As stated by the famous Harvard University economics professor, Edward Glaeser, cities
are one of humanity’s great creations.
Cities make us richer, greener, healthier and happier.
Dear friends of VISUALPOLITIK, over time, cities have become a synonym for freedom and
prosperity.
Of course... they aren’t precisely a new phenomenon.
Since human beings stopped wandering from place to place in search of food 10,000 years
ago, they began to build settlements that became cities over time.
And it was, finally, in the third millennium BC, that the great city-states began to emerge
in the Mesopotamian region.
Cities like Nippuer, Ur, Lagash, Umma, and the most popular one: Babylon.
Today, 5,000 years later, more than half of the world's population lives in cities.
And, by the way, more than 500 of those cities have more than one million inhabitants.
There’s no doubt about it--the great takeoff of urbanism happened in the nineteenth century
with the industrial revolution.
Since then, we’ve lived in a state of constant urbanization--a process that has, so far,
endured, and which… doesn’t look like it’ll stop anytime soon.
See, United Nations estimates predict that by 2050, almost 70% of the entire population
will live in cities.
What began in what we now know as developed countries, and, since the mid-twentieth century,
extended to developing countries, has led to a world dominated by huge metropolises.
But... just a second, what exactly is the influence of big cities?
Want some revealing facts?
Well, here they are.
It’s estimated that only the 600 most dynamic cities in the world, where 23% of the planet’s
population lives, generates 55% of all economic activity.
In a few years that figure will exceed 60%.
In other words, our world and our way of life depends more and more on cities.
Cities are for the world what Messi is for Barcelona.
And a new phenomenon has emerged from this huge evolution: megacities.
Metropolises with more than 10 million inhabitants.
Nowadays, there are no less than 43 on the planet.
And, check this out, the places where they’re growing the most are in developing countries.
And this presents a huge challenge.
In fact, it causes so many problems that it’s setting off major alarm bells.
Allow me to explain.
In the poorest countries in the world, cities are growing at a frenetic, completely uncontrolled
pace, which is generating very high levels of pollution, crime and chaotic traffic.
Many of the new megacities have devolved into chaos.
For example, check out these 2017 news headlines:
(“Air pollution closes all schools in Tehran”.
France 24h)
(“New Delhi is once again the most polluted city on Earth”.
VOX)
At this point, you might have several questions:
Where will the most populated cities in the world be in the next few decades?
What will be their future?
And most importantly, what challenges do the new megacities face?
Well, let's see.
(THE NEW GIANTS)
I'm sorry, but I have an assignment for you: you’ll need to learn and remember new city
names.
Because, folks, most of the new mega cities aren’t yet household names.
A recent study by the Ontario Institute of Technology has indicated that by the end of
this century we can expect the largest cities not to be places like Tokyo, Mexico City,
or New York, but Lagos, Kinshasa, and Dar es-Salam.
Yes, you heard that right, future megacities will be, among other places, in Africa.
Surprised?
Well you shouldn’t be, at least if you follow VisualPolitik.
On this channel we’ve already mentioned several times how the African continent is
changing.
According to this study by the Institute of Technology of Ontario, these three cities
located in Nigeria, the Congo, and Tanzania, which are expected to be the largest in the
world, could surpass the 75 million inhabitant mark by the end of the century.
Yes, you heard that right: 75 million people.
If this happens, just one of these cities would have more inhabitants than all of Germany.
Sounds mad!
Of course... wait just a second, because we don’t need to go that far into the future.
It’s estimated that by the year 2050 – and that’s not so far away – the 5 largest
metropolitan areas on the planet will be these places.
Check it out:
3 in India, 1 in Bangladesh, and another in the Congo.
The largest of them all with more than 40 million inhabitants.
Insane!
Now, as you can imagine this poses a lot of challenges.
If today many of these cities already have huge problems... imagine what it’ll be like
in a few years.
But... let's see exactly what we’re dealing with.
Listen up.
(THE CHALLENGES)
Folks, the case of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, is… how should I put it?
AMAZING...
