Mega cities

1
Mega cities

• Challenges and responses

2
Challenges

• List some challenges that megacities face.

3
Typical challenges

• Inadequate infrastructure
• Lack of good quality housing
• Unemployment / underemployment
• Water supplies and sanitation
• Pollution

4
Inadequate infrastructure

• In MCs in developing countries, most commuters
  use public transport. For example, 85 of
  commuters in Calcutta, Mumbai and Cairo use
  public transport.
• Because no mega-city in the developing world has
  an underground railway system in any way
  comparable to Tokyo or Paris, most commuters use
  buses, which have to travel along congested
  roads.

5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
Inadequate infrastructure

• MCs have poor transport links to other centres.
• This road in South America is notorious for
  deaths every week.

8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
Inadequate infrastructure

• In Chinese MCs such as Shanghai, the bicycle is
  the primary mode of transport.
• They are slow and cyclists often ignore the basic
  traffic rules, and are a major cause of
  congestion in all MCs.
• To add to the problem, the situation in most MCs
  is only getting worse.
• In Shanghai, there was a 25 increase in the
  number of person times, the number of motor
  vehicles increased from 8000 to 68 000 (between
  1983 and 2001) and the number of bicycles
  increased from 1.8 million to 12.3 million.

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
Responses to infrastructure

• Problems associated with traffic have be reduced
  by upgrading major roads and highways,
  introducing/improving underground railway systems
  and also by elevating ring road systems.
• In Cairo, an underground railway system has been
  developed. It stretches 42 kilometres and has a
  capacity to carry 60 000 passengers per hour in
  each direction.
• This system is part of a plan to reduce above
  ground traffic by up to 75 per cent. However, the
  quality of service provided by the underground
  has been a challenge.

21
Pollution

• Air and water pollution leads directly to health
  and nutrition problems.
• Air pollution results from years of uncontrolled,
  unregulated industrial production.
• Suplhur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other toxic
  gases continue to pollute the air.
• Such air pollution is commonly associated with
  acute and chronic illnesses, such as asthma and
  bronchitis.
• Infrastructure failure and the resulting traffic
  congestion contribute to inefficient fuel use and
  worsening pollution.

22
(No Transcript)
23
Pollution

• In Mexico City 3.5 million motor vehicles and
  30,000 factories emit more than 5.5 million
  tonnes of contaminants into the atmosphere each
  year.
• More than 100 000 deaths a year in Mexico City
  alone are attributes to the effects of
  atmospheric pollution.

24
Pollution

• The problem is made worse by the geography of the
  region.
• The city lies in a basin surrounded by mountains
  and frequent thermal inversions trap pollutants
  at ground level.

25
Pollution

• Air quality standards are exceeded most of the
  year.
• The city has serious problems for particulate
  matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone
  pollution, plus moderate problems for lead and
  nitrogen oxides.
• The most important source of air pollution in
  Mexico City is transportation.

26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
Pollution

• Water pollution is a also major problem in MCs
  and often leads to health and nutrition problems.
  
• Generally, poor infrastructure, sewerage systems
  and hyperurbanisation puts pressure on water
  supplies.

29
Pollution

• People use water for everything. Water pollution
  in Egypt, Cairo highlights the problems and
  challenges that MCs face. The Nile River, Egypts
  liquid lifeline for thousands of years, is
  seriously polluted.
• In Egypt water is become scarce and in the canals
  running off the Nile, women wash their clothes,
  themselves and their babies alongside dead dogs
  and the swollen carcasses of cows.
• But according to Michael Cohen (Advisor for World
  Bank, Washington), poor water quality does not
  simply hurt people, it breaks machines hurting
  the industrial and manufacturing base of a
  countrys economy.

30
Responses to pollution

• Most of Brazil now uses petrol with up to 85
  ethanol. This is a much cleaner petrol where the
  ethanol is derived from sugar cane and soy beans.
• The Govt invested into making engine valves
  compatible with this type of fuel.
• It has the benefits of cheaper fuel, less impact
  on the environment and also ensures the local
  farmers are earning substantial revenues.

31
Ethanol production by country
32
(No Transcript)
33
Responses to pollution

• Australia only uses up to 10 ethanol in unleaded
  petrol at present.
• With greater international political awareness of
  the issue on global warming, it is expected that
  Govts in MCs adopt similar strategies to the ones
  being implemented across the developed countries
  cities.

34
Responses to pollution

• In Mexico City, air quality has been the focus of
  a concentrated international effort.
• The World Bank has sponsored a project to curb
  air pollution through public transport
  improvements, emission standards and improvements
  to air quality monitoring.
• The Mexican Govt has started to shut down
  polluting factories, is phasing out
  diesel-powered buses and has mandated emission
  controls on new cars.

