Urban Growth and Climate Change

Matthew E. Kahn, UCLA

Abstract

Between 1950 and the year 2030, the share of the world’s population who lives in cities is predicted to grow from 30% to 60%. This urbanization has consequences for the likelihood of climate change and for the social costs that climate change will impose on the world’s quality of life. This paper examines how urbanization affects greenhouse gas production and it studies how urbanites in the developed and developing world will adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.