Tag Archives | urbanization
Urban development

World competition among cities: City trends and the framing of a livable city

World competition among cities: City trends and the framing of a livable city
Over the next 3 decades, about 70% of the world’s population is expected to be living in urban areas. Within the next decade, by 2030, the world is projected to have over 40 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants. Such population flows into cities will disrupt the functioning of cities and lead to urban issues, such as transportation congestion, air pollution, and housing shortages.

Industry and trade, Urban development

High-speed rail investment: A butterfly effect for urban chaos

High-speed rail investment: A butterfly effect for urban chaos
In 1969, Professor Edward Norton Lorenz coined the term “butterfly effect” to state that subtle changes in conditions can influence or cause seemingly unrelated results elsewhere. The flutter of a butterfly’s wings at place A can eventually develop into a hurricane at place B even though A and B are not related. Almost two decades after the term was coined, Japan National Railways (JNR) was privatized and split into several corporations, and now JR East manages the largest network of railway lines in Japan.

Finance sector development, Urban development

New challenges, opportunities, and strategic choices for financing sustainable urbanization in the PRC

New challenges, opportunities, and strategic choices for financing sustainable urbanization in the PRC
In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has accelerated its urbanization process and increased its urbanization rate from 35.88% in 2000 to 56.7% in 2016, equating to over 1% year-on-year growth. The PRC proposed the “people-oriented” New-type Urbanization Plan in 2014 to definitively release further domestic demand potential, promote social equity and welfare improvements, and facilitate economic, social, and ecological integrated development.

Economics, Education, Environment, Health, Population, Social development and protection, Urban development

Pointers from Asia for urbanization in Africa

Pointers from Asia for urbanization in Africa
Africa and Asia are latecomers to urbanization. In these two continents, less than half live in urban centers, while elsewhere, more than 70% of people do. But Africa and Asia are now rapidly urbanizing, with Asian cities growing at an average of 1.5% per year and Africa’s at 1.1% per year.

Industry and trade

Exploring the trade–urbanization nexus in developing economies: evidence and implications

Exploring the Trade–Urbanization Nexus in Developing Economies: Evidence and Implications
Modern humans have been increasingly concentrated in cities. The United Nations forecasts that 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2030. Regional multilateral institutions such as the Development Bank of Latin America and the Asian Development Bank have stepped up their efforts to support the urban sector and to collaborate on comparative studies of urbanization.

Social development and protection, Water

Extending the reach of flood insurance

Rice fields submerged by floods in Pakistan
Over the past few weeks, South Asian countries have been suffering torrential rains and devastating floods and landslides, exacerbated by Cyclone Komen, leaving over 100 dead and over a million displaced from Pakistan to Myanmar. The annual monsoon season in the region, normally a lifeline for farmers, this year resulted in floods that have caused severe damage to crops.