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cities > newsfile
World's mayors call for action on climate change
Mayors from 34 of the world's largest cities met in New York City in mid-May to discuss the dangers of catastrophic climate change and the need for immediate action. ENS reports. ... more
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Paris launches cheap bike scheme
Paris has started a bike service that lets riders take cycles on short trips around the city at very low cost. ... more
City numbers in Africa and Asia set to double by 2030
by John Rowley
Humanity will have to undergo a "revolution in thinking" in order to deal with the doubling of urban populations in Africa and Asia by 2030, the United Nations warns in a report which shows that over 30 years, the population of African and Asian cities will double, adding 1.7 billion people , or more than the present populations of China and the United States put together. ... more
Amsterdam extends hydrogen bus trials
Amsterdam has decided to extend its trial of the city's hydrogen buses for another year until January 2008. The Dutch city also hopes that the first hydrogen-fuelled boat will be cruising city's canals later this year. ... more
Air pollution still a big threat to Asian cities
Hundreds of millions of city dwellers breathe air so polluted with chemicals, smoke and particles that it dramatically exceeds World Health Organization limits with major impacts on health and the environment. Asian cities are no exception, a major study reveals. ... more
Paris embraces plan to become city of bikes
Paris is for lovers -- lovers of food and art and wine, lovers of the romantic sort and, starting this summer, lovers of bicycles. On July 15, the day after Bastille Day, Parisians will wake up to discover thousands of low-cost rental bikes at hundreds of high-tech bicycle stations scattered throughout the city, an ambitious program to cut traffic, reduce pollution, improve parking and enhance the city's image as a greener, quieter, more relaxed place, the Washingtn Post reports. ... more
Massive effort needed to meet slum surge
If global development priorities are not reassessed to account for massive urban poverty, well over half of the 1.1 billion people projected to join the world's population between now and 2030 may live in under-serviced slums, according to State of the World 2007 report. ... more
Aid charity combats climate threat
On the eve of the UN's 6th World Habitat Day (October 2), a leading British aid agency is predicting that tens of millions of the world�s poorest people face death and devastation, and risk of losing their homes and means of making a living due to climate-induced floods, drought and conflict. ... more
Slum-dwellers worse off than rural poor
City populations are generally thought to be healthier, more literate and more prosperous than rural populations. However, a new report from UN-HABITAT shows that the urban poor suffer from an urban penalty: slum dwellers in developing countries are as badly off if not worse off than their rural relatives. ... more
Chennai battles for sustainable transport
Chennai, formerly Madras, on the Coromandel Coast of southern India, has grown into a metropolitan city of 7 million people. It is also the scene of a major campaign to oppose the decision by the State Government of Tamil Nadu to solve the city�s transport problem by building a 300 km monorail. The campaign�s plea for a transport system that meets the needs of all the people will be echoed in cities around the world. ... more
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