The City and Its Environment

Cities are rapidly becoming the locus of tension between economic growth, energy use, and environmental damage. This panel examines how patterns of urbanization change the urban environment, from energy use intensity to pollution and public health. Asian cities offer a range of models that diverge from those of the Euro-American experience, and may be redefining such relationships. While Japanese policy has long sought to increase energy efficiency and minimize the urban environmental footprint, China has rapidly eclipsed the US as the largest energy market in the world, and consumes half of the global coal supply. How do urban citizens engage in the environment around them, and shape it? What is the impact of urban environmental change on national politics, economics, and social norms?

Click here to view the conference agenda with presentation titles and abstracts. A video of this panel is available here.

Moderator:

Edward Cunningham, Department of Earth & Environment, Boston University

Edward Cunningham is an Assistant Professor in Boston University’s Department of Earth and Environment and the Director of the Harvard Kennedy School Asia Energy and Sustainability Initiative. He has worked in Beijing, studied at Peking University and Tsinghua University, and was selected as a Fulbright Fellow to China. His academic work focuses on energy markets, energy policy, competitiveness, and non-market strategy, and has appeared in major media such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Economist and Bloomberg.  He is fluent in Italian and Mandarin and is currently completing a book on China’s energy markets and energy governance during the modern reform period. Prof. Cunningham received a B.S. from Georgetown University, an A.M. from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from M.I.T.

Speakers:

Karen Seto, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Karen Seto is Professor of Geography and Urbanization, and Associate Dean for Research at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her research focuses on the human transformation of land and the links between urbanization, global change, and sustainability. She is an expert in urbanization dynamics, forecasting urban growth, and examining the environmental consequences of urban expansion. She has pioneered methods using satellite remote sensing to reconstruct historical patterns of urbanization and to develop projections of future urban expansion. She specializes in China and India, where she has conducted urbanization research for more than 15 years. Prof. Seto was a Coordinating Lead Author for Working Group III of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and Coordinating Lead Author for the UN Convention on Biodiversity Cities’ and Biodiversity Outlook. Since 2004, she has Co-Chaired the IHDP Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project. She also currently serves on the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the NRC Geographical Sciences Committee, and the U.S. Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group. She is the Executive Producer of “10,000 Shovels: Rapid Urban Growth in China,” a documentary film that integrates satellite imagery, historical photographs, and contemporary film footage to examine the urban changes occurring in China. Prof. Seto is a recipient of a NASA New Investigator Program (Career) Award, a NSF CAREER Award, and a National Geographic Research Grant. She was named an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in 2009. She received her PhD in Geography from Boston University.  Prior to joining Yale, she was on the faculty at Stanford University for eight years.

Madhu Dutta Koehler, Metropolitan College, Boston University

Madhu C Dutta-Koehler has over 15 years of experience in the field of urban planning and architecture, both as an educator and practitioner. In addition to having her own architectural practice, she is an Adjunct Professor at Boston University. She previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas and the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston. Professionally, Madhu has worked on various international design competitions and award-winning projects, which have been recognized by the World Habitat Award, Indian Institute of Architects’ Award, American Institute of Architects, U.S. Department of Energy, and others. She is a dedicated teacher and takes great pride in challenging her students to explore critical aspects of the built environment, both from a creative and a policy-oriented perspective. Madhu has a Bachelor and Master degree in Architecture, as well as a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research interests are eclectic; while her recent work and teaching focuses on climate change adaptation in urban South Asia and sustainability in the built environment, she is also interested in exploring the hybridized and virtual milieus in the “new frontiers” of digital architecture over the years. Madhu is committed to the creative and performing arts as well. Apart from her continuing interest in photography, graphic design, and the visual arts, she has also studied and performed Indian classical dance for almost two decades.

Susan Foster, School of Public Health, Boston University

Susan Foster is a Professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the economics of infectious disease, particularly antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance, malaria, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and TB. She is involved in several research projects, primarily in Africa. Prof. Foster served in the Peace Corps in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Cameroon, worked as a Young Professional within the World Bank’s Population, Health and Nutrition Department and was seconded to the World Health Organization’s Essential Drugs Program in Geneva. She then joined the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as Senior Lecturer in Health Economics, and was course organizer for the master of science program in Public Health in Developing Countries. She was appointed the School’s first Distance Learning Coordinator. She has also done work in Burundi, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Indonesia and Malaysia. At the BU School of Public Health, she teaches courses including Pathogens, Poverty and Populations, Seminar on International Health Policy Issues, and Confronting Non-communicable Diseases.  She speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese.