1 Towards sustainable architecture and urbanism through responsible tourism and the realization of zero-emission hotels Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thorsten Schuetze Sungkyunkwan University, Department of Architecture, Suwon 440-746, South Korea e-mail: t.schuetze@skku.edu Abstract In the tourism sector, particularly in hotels, generally much more resources per guest are consumed than in residential buildings per inhabitant. Tourists generally want to enjoy free time and don’t want primarily save resources. Accordingly the development and application of resource efficient and convenient so-called “zero- emission” concepts in hotels, can contribute to the saving of resources, such as energy, fresh water and nutrients. Good practice examples can function as role models for integrated urban resource management and contribute to increased awareness and distribution of knowledge regarding such systems. This paper discusses new decentralized approaches for the integrated management of resources, which can be applied in the tourism sector as well as in urban renewal projects and new urban developments. Recent developments in the cities Hamburg and Berlin (Germany, EU) are used as examples to discuss the potentialities for integrated system - and zero emission approaches related to urban tourism. Keywords: zero-emission, hotel, resources, management, sustainability. Introduction Growing urbanization, increasing resource consumption and climate change require increasing adapting capacity of the urban environment, for example to droughts, floods and heat waves, more sustainable use (and reuse) of resources as well as the adaptation of urban infrastructure systems. Many cities are expected grow and to be the main human habitat in the next decades. While currently already more than 50% of the world population lives in cities, it is expected that in 2030 approx. 70% will do so. The urbanization rate exceeds the global population growth, resulting in rural exodus and shrinking rural population. In the framework of the urbanization process 29 urban agglomerations are expected to become mega cities in 2025 (United Nations, 2009). With growing urbanization also the “city tourism” has increased in the past decades, with rising tendency. In the period from 1995 to 2020 worldwide long- haul travel is expected to grow at 5.4 per cent, and intraregional travel at 3.8 per cent per year. East Asia, the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East and Africa are forecasted to record higher growth at rates of over 5% year, than the world average of 4.1%. The top three regions will be Europe with arrivals of 717 million tourists, East Asia and the Pacific with 397 million tourists and the Americas with 282 million visitors, followed by Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. (World Tourism Organization, 2001) The tourism sector and particularly hotels, generally consume more resources per guest than inhabitants in dwellings. Hotels aim to provide good services to guests who generally want to enjoy their free time and enjoy luxury and don’t want primarily save resources. Accordingly the tourism sector is a good example for the challenges in cities, to achieve a sustainable management of natural resources while providing good services to inhabitants. The main important and increasingly pressing challenges in cities will be sustainable management and provision of natural resources, including the safe and adequate supply of water for city dwellers, particularly in developing countries. The growing city populations