Urbanisation and its impact on ecosystem services in Southeast Asian region

Project Overview

The world urban population is expected to rise by 2.5 billion between 2014 and 2050, with nearly 90 percent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. Many countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) have been rapidly urbanising over the past 30 years. The region currently has about 245 million people living in urban areas, or around 42% of the total population—a percentage expected to increase to 47% by 2025. The continuous and rapid urban growth changes the urban ecological landscape which in turn threatens existing biodiversity and ecosystems. In a broad sense, ecosystem services refer to the benefits that human beings derive directly or indirectly from ecosystems. The rapid land use and land cover changes within the urban environment pose a severe threat to the existence of these services.

This study mainly assesses the relationship between urban growth and various ecosystem services which play an important role in informing policy and planning decisions to enhance urban resilience and sustainability.