Assess The Challenges Associated With Rapid Urban Growth

Question 1

Point 1= informal settlements

Answer 1

Overcrowding leads to informal settlements as more people come to mega cities to find work but can’t afford houses.

E.g. dharavi slum where about 1 million people reside.

This can lead to poor living conditions as many people are clustered in a close vicinity, with many people sharing a small room. This means more vermin and diseases can spread easily and quickly. For example, cholera which can add strain on public healthcare workers as they work long hours to meet increasing demands.

However, whilst overcrowding brings in severe challenges, its informal economy, the plastic industry employs 10,000 people providing livelihoods at reduce absolute poverty and contribute to Mumbai’s waste management.

Overall, overcrowding is most significant as these recycling and plastic industries are often used as homes too which can exacerbate living standards in that area.

Question 2

Point 2= environmental challenges

Answer 2

Air pollution in karachi
Home to 24 million people and is estimated to grow at a 5% rate annually where the main work is in industry or the informal sector, where people pool their resources to lay sewage lines to the nearest disposalpoints. Industry can lead to more co2 produced, more waste being dumped and accumulated at the landfills and more toxic chemical runoff which is exacerbated by informal layering of sewage lines which compromises the efficiencyof the city’s waste management.

However, via international agreementssuch as the Paris agreement where countries including paksitan vow to bring down global temperatures to below 2º can help mitigate the environmental damages in Karachi along with the sustainable development goal composed by the UNcan offer countries with strategies for sustainable development with any future compromises on the environment.

Overall, the environmentaldamges arent that significant as there are global policies that are aimed to reduce these damages.