Where do we live?

Hazards involve people. We are only concerned about natural phenomenon like flooding, wind storms and storm surges when they have an impact on people and their possessions. If we understand where people are living, we can start to understand who might be affected. In the map below, the size of each territory shows the relative portions of the world’s population living there.

  

India, China and Japan appear large on the map because they have large populations. Panama, Namibia and Guinea-Bissau have small populations, so are barely visible on the map. So, now we have a rough idea of which countries are heavily populated, let’s find out where exactly the 7 billion of us live.

An urbanising world?

The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history (UNFRPA). More than two thirds of the world’s population is now in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Since 1950, the urban population of these regions have grown more than fivefold. This rapid urban growth has bought a HUGE increase in the number of large cities. Many cities have reached sizes that are historically unprecedented. Looking back just two centuries ago, London and Beijing were the only two cities with over 1 million inhabitants. By 1950 there were 80; today there are over 300 (Sattherwaite, 2000).

What about mega-cities I hear you ask? Well, they didn't exist until the 1940s. Mega-cities are those with 10 million or more inhabitants and are a relatively new phenomenon. The first city to reach this size was New York. By 1990 there were 12 of them. Although mega-cities have captured much attention they account for fewer than 10% of urban dwellers; most of new growth is projected to occur in smaller towns and cities, particularly in less-developed regions, which have fewer resources to manage the magnitude of change. Hold that thought.

The world is urbanising and FAST, as a result poverty is also urbanising (Ooi and Phua). For the first time ever, the majority of the world’s population lives in a city, and this proportion continues to grow (World Health Organisation). Here are a four bullet points to summarise what has happened, what is happening and what is predicted to happen with world population:

1. 1. 100 years ago 2 out of every 10 people lived in an urban area
2. 1. By 1900 less than 40% of the global population lived in a city
3. 1. As of 2010 more than 50% of us live in an urban area
4. 1. By 2030 6/10 of people will live in a city and by 2050 this will reach 7/10 of us

It is evident that as we move further into the anthropocene, more and more of us are living in cities. We are entering into unprecedented territory.

Opportunities provided by cities

The concentration of people and production in cities can be problematic, but can also provide many opportunities for improving quality of life. This concentration provides economies of proximity which helps reduce unit costs. Let’s list just a few of the opportunities that cities can provide: piped water, sewers, drains, electricity, public transport, health care, emergency services, regulation, waste handling, etc. The provision of such services is part of the reason why the world is undergoing urbanisation on a huge scale.

BUT Cities can also provide an opportunity for disaster. In the absence of good management, they can be particular hazardous as large low income settlements develop in hazardous sites because no other sites are available to them. Poverty is growing faster and faster and faster and faster. 1 billion people live in urban slums which are typically overcrowded, polluted and dangerous. These lack basic services such as clean water and sanitation (UNFPA). Are cities in the developing world therefore particularly vulnerable to disasters? Yeung suggests that this may be the case:

For the scale and speed of urbanization that has been taking place in developing countries of Asia, most municipal governments are unequipped physically, fiscally, politically, and administratively to tackle the problems of providing the basic infrastructure services to their people. In a situation of scarce resource allocation, the urban poor are frequently badly placed to compete for essential services. Biases in investment standards, pricing policy, and administrative procedures, more often than not skew services in favour of the rich, denying the poor shelter, safe water, acceptable sanitation, minimal nutrition, and basic education.

Where do we live? Well, most of us live in cities. What does this mean in relation to climate hazards in the Anthropocene? You'll have to wait and see! My next post will start to look into climate hazards and their evolution  through the Holocene and into the Anthropocene.