Globalisation & Megacity Growth, p.86 to 107

Chapter Five

Globalisation & Megacity Growth, p.86 to 107

• a. 100 years: 1.5 billion to 6 billion
• b. 47% of world urban
• c. more developed nations: 76% urbanized
• d. 40% urbanized in developing nations
• e. urban populations in developed: grew by 0.6%
• f. urban populations in developing regions grew by 2.9% a year-will continue until 2030
• g. most people don’t live in mega-cities of 10 million
• h. coal, oil, steel, industrial mass production, global trade make this possible
• i. continuing worldwide immigration of people from rural areas results from a combination of factors

10 main factors:

• 1. migration due to job/business opportunities
• 2. urban education, health, other services
• 3. reproduction of urban populations
• 4. cheap energy supplies
• 5. technological development
• 6. import substitution & economic growth
• 7. economic globalization
• 8. urban political & financial power
• 9. urban-centered transport systems
• 10. easy access to global food supplies

• a. 1950: most people were employed in agriculture
• b. 1990: most people worked in services
• c. rural education, health programs, improved water, sanitation, road construction, electrification & investment in rural economies help to keep ruralites from moving
• d. combustion technology, steel making, motorized transport, long-distance communication systems > the emergence of large cities
• e. buildings require continuous electricity supplies to operate lifts, pump water, light rooms & power air conditioning & domestic electrical equipment
• f. bulldozers, cranes, road-building machinery + ready mixed concrete are the “headline technologies” that make fast urban construction possible
• g. buildings are no longer made of local materials. Instead steel, glass, concrete.
• h. China, largest producer of cement, 37% of global demand
• i. Turkey, India, Brazil, Thailand: major producers & consumers
• j. cement > a lot of greenhouse gases
• k. urbanites in developing countries can have 4x the income of ruralites
• l. long distance food supplies are becoming the norm
• m. cities deprive rural communities of water
• n. Tokyo: rapid industrial growth
• o. Meiji Period: Japan industrialized rapidly
• p. 25 years, Japan had a growth rate of up to ten percent (1950-1975)
• q. Tokyo, hub of Japan’s economic miracle
• r. little city-wide planning
• s. suburbs were created to reduce overcrowding
• t. Tokyo relied on imported energy & food & timber supplies
• u. Tokyo: one of world’s largest consumer markets
• v. Sumida/Onagi rivers became polluted with industrial effluents, sewage, mineral fertilizer run-off from farmland
• w. the Tokyo Bay ecosystem was severely damaged
• x. since 1973, the water quality has improved
• y. Japan had so much stuff to dispose of they HAD to recycle
• z. Toyo: high technology, knowledge based economy

• a. much industrial development in Tokyo
• b. Tokyo-leading player in global financial system
• c. Tokyo, London, New York: finance centers
• d. NY: services is 85% of economy, London its 82%, Tokyo is 74%
• e. investors to avoid expensive regulations & shift activity to low cost ones
• f. Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai, Mumbai
• g. Hong Kong: manufacturing to service based economy
• h. Singapore: mainly manufacturing: semi-conducters, shipping, air transport, becoming a major financial center

Six points:

• 1. concentrated command points by use of advanced communication systems
• 2. important centers for finance
• 3. coordinators of state power
• 4. sites of innovative forms of industrialization & production
• 5. markets for products & innovations produced

• a. networks are replacing communites
• b. do-things-yourself from online

Urban China p. 95

• a. China prevented rural to urban migration until recently
• b. Xiaoping: economic reforms built up industry/ rural urbanization
• c. Shenzhen grew from 1000s to millions
• d. jobs in factories, construction, restaurants, transportation, urban agriculture
• e. global investors contribute to China’s boom
• f. emergence of a consumer economy/ export driven economy
• g. greater meat consumption in China
• h. air/water pollution-major problem
• i. Shanghai: new container terminal
• j. Korea. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia: rapid growth in private income

Problems:

• 1. traffic congestion
• 2. housing shortages
• 3. competition for jobs
• 4. increasing crime

Cities In Third World Countries

• a. living conditions are awful for 1 billion or more urban people
• b. Nairobi, Manila, Calcutta, Jakarta: squatter camps for 1/2 of urban population
• c. water supply, sewage disposal, waste management: not well developed
• d. cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis: problems

Consideration

• a. poor cities: environmental problems are local/immediate/life threatening
• b. middle income: regional, delayed
• c. rich cities: global/inter-generational (problems) in scale

India:

• 1. 1947: 15% in cities, 2000: 30% in cities
• 2. megacities: Mumbai, Delphi, Calcutta, Chennai
• 3. 1/3 of urban Indians are below the poverty line
• 4. 15% of Indians do not have safe drinking water
• 5. traffic congestion, lack of public transport

Africa:

• a. rapid urbanization because rural conditions are worsening
• b. droughts/desertification

Lagos

• a. decline in rural areas, lack of economic development
• b. unemployment, poverty
• c. 90% do have electricity
• d. problems with water supplies (plenty of water there though!)
• e. problems with sewage disposal
• f. traffic congestion: 3 hours to move 20 kilometers
• g. lack of adequate housing
• h. high crime rates, lots of armed banditry

Geography Of Inequality

• a. The American urbanist Mike Davis has coined the term ‘ecology of fear” to describe the condition of people living in islands of wealth surrounded by poverty
• b. Los Angeles, Lagos, Jerusalem, Nairobi, Delhi: protected home zones with guarded entrances and high walls with electric security fences is becoming commonplace
• c. post-apartheid Johannesburg, well-to-do people live in gated suburbs
• d. unemployment is very high in cities
• e. violent crime is bad in Johannesburg, AIDs epidemic is high in South Africa

Liveability in Developing Cities

• a. high unemployment, appalling living conditions
• b. slum-upgrading programs, infrastructure improvement, housing improvements, small-scale job creation
• 1. water/wastewater systems, flood prevention, electricity, security lighting, public telephones
• 2. removing environmental hazards
• 3. providing incentives for community management/maintainance
• 4. creating community facilities, health posts, & community open space
• 5. regularizing security of tenure
• 6. home improvement
• 7. relocating residents moved by improvements
• 8. improving access to health care/education as well as social support systems to address security, violence, substance abuse
• 9. enhancing income earning opportunities through training and micro-credit
• 10. building social capital & institutional frameworks to sustain improvements

Curitiba: planning improvements have made it more livable

A Word From Lerner, Former Mayor

• a. competition for master plan of expanding Brazil’s city
• b. highly integrated bus system
• c. 1. use your car less
• d. separate your garbage
• e. 2 years to make urban improvements large scale
• f. planning is crucial
• g. high density/pedestrian friendly cities are needed

Offerings

• 1. living wage jobs
• 2. education
• 3. basic transportation
• 4. safe water/ sanitation
• 5. health care
• 6. affordable housing
• 7. clean air, safety, diversity
• 8. parks, gardens, public spaces
• 9. leisure/recreation
• 10. active stake in local, democratic governance
• 11. opportunities for enjoying nature

NEED: to develop a sustainable relationship between people & planet & transform local environmental conditions