In the 1960s this city barely had 180,000 inhabitants.
It looked like a small western-style coastal town and was surrounded by small villages.
Today it has more than 20 million, 20 million inhabitants and won’t stop growing.
According to existing estimates, this city is destined to become the most populated city
on the planet.
By the end of the century it could have almost 90 million inhabitants.
But, one important point.
When we talk about megacities, it’s normal to think of huge skyscrapers, superimposed
transport systems, and gigantic avenues.
However, today, in most cases, the reality is very, very different.
See, with more than 20 million inhabitants, Lagos has become a collapsed labyrinth of
cars and motorcycles, a place where power outages are frequent, and public services
such as water supply and waste collection and treatment, when they exist, fail more
often than a Silicon Valley startup.
And, of course, most of the population lives in crowded, substandard housing... in favelas,
in misery.
Because, of course, this excessive city growth poses 2 kinds of problems: one directly related
to infrastructure and the other with the social and political consequences it involves.
(Managing a city in excess of 50 million inhabitants is a daunting task, especially as many of
these cities are woefully under-serviced today.
Sixty-five years is a relatively short timeframe with regard to urban infrastructure.
Much of it, e.g. London’s Underground and Rome’s streets, is long-lived and can take
decades to develop.
Daniel Hoornweg and Kevin Pope)
See, recently a United Nations study about Manila, the capital of the Philippines and
one of the fastest growing cities in the world, documented a myriad of problems related to
waste management,
According to this study, garbage piles up in the streets and drainage problems are generating
all kinds of infectious outbreaks.
Another study, also from the United Nations, warns that in Mumbai, the second most populous
city in India and one that also exceeds the 20 million inhabitant barrier, the substandard
housing, shacks, are crowded one on top of the other, and the streets aren’t finished
– and in many cases aren’t even paved – making them flood in the monsoon season,
which doesn’t only cause huge amounts of destruction, but the water ends up stagnating
and spreading diseases.
Then there’s pollution.
Many of these cities are among the most polluted in the world.
And we already saw in a previous video how wealth and pollution are related.
And the problems don’t end there.
This uncontrolled growth is also forcing a large part of the population to live in neighborhoods
and areas where they don’t only lack basic services, but also important institutions,
such as the police.
Something which evidently favors the spread of mafias, and all kinds of criminal and radical
groups.
That’s precisely what megacities like San Pablo, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City are
experiencing!
Folks, until now the great metropolises have always been a source of wealth and prosperity.
And of course there’s no reason to think that it’ll be different this time around.
(“No country in the industrial era achieved any significant economic growth without urbanization.
Cities concentrate poverty, but they also represent the main hope for getting out of
it” UN State of World Population 2007 Report.)
Ok, cities have always been the center of knowledge, technological and artistic advances,
and new ideas.
Even at a political level, people who live in cities have traditionally had a more open
vision and have been more tolerant and receptive to change.
However, with the emergence of these new megacities in a world of cities, it looks like we’re
facing a challenge with two possible outcomes:
First, that these new urban giants will bolster the local economy, generate new ways of creating
wealth, promote civil liberties and in the end, be seen as the equals of cities like
Tokyo, New York, and London.
The second outcome is that these cities will continue to grow in population without any
substantial infrastructure improvements.
In that case the sum of misery, pollution, and violence could end up creating new radical
politicians, or driving new refugee waves towards the more developed countries.
Well, on this channel – I'm sure you're not surprised – we like to think it’ll
be the first:
We like to think that these new megacities will contribute to a better world in the near
future, and in the long term.
But for that, they won’t only need solidarity and aid, above all, they’ll need a lot of
investment.
Anyways, folks, we’ll be looking forward to those changes.
So I really hope you enjoyed this video, please hit like if you did, and don’t forget to
subscribe for brand new videos.
Don’t forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided
the vocals in this episode that were not mine.
Also, this channel is possible because of Patreon, and our patrons on that platform.
Please consider joining them and supporting our mission of providing independent political
coverage.
And as always, thanks for watching!