Beijing cleaned up its act for the Olympics. After the party, will it go back to business as usual or consolidate environmental gains and be an example for China?
Only a quarter of the Earth looks as it did before mankind. If we want to enjoy our future, says Erle Ellis, we should stop dreaming about the untouched wild and start valuing the Earth we have created.
From 2008, the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities and towns. By 2030, over 4.6 billion people will be urbanites. How we cope with the social and environmental challenges of our urban future will shape the 21st century.
Each year, millions of people move from the countryside into cities. This has made tackling problems of urban poverty even more challenging, say Lauren Hendricks and Peter Lochery of CARE International.
From 2008, more than half of the world's population will live in cities. Most megacities suffer from pollution and overpopulation. Some well-run cities, however, could be role models for an increasingly urban world.
