Silvia Tavares

Urbanisation plays an important and definitive role in rising temperatures and water pollution. Even though cities cover a very small portion of the earth's surface (around 2%), urban areas account for 71% to 76% of the world's carbon dioxide and around 80% of total greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, UN Habitat points out that the same urban environments are at risk due to extreme weather events, increasing downpours and urban floods, which are consequences of climate change and add to the pressures on urban infrastructure. The latter is to be understood as a system providing not only circulation facilities (roads, streets, rail tracks, etc) but also amenities such as sewers, gas, electricity, waste and water treatment.