35
Responses to pollution

• Since 1993, all new cars in Mexico must have
  catalytic converters (devices for reducing
  emissions).
• Trucks must now use only liquefied petroleum gas
  (LPG).
• In 1989, the government instituted a day-without
  a car program, banning 20 of all automobiles
  from the city each week. Although the air
  improved slightly during the first year, the
  problem worsened again as those who could afford
  to brought a second car to avoid the ban.

36
Responses to pollution

• In relation to Egypts poor water quality and
  constant drought conditions, the construction of
  the desalination plant has ensured a reliable
  source of water for Cairo.
• The cost of this project was approx 1.8 billion.

37
Water supplies and sanitation

• The problems of providing a satisfactory water
  supply to the rapidly growing MCs of the
  developing world are increasing at a fast rate.
• The existing systems in many MCs are almost
  certainly unable to meet the present demand.
• There is often little equity in distribution with
  the wealthier residents consuming
  disproportionate amounts of water.
• Solid waste disposal services are often
  inadequate.

38
Water supplies and sanitation

• The proportion of solid waste collected in
  Jakarta is just 25, in Karachi 36 and between
  70-80 in most other MCs.
• In many cities, the recycling of solid waste has
  become an important source of income for the very
  poor. These problems related to poor water
  supplies and sanitation services can be seen only
  too well in the Indian MC of Delhi.

39
Water supplies and sanitation

• Delhi is the third largest city in India after
  Calcutta and Mumbai.
• The city has an unusually large proportion of
  urban poor, comprising 45 of its population. The
  supply of water to the urban poor is mainly by
  standpipe and yard taps, with some water from
  deep boreholes using hand pumps.
• Only 20 of the citys population have a
  continuous supply of water, and 60 receive eight
  hours or less continuous supply.

40
(No Transcript)
41
Responses to water supplies and sanitation

• The experience in the Orangi Slum in Karachi has
  been very good.
• Karachi is the largest city in the south Asian
  country of Pakistan.
• Since the 1950s, it has experienced a rapid
  growth in population as large numbers of people
  in rural areas have migrated to the city in
  search of work and a perceived better standard of
  living.
• However, this influx of people has resulted in
  slum settlements with poor sanitation as one of
  the main problems.

42
Responses to water supplies and sanitation

• With approximately one million inhabitants,
  Orangi is the largest squatter settlement. It is
  located on the northwestern side of Karachi.
• The first Karachi squatters settled in Orangi in
  the early 1960s. Government agencies only
  constructed the main roads, the water supply
  network, electricity lines and a few schools and
  hospitals.

43
Responses to water supplies and sanitation

• The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) was established in
  1980 to fill the gap left by the city s
  incompetent government that had failed to provide
  the slum with sanitation.
• The total bill for the OPP enterprise was around
  US1.5 million, all provided by the local
  community.
• The residents of individual lanes banded together
  to elect project managers and contribute cash and
  voluntary labour to get their own sewer
  installed.

44
(No Transcript)
45
Responses to water supplies and sanitation

• The results achieved at a fraction of the price
  of a government scheme have been remarkable.
• Over 72 000 of Orangi s 95,000 houses have been
  connected to covered sewers. The costs have been
  very low at 38 for each house.
• The districts mortality rate fell from 130 per
  1000 in 1982 to 26 per 1000 by 2001.
• Upkeep costs to clear blockages and replace
  broken manhole covers are around 10 cents per
  month.

46
Employment

• Providing sufficient employment for the rapidly
  growing population of MCs provides a very basic
  challenge.
• High levels of underemployment are also
  characteristic of a typical MC.
• Urban labour markets are incapable of absorbing
  the expanding number of job seekers.
• Estimates of the International Labour
  organization suggest between 20 and 25 of urban
  adults in developing MCs are without regular
  work. The result is poverty and social exclusion.

47
India employment trends
48
Employment

• Because there are so few jobs in the formal
  economy, many urban poor are forced, or choose,
  to create their own employment with the informal
  sector.
• The rapid increases in populations and the low
  level of skill of many rural-urban migrants make
  the issue of employment a critical one.

49
Employment

• The challenges of employment are clearly evident
  in Bangkok as a result of its economic crisis in
  1998.
• There were mass lay-offs of workers in Bangkok,
  mainly in the textiles and electronics
  industries, where 90 of workers were women.
• Business losses were claimed as the major reason
  for laying off workers. Most of the laid off
  women workers were aged 40 to 50 or near
  retirement, had low skills and spent most of
  their working lives in the informal sector.
• Many found it difficult to find new jobs or did
  not expect to find new jobs, as their
  qualifications did not match current
  requirements.

