Global State of National Urban Policy 2024
<p>With global population increasingly concentrating in urban areas, cities are driving national economic growth, while also grappling with challenges such as inequalities, affordable housing shortages,
Urbanisation
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Humanity moving to cities, towns
Half of them will live in urban areas by end of 2008:U.N. Half the world's people will live in urban areas by the end of this year and about 70 per cent will be city dwellers by 2050, with cities and towns in Asia and Africa registering the biggest growth, according to new U.N. projections. But India is expected to urbanise at a significantly lower rate than China, and is expected to remain the country with the largest rural population during coming decades. The report predicts that there will be 27 "megacities' with at least 10 million population by mid-century compared to 19 today, but it forecasts that at least half the urban growth in the coming decades will be in the many smaller cities with less than 500,000 people. According to the latest U.N. estimate last year, world population is expected to increase from 6.7 billion in 2007 to 9.2 billion in 2050. During the same time period, the report said, the population living in urban areas is projected to rise from 3.3 billion to 6.4 billion. "Thus, the urban areas of the world are expected to absorb all the population growth expected over the next four decades while at the same time drawing in some of the rural population,' the report said. "As a result, the world rural population is projected to start decreasing in about a decade, and 600 million fewer rural inhabitants are expected in 2050 than today.' The report stresses that these projections will take place only if the number of children in families in the developing world continues to decline, especially in Africa and Asia. Hania Zlotnik, head of the U.N. Population Division, expressed the hope that increasing urbanisation "will go hand in hand with economic growth.' She said more than 70 per cent of the population in Europe, North America, and many other richer developed countries already live in urban areas. But only 39 per cent of Africans and 41 per cent of Asians lived in urban areas last year . "During 2008, for the first time in history, the proportion of the population living in urban areas will reach 50 per cent,' it said. By mid-century, Asia is projected to see its urban population increase by 1.8 billion, Africa by 900 million, and Latin America and the Caribbean by 200 million, it said. China at this moment is 40 per cent urban, Ms. Zlotnik said. The U.N. expects its urban population to reach more than 70 per cent by 2050 , she said. By contrast India, currently has just over 300 million urban residents, or 29 per cent of its population living in urban areas, Ms. Zlotnik said, and by 2050 it is expected to have only 55 per cent of its population, about 900 million, in cities. "So India is expected to urbanise much less than China, and therefore it is expected to remain the country with the largest rural population during most of the future decades.'
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The future of cities
One of the outstanding phenomena of the 20th century was the huge migrations of population it witnessed. It is natural to think first of the effects of war, exacerbated by nationalism and beliefs about ethnicity. A major example is the forced displacement of millions of people in Europe and the Middle East in 1945 and afterwards. But these movements are dwarfed by the migration of rural dwellers to urban areas, a process with origins in the industrial revolution but which in the past 60 years has turned from a stream to a tsunami. (Commentary)
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Identity and exclusion in India's cities
The dark side of urban development is generating tensions of the kind that recently surfaced in Mumbai. (Editorial) Feb 16-22, 2008
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Nagpur plots pro poor plan to help land grabbers
Big, bigger Almost a third of the entire Nagpur district, that is 3,780 sq km, will be brought under the metropolitan region. Of this 1,520 sq km will be taken up under the first phase
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Urban transport in India: beyond the Nano
A positive fallout of the unveiling of the Nano, a low-cost (US$2,500) car by Tata Motors, is that it has re-ignited the debate about urban transport in India.
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JNNURM progress report
The centre is the key facilitator of urban development despite it being a state subject. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which was launched in December 2005, is the biggest driver in improving the quality of life for the target population of the 63 large cities (all million plus) covered under the mega scheme.
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Between citizens and institutions: the dynamics of the integration of water supply and sanitation services in Hyderabad
Urban growth in Hyderabad has underscored the need for restructuring urban services, starting with public utilities. This paper focuses on institutional changes with regard to the main service providers
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An overview of urbanization and climate
Level of urbanization has been increasing in India since the last five decades. This trend is likely to continue in the near future. More people will become city residents, increased number of people will have to necessarily live on a limited amount of developed land. In this context, people will demand more housing and everything else associated with urban living including modern physical and social infrastructure. These facilities will be provided with intense use of technology. This urban condition could have devastating climatic and sustainability consequences.
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The challenges of environmental problems in Nigeria
Nigeria has a total land area of 983,213 km2 occupied by about 120 Million people: The interaction of these millions of people with their environment has left indelible mark on the landscape. Urbanization, deforestation, desertification, over population and all kinds of pollution are some of the resultant effects of man's interaction with his environment. These changes occur as the people attempt to acquire their seemingly endless desire for food, shelter, recreation and infrastructural facilities. Jan 2008
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Urban poverty: a global view
This paper provides an overview on what has been learned about urban poverty over the past decade with a focus on what is new and what the implications are for the World Bank going forward in an increasingly urbanized world. Coverage includes current nformation on the scope of urban poverty, identification of the key issues for the urban poor, a summary of regional characteristics of urban poverty, what has been learned from programs and policies aimed at the urban poor, and finally, the paper identifies priorities for urban poverty reduction within the context of an overall urban strategy.