Megacities Flashcards
1
Q
What is a megacity
A
Megacities are large urban agglomerations with a population of 10 million or more inhabitants. They typically occupy areas > 1000km^2
2
Q
Population density
A
City wide: 20000 per km2 Urban slums (such as Dharavi): 280 000 per km2)
3
Q
Growth rates
A
Unsustainable growth rates of 2-3% annually.
4
Q
Population of megacities:