MEGACITIES
Cities are growing at a rate of around 1 million people every week.
Half the Earth's population will soon live in congested, urban regions mainly in the poor, developing countries of the South.
If the 20th century was the century of urban sprawl, the 21st century will be the century of the megacity. A megacity is defined as a city with an estimated population of more than 10 million people.
The 10 largest megacities in the world as of the year 2000 are:
1. Tokyo, Japan 26.4 million
2. Mexico City, Mexico 18.4 million
3. Bombay, India 18.1 million
4. Sao Paulo, Brazil 17.8 million
5. Shanghai, China 17.0 million
6. New York City, USA 16.6 million
7. Lagos, Nigeria 13.4 million
8. Los Angeles, USA 13.1 million
9. Calcutta, India 12.9 million
10. Buenos Aires, Argentina 12.6 million
Currently, there are an estimated 23 megacities worldwide. By 2015, the number of megacities is expected to grow to 36.
Today, Asia has 9 megacities; Beijing, Bombay, Calcutta, Jakarta, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Tianjin and Tokyo- and it will soon have 4 more, including Bangkok, Dhaka, Karachi and Manilla. Relative to their level of development, Asia has a greater proportion of their urban population in megacities than in any other region in the world.
The world's megacities take up just 2 percent of the Earth's land surface, yet they account for roughly 75 percent of industrial wood use, 60 percent of human water use, and nearly 80 percent of all human produced carbon emissions. These figures suggest that the struggle to achieve an environmentally sustainable economy for the 21st century will be won or lost in the world's urban areas.
It is projected by international development agencies that more than 300 cities with over a million inhabitants will have formed in our world by 2025. Between 1990 and 2025, the number of people living in urban areas is projected to double to more than 5 billion- 90 percent of that increase will occur in developing countries.
The explosion and growth of megacities worldwide is unsustainable, unprecedented and ecologically disasterous for human civilization. Global Population rates must be brought under control immediately. Sustainable urban development requires realistic limits on any given region's natural carrying capacity and hard-core conservation and recycling of local finite natural resources.
We must also promote the use of limitless decentralized alternative energy sources and a radical shift towards environmental, economic and social development alternatives that promote healthy and advanced living arrangements and environments for future urban dwellers worldwide for the 21st century.
Steve Jones
P.O. Box 1141
Boulder, Colorado
80306
USA
E-Mail: crystallight721@yahoo.com
SOURCES:
1. Megacities 2000
Megacities Foundation, c/o S&M Stedebouw and Architectuurmanagement
Herengracht 23, 1015 BA Amsterdam Netherlands, European Union
Website: http://www.megacities.nl
2. Population Reference Bureau
1875 Connecticut Ave- NW, #520, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Website: http://www.prb.org
3. Megacities 2002 Conference
Organizer- Konrad Adenauer Foundation
Dr. Gunter W. Dill, Rathausallee 12, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany, European Union
Website: http://www.kas.de/international/konferenz02-06-17/index_en.html
4. Asia's Megacities
Asia Pacific Media Network
405 Hilgard Ave, 330 Kinsey Hall, Los Angeles, California 90095 USA
Website: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Deadline/MegaCities/MegaCities.htm
5. Where the Megacities Are
Website: Article- Where the Megacities Are
6. The Emergence of Megacities
c/o International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
727 Massachussetts Ave, Cambridge, Massachussetts 02139 USA
Website: http://www.ippnw.org
7. Projected Coastal Megacities
Website: MAP: Projected Coastal Megacities: 2015
