Editor's Note

According to an estimation by the United Nations, 15 cities in the Asia Pacific region will become megacities with a total population exceeding 10 million by 2015, and 60 percent of the total population in the region will live in urban areas by 2030 (APFED 2005). Urban environment management in Asia is now one of the most critical subjects. Being focused on the Asia Pacific region, the topic of the urban environment is something that IRES, International Review for Environmental Strategies, cannot ignore.

In this special IRES issue on the 'Environmentally Sustainable City', we have acquired a number of article contributions from distinguished scholars. The articles give broad perspectives of the urban issues, including air, solid waste, water, and ways to manage and foster cooperation among different stakeholders. It is our hope that this information will suggest ways to tackle the problems surrounding the urban environment.

IGES is also vigorously working on the issue of urban environmental management. Two activities among others are worth noting on this occasion of the publication of an IRES special issue; the Kitakyushu Initiative and Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED).

The Kitakyushu Initiative was adopted by the Ministeral Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MCED) in 2000, to assist in the priority implementation of the Regional Action Programme for environmentally sound and sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. It mandates the achievement of measurable progress in the improvement of the urban environment in cities, mainly through local initiatives aiming to control air and water pollution and to minimize all kinds of waste. IGES assists it as its secretariat to gather and record successful cases of urban environmental management. Some of its progress and results are reported in this issue of IRES.

APFED was established by the Environment Congress for Asia and the Pacific in 2001 as a forum to address critical issues facing the Asia-Pacific region and to propose a model of equitable and sustainable development for the region. IGES contributes to the APFED deliberation process by providing relevant background information, drafting necessary documents for the Forum and its associated meetings, and proposing options for policy recommendations. A report from APFED, giving an overview of the Asia-Pacific region, its future vision and recommendations, and an action platform is included in this issue of IRES.