Abstract

For the first time in human history, the majority of the world's population no longer lives in rural areas, but in cities. Global urbanisation is accompanied by a rapid social and spatial mobilisation of entire societies. While urban and transport development in the industrialised countries has now reached a certain degree of saturation, it is progressing with tremendous momentum in other regions of the world. Should these countries follow the western example, negative effects on a global scale are to be expected. Therefore, the question arises whether there are also examples of alternative development paths that enable sustainable urban and transport development. For all indications suggest that the conventional concepts of urban and transport engineering as developed in Europe over a hundred years ago are no longer appropriate today in view of the limited resources and the ecological consequences. The primary concern of this study is to present, for the first time, an inventory of worldwide urban and transport development in order to get an overall view of the extent of the global challenges. Against this backdrop, the study concludes with an offer of directions in which further thought could be given in the future in order to adequately address the emerging problems.

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