revision) CO2 Emissions from Energy Use in East Asian

Human-imposed threat to global sustainability has two fundamental dimensions: population growth and the ever-increasing per capita demand for good and services, particularly material needs and energy. Both impose direct and indirect pressures on the human carrying capacity of the Earth. Today, 75 % of the population in industrialized countries lives in urbanized area. Cities and sustainability are inseparably linked. Cities are centers of high living standards, population density, pollutants of air and water and producers of solid wastes. Massive infrastructure developments are underway and consumerism is spreading. The deteriorating environmental situation there has health and welfare implication for urban dwellers. In addition, a degradation of resources due to over-consumption of materials and services will also affect areas and people outside cities and have an impact on future generations. Mega-cities are characterized by a high population density and material demands. They are also ‘front-runners ’ in terms of urban development, economic growth, industrial transformation, lifestyle changes and policy implementation. From a demand point of view, mega-cities are a root cause of the sustainability problem. However, compact settlements and high population density reduce per capita infrastructure and distribution costs and also open up opportunities for economic scale effects. Thus, mega-cities can greatly facilitate the implementation of measures to reduce stress on sustainability. Rapid urbanization is a distinctive feature of Asia. For 1990-98, the average urban population growth per year wa