ADB seminar considers 21st-century cities

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The new trends in urban development were considered at a seminar held in Tashkent in the framework of the ongoing 43rd annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank. It brought together experts, scholars and specialists in urban planning from various countries.

With growth of population on the planet, existing towns are developing and new ones are being built. More and more mega-cities, which have a complex infrastructure and a variety of industries that consume resources and affect the environment, appear on the world map. In this regard, it was stressed at the seminar, the 21st-century cities should become leaders in resource saving and environmental protection, UzA reported.

Creation of cities where environmentally safe technologies, modern methods of processing of secondary resources and waste, including sewage, are widely used has already begun. The example can be found in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly Japan, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and others.

The program of the so-called circular economy, based on transformation, upgrading and re-using of resources, is already being implemented in 15 countries in the region and involves 120 cities. According to speakers at the seminar, including Hironori Hamanaka, Chair of Board of Directors of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Tokyo, and Amy Leung, Director of East Asia Urban and Social Sectors Division, ADB, such cities are the cities of the future.

Therefore, it was noted at the forum, the regional states should pay more attention to this problem, improving relevant legislation, using market-based instruments to promote the interest of businesses, including private ones, and society in general in the development of circular economy. All this would contribute to achieving sustainable development, this is why ADB attaches great importance to funding these projects.

“Renewable energy has great prospects in Uzbekistan,” Harrison S. Fraker, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design at University of California, Berkeley, said. “In addition to using solar energy, there are wide opportunities for producing electricity from waste.”

“This is my first visit to Uzbekistan, and I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful and green the city of Tashkent is. Greenery is a very important factor for creating a favorable environment for the people, and it is effectively used in your country,” he added.