Peter Baccini – författare

CITIES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY BRANTLEY LIDDLE AND FRED MOAVENZADEH OR at least 4000 years, cities have been centers of cultural, social, technological Fand economic innovation, inventions and their application, and political power. Only in the last 200 years, the industrial era, have urban areas grown so rapidly, and their populations increased so dramatically that their impacts on the natural environ- ment are being felt beyond their immediate geographic surroundings. As the 21" cen- tury dawns, megacities-great and far-reaching concentrations of power and influ- ence-have become centers of the phenomena of globalization and information ex- change. These concentrations of people and activity are placing stress on the natural environment so great that it is beginning to have extensive regional, and even global impacts. However, asconcentrations ofpower-political, economic, andintellectual- these great urban centers share with the ancestral cities of past millennia the resources to consciously shape the future.The management of these megacities (those having populations of over eight million) in their current formative stages so taxing to natural systems,paradoxicallypresents theopportunity torestoresustainableregional and global environments. Environmental problems consequent to urban growth have two sources: pov- erty and affluence. These two conditions often coexist in dramatic contrast within the same city, particularly in developing countries. In terms of environmental impact, poverty-based problems tend to have local effects, while affluence-based problems usually have transboundary and/or global effects.

CITIES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY BRANTLEY LIDDLE AND FRED MOAVENZADEH OR at least 4000 years, cities have been centers of cultural, social, technological Fand economic innovation, inventions and their application, and political power. Only in the last 200 years, the industrial era, have urban areas grown so rapidly, and their populations increased so dramatically that their impacts on the natural environ- ment are being felt beyond their immediate geographic surroundings. As the 21" cen- tury dawns, megacities-great and far-reaching concentrations of power and influ- ence-have become centers of the phenomena of globalization and information ex- change. These concentrations of people and activity are placing stress on the natural environment so great that it is beginning to have extensive regional, and even global impacts. However, asconcentrations ofpower-political, economic, andintellectual- these great urban centers share with the ancestral cities of past millennia the resources to consciously shape the future.The management of these megacities (those having populations of over eight million) in their current formative stages so taxing to natural systems,paradoxicallypresents theopportunity torestoresustainableregional and global environments. Environmental problems consequent to urban growth have two sources: pov- erty and affluence. These two conditions often coexist in dramatic contrast within the same city, particularly in developing countries. In terms of environmental impact, poverty-based problems tend to have local effects, while affluence-based problems usually have transboundary and/or global effects.

Seit die Menschen sesshaft wurden, haben sie ihre Ansprüche an die Menge Wasser, Bodenflächen, Nahrungsmittel, Energieträger und Baustoffe über die Jahrtausende langsam gesteigert. Erst in den vergangenen drei Jahrhunderten spannten sie mit exponenziellem Wachstum ein urbanes Netz über den ganzen Planeten. Sie domestizierten die Erde. In diesem Netz führen sie einen Ressourcenhaushalt, welcher die Lebensgrundlagen der Erde verschlechtert.Nach drei großen Transformationen steckt Homo sapiens im 21. Jahrhundert als «sesshafter Nomade» in seiner selbst gebauten und komfortablen Ressourcenfalle. Ökonomische und ökologische Studien illustrieren, wie er im 20. Jahrhundert versucht hat, manchmal erfolgreich, manchmal wirkungslos, die negativen Nebenwirkungen seines Ressourcenkonsums zu korrigieren. Eine vierte Transformation steht an, in welcher vordringlich die fossil-maschinellen Systeme durch solar-maschinelle ersetzt werden müssen. Der Mensch verfügt über die technischen und wirtschaftlichen Fähigkeiten, sich selbst zu befreien. Noch fehlen ihm aber die dafür notwendigen politischen Regelwerke. Kontrovers positionierte Gesellschaften mit ihren unterschiedlichen Welt- und Menschenbildern ringen um die beste Strategie.

Landfill, as an indispensable part of every waste management system, is subject to a critical revision. The existing scientific, technical, and regulatory concepts are discussed in group reports on the basis of 14 review papers. Landfills are considered as chemical and biological reactors, which can be active over a time span of several centuries. Thus the common goal of the participants of the workshop was to define both scientific and technical criteria for landfills with final storage quality. This new concept is of fundamental importance for environmental engineers and scientists.