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INTRODUCTION
An analysis of the most recent projections by UN Habitat1 reveals that the number of urban dwellers in the Commonwealth is predicted to increase by over 1 billion people by 2050; that’s nearly 50% of the total projected increase in the World’s urban population in the next 30 years2, (Figure 1). Managing this growth sustainably is vital not only for the citizens of the Commonwealth but for the entire world. Figure 1 Projected increase in the worlds urban population 2020-2050, (numbers in ‘000) 2,500,000 Total Commonwealth Rest of the world
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0 2020
2025
2030
2035
2040
2045
2050
This year’s ‘Survey of the built environment professions in the Commonwealth’ is therefore significant as many Commonwealth countries are already experiencing the impact of climate change and rapid urbanisation, a situation now compounded by the impact of Covid-19, and 2020 marks the start of a Decade of Action3 to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2017, the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) and the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) undertook the first surveys of their respective professions to have been carried out in over 30 years. The findings of those surveys revealed a critical lack of capacity together with weakness in built environment policy in many of the Commonwealth countries that are urbanising most rapidly and are among the most vulnerable.
1
https://population.un.org/wup/
2
See Appendix I for details
3
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/decade-of-action/
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CAA and CAP are delighted to have been joined this year by colleagues from the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE) together with the Commonwealth Engineers Council (CEC). We are also pleased to have increased the level of participation from member organisations.
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Planning for climate change and rapid urbanisation