Growing Population And Urbanization Essay

Growing population and urbanization are giving rise to new social & economic challenges, globally. As per various projections, the world population will increase to about a whooping figure of 9 billion by 2050. At the same time, the urban population will also see a drastic growth reaching 6.3 billion or nearly 70% of the population of the world in 2050 (Pelletier, 2015)

Many cities have stretched beyond their carrying capacity. The resources and infrastructure are being over utilised. To add to the woes, influx of rural migrants to the urban centres in search of livelihood makes the situation worse. Even countries with shrinking population are witnessing a growth of their cities. Irrespective of whether the country is developing or developed,

As demand of these commodities increase, prices rise increasing the cost of living for the common man. Water scarcity, shortage of food grains, shortage of electricity, scarcity of land are some of the terms which are being herd in the recent times. Increasing population has given rise to a new phenomenon called ‘megacities’, a city having a population greater than 10 million. ( Bélissent, 2010)

While in 1950 there were just 2 in the entire world (New York & Tokyo), in 2014 we have 28 which accounts for 12 % of the world’s urban population. (Pelletier, 2015)These megacities bring with them mega challenges of traffic & urban mobility, public safety, affordable housing, education and health.

The needs and issues vary from region to region. Some are marred by increasing congestion on roads due to lack of proper public transport system, some other are by increasing rate of ageing population and shrinking tax base and some other due to lack of digital initiatives and cumbersome processes in day to day works of life. All these urban agglomerations have one feature in common – the vital infrastructures have outdates, unable to evolve with time they are awfully insufficient, are increasingly fragile and are susceptible to breakdown being unable to meet the demand of the current

These cities are being constructed from scratch with the foresight of sustainability and adaptability to changes in the future. Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Navi – Mumbai & Lavasa can be example of such cities. Along with that we can also find ‘Non-city’ cities mushrooming up. A Non – city city can be described as company towns (Magarpatta City; Trombay) and Universities (SIU, Lavale).

The main characteristic of any city is its capability to form a convergence of people, skills, resources, infrastructure, government, institutions, and it has complex systems to manage public mobility, provision of utilities & services, education, affordable and quality housing. Unlike the traditional city a smart city not only comprises of the aforesaid features but also is inclusive, resilient and sustainable. It uses innovation in day to day business of life and makes processes simple and