vukani, a South African squatter community, which underscores the need for sustainable planning to ease the upheavals associated with rapid urbanization.

Quoted: Vukani means “Wake up!” and represents a cry for help. The people who live in the squatter camp of Vukani near Grahamstown, South Africa, struggle daily in small homes that do not have electricity or clean water.

Muhammad Yunus details his experience developing practical solutions to extreme poverty in Bangladesh and throughout the world. A very inspiring book.

Photo appears on Muhammad Yunus’s Banker to the Poor website.

Stewart Brand, co-founder of Global Business Network and author of How Buildings Learn, gave a fascinating talk on urbanization and innovation at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club on June 14, 2007. The video of Brand’s presentation, titled How Urbanization Will Drive Innovation on is available on FORA.tv.

Photo credit: Mike Lee