Global report on human settlements 2009 - Planning sustainable cities: Policy directions

Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 assesses the effectiveness of urban planning as atool for dealing with the unprecedented challenges facing 21st-century cities and for enhancing sustainable urbanization.There is now a realization that, in many parts of the world, urban planning systems have changed very little and areoften contributors to urban problems rather than functioning as tools for human and environmental improvement. Againstthis background, the Global Report’s central argument is that, in most parts of the world, current approaches to planningmust change and that a new role for urban planning in sustainable urban development has to be found.