Andrew Marr's BBC series on Megacities gives some really interesting views of how and why the world's megacities are growing. Wikipedia defines megacities as having more than 10m people. Tokyo is the world's largest with about 35m people. Most people in the western hemisphere have heard of Tokyo. Guangzhou is the second largest, with 25m people. I've heard of Guangzhou but many people won't have. That's about half the population of England - in just one city. And there are plenty of other cities that many westerners would hesitate to place on a map that are growing quickly too.
Another BBC article today has some stunning stats, graphs and thoughts.
"Cities cover 2% of the earth's crust but host more than 50% of the world's population, account for 75% of energy consumption and are responsible for up to 80% of carbon-dioxide emissions." More...
The sheer speed of building is stunning: twenty years ago, Shanghai didn't have an underground metro system. Now they have the world's biggest. If you're going to have one, have a big one.
This has been happening around the world for the past two hundred years, almost invisibly, as far as history is concerned and we are all affected by it. Wired is currently running an article on how urban living affects mental health. but so many new industries will spawn as a result. This is the future for millions of businesses. Cleaner transport, better health (maybe including mental health), food that travels less, cleaner air, better jobs, better leisure. Less sense of sprawl, maybe more sense of place and sustainable creativity. Bicycle friendly roads. City-quality jobs that aren't all in the middle of the city. Perhaps we can design environments that are conducive to making people happier or even just friendlier.
This is our future and we have to make it work.
Another BBC article today has some stunning stats, graphs and thoughts.
"Cities cover 2% of the earth's crust but host more than 50% of the world's population, account for 75% of energy consumption and are responsible for up to 80% of carbon-dioxide emissions." More...
The sheer speed of building is stunning: twenty years ago, Shanghai didn't have an underground metro system. Now they have the world's biggest. If you're going to have one, have a big one.
This has been happening around the world for the past two hundred years, almost invisibly, as far as history is concerned and we are all affected by it. Wired is currently running an article on how urban living affects mental health. but so many new industries will spawn as a result. This is the future for millions of businesses. Cleaner transport, better health (maybe including mental health), food that travels less, cleaner air, better jobs, better leisure. Less sense of sprawl, maybe more sense of place and sustainable creativity. Bicycle friendly roads. City-quality jobs that aren't all in the middle of the city. Perhaps we can design environments that are conducive to making people happier or even just friendlier.
This is our future and we have to make it work.
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