Editorial: Changes in land use and land cover in cities of the global south - patterns and driving forces

Abstract

This special issue of Environment and Urbanization ASIA on ‘Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in Cities of the Global South—Patterns and Driving Forces’ comes at an important time in the transition of cities in the global south around the world. Within Asia, emerging urban centres have fundamentally changed the regional landscape and it is an appropriate time to both visualize this dramatic transformation and to take stock of the drivers and forces that have shaped it. This special issue departs from Environment and Urbanization ASIA’s usual focus on Asia to consider the potential for knowledge transfer between urbanizing cities in Asia and Africa. The UN’s World Urbanization Prospects (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs & Population Division, 2019, p. 1) projects that between 2018 and 2050 the global urban population will grow by 2.5 billion urban dwellers, with almost 90% of this increase located in Asia and Africa.