The Citizens at Risk

At different levels this book addresses: 1: the challenge of improving health conditions in deprived urban settlements; 2: the challenge of sustainable urban development in a globalizing world; and 3: environmental justice and urban development. It analyzes how environmental and health risks arise in cities, who has to bear them and why, focusing on cities in Asia, Africa and South America. On the basis of this understanding it explains how conditions can be improved for those living in these rapidly growing cities and argues that environmental justice provides a more meaningful measure and goal for urban environmental improvement than 'sustainable development'.