Urban Issues
All cities are divided between rich and poor sectors. Business growth and rising
numbers of tourists increase the incomes of the rich but the poor see little of
the increased wealth. Vast numbers live in shanty towns in cheap, self-made
sheds. There is insufficient clean water or sanitation, few schools, few
amenities of any kind. Health suffers first. It is estimated that 100 million
people in cities are homeless in both developed and developing countries. Some
of the worst polluting industries are likely to be located in poor or racially
distinct neighbourhood.
Water
Water is the single most valuable resource for cities. Many cities are facing a
serious shortage of safe drinking water as a result of leaking pipes and
pollution from POPs. Most city people in developing countries end up boiling
their water, or buying bottles. Where piped fresh water is available, it usually
only goes to elite residential areas. The poor still have to buy their water
through middle men and end up
Many people want to live in cities – but they should remember as they pass through the city gates that, inside, the reality is often squalor, violent crime, dingy high-rise blocks of flats and open sewers.
World population grows at 215,000 a day. In 1999, we reached six billion people. By 2050, there will be many billions more. We’d need to build a city the size of Lima (Peru) every 20 days to house them. Instead, we will expand and merge existing cities, creating mega-cities. Mexico City has grown from 12 to 18 million in 30 years. Jakarta grew 8 million in just 15 years. China’s urban population grew from 192 million to 375 million in 16 years. Cities seem destined to just go on growing and growing!
| City Waste Very few cities in developing countries have proper facilities for disposing of solid and human waste. Because cities generate so much of both, this is a huge problem to people’s health and the pleasure of living in a city. At the municipal dump of the city of Guaiba, in Brazil, there are people who make a living from sorting the waste. It might seem impossible that people can survive on waste. But of the 40,000 kg of waste thrown away each day in Guaiba alone, 70% could be recycled. Twenty per cent could be used as compost. So, if it was properly sorted, only 10% of the waste would end up in the dustbin. |
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Answer the following:
1 What is the single most valuable resource for cities?
2 What percentage of waste material in Guaiba could be recycled?
3 Write a list of items in your house which could be recycled.
