Creating cities, towns, and communities that are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable, and which meet the challenges of population growth, migration, and climate change will be one of the biggest tasks of this century.

The development of new settlements is underway on an unprecedented scale. In Europe, 32 new towns are being created across 11 countries. In China, new cities are springing up from Kunming to Shanghai in response to mass migration to urban areas. Some estimates suggest that 100 new cities, each with a population of one million, will be developed in China in the next three years. Pujiang New Town in Shanghai aims to house 500,000 new residents in its 100 square kilometre One City, Nine Towns project, as part of the World Expo 2010 resettlement program. It has aspirations to be the ‘ideal city. Incheon Development Area outside Seoul will house 200,000 people by 2020; while in Delhi four new satellite cities, including Patparganj and Gurgaon, are being created to deal with overcrowding and to cater for India’s growing middle classes.