50
Responses to employment

• The response of MCs to deal with the challenges
  of unemployment and underemployment have included
  allowing more transnational corporations into the
  city/country in order to provide more jobs for
  the local people.
• China and India are now enjoying a massive influx
  of foreign direct investment. This has resulted
  in huge job and income growth for these host
  countries. There is a rapid transition from the
  traditional rural based economy to an increase of
  manufacturing and services.
• There are also many other NICs next in line with
  the likes of the Philippines, Indonesia and
  Malaysia.

51
Responses to employment

• However, there are warnings that India is
  developing at the risk of jobless growth. The
  service sector of India is touching new highs but
  unable to provide employment for the bigger work
  force available in the country.
• To engage the unemployed force, the energy and
  manufacturing industries will have to create the
  larger job opportunities.
• There is a challenge in front of Indian economy
  to generate jobs opportunities otherwise India
  would have faced a risk of jobless growth in
  coming years. It will make other adverse impact
  on Indias economic growth too.

52
Responses to employment

• Indias labour force is growing at the rate of
  four percent per year.
• Generating job opportunities for skilled as well
  as unskilled labour is a tough task for
  government of India.
• If India is hoping to touch 8 percent economic
  growth this fiscal year, it should concentrate
  more to provide jobs to its unemployed force.

53
Responses to employment

• Unfortunately, not all this growth is evenly
  distributes and this may sometimes come at the
  cost of the environment, which generally tends to
  occur when TNCs enter a country for the first
  time.
• Also loosely bound laws for counterfeiting, in
  China this is a big problem, 1 in 20 are selling
  counterfeit products at cheap prices with rural
  workers working for a few dollars per day to make
  the product.

54
Responses to employment

• International governmental organizations (IGOs)
  and non-government organizations (NGOs) play an
  important role in meeting the challenges
  associated with employment.
• Often organisations such as the Red Cross and
  World Vision help many of the urban poor in MCs
  by providing money, health care and training for
  people, especially men to be able to rejoin the
  workforce.

55
Housing

• Population growth, both from natural increase and
  from rural-urban migration is always ahead of
  housing supply.
• The UN predicts that every third person will live
  in a slum within 50 years.
• As a result, the poor are forced to crowd into
  already crowded squatter settlements or slums.
• Not only is there a problem with shortage of
  housing but there is also problems of standards
  of housing especially when some MCs like Jakarta
  and Istanbul are in earthquake zones.

56
Housing

• The challenges associated with housing are clear
  in the island city of Mumbai on the west coast of
  India, just south of the Tropic of Cancer.
• It caters for 12 million residents and over 2
  million floaters who commute to the city every
  day.
• Mumbai faces a severe housing crisis and the
  existing housing stock continues to deteriorate.
  The current demand for housing is calculated at
  60, 000 units per year, while the present supply
  is only 20, 000 units per year.
• Mumbai is the most congested city in India. By
  1993, an estimated 55 of the city population
  lived in slums and a further 25 in even worse
  conditions.

57
Housing

• The housing standards or percentage of houses
  with electricity and water is 85 in Mumbai, which
  is better than other MCs such as Lagos (50) and
  Calcutta (57).
• Of an estimated 12 million people living in the
  city, more than 100, 000 people sleep on the
  streets, on the bonnets of cars, in gutters and
  doorways.
• A further 5 million people live in the slum
  homes of the shantytowns on the outskirts of
  the city.

58
Responses to housing

• A number of efforts have been made by government
  and non-government organisations to alleviate the
  housing situation in the majority of MCs.
• Government efforts to alleviate the housing
  situation in Mumbai have taken several forms,
  mostly focusing on Government policies to clear
  slums.
• This policy involved resettling residents in
  housing developments. The slum clearance scheme
  was followed in the 1970s by the slum
  improvement program. This was designed to improve
  conditions in the existing slum areas by
  providing basic amenities such as portable water,
  drains, roads, sewerage and street lighting.
• Conditions improved but the scale of the program
  was too small with the limited funds available.

59
Responses to housing

• The most recent government effort of the 1990s
  is the slum up gradation program, which aims to
  grant slum dwellers tenure rights to the land
  they are living on in exchange for fees to cover
  the cost of infrastructure services.
• It also provides loans to slum households to
  enable them to make permanent improvements on
  their dwellings.
• Non-government organizations (NGOs) are making a
  difference.
• The Dinshaw Trust, an NGO which owned land,
  offered temporary relocation for slum dwellers.
  Each family was given a piece of land 5 X 4
  metres to build a house.