Asian urban sustainability in the era of globalization

The process of achieving urban sustainable development is uncharted. We onl y know that plans should address the economic, environmental and social hea lth of the city and this task can only be accomplished by approaching each of these issues at different scales. For rapidly developing world cities, " sustainability" is becoming an increasingly elusive objective, in part, bec ause of impacts by forces beyond their borders. Using the Asia-Pacific regi on as a case study, a framework relates regional transnational flows to the state of the urban environment and the social conditions of linked rapidly developing cities. The "functional city system" within the Asia-Pacific in creasingly is both the engine of urban growth and the force behind differen tiating urban environmental and social issues. At the same time, while glob alization forces have been particularly strong within cities in the Asia-Pa cific, local factors also play a crucial role in urban development. Globali zation driven growth has not translated into a single path of development, rather localities have demonstrated contextually specific paths. (C) 2001 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.