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Question: The challenges associated with building sustainable city

Answer: The present section analyses the main social, economic and environmental challenges associated with building sustainable cities in developing and developed countries.
For city governments, the challenges include securing the necessary resources
for investment in disaster-proof public infrastructure, and renewable sources of energy,
and providing incentives to the private sector to create decent employment for large urban
populations that are underemployed and have limited access to good housing conditions,
clean water, sanitation, drainage and schools. Upper middle income and high-income countries with urban populations that
already have access to basic public services face the challenge of becoming more efficient in
the use of energy and water, reducing the generation of waste, and improving their recycling
systems. Growth of cities has often gone hand in hand with an increased use of natural
resources and ecological systems, driven by economic growth and changes in the economic
structure—in terms of a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and then to services.
While wealthier cities and people, in particular, may have well-managed resource systems,
they also have a greater ecological impact through drawing resources from larger areas. For
example, wealthier residents in New York City, Los Angeles and Mexico City contribute
greatly to the demand for freshwater from distant ecosystems, whose capacities are consequently affected and whose use generates significant levels of pollution and greenhouse gas
emissions at the national and global levels (McGranahan and Satterthwaite, 2003). Thus,
urbanization can be an important contributor to high resource use and waste generation,
both with ecological effects at the local, regional and global levels

(Source: World Economic and Social Survey 2013, 25 Mar 2021)

Source Link: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wess/wess_current/wess2013/Chapter3.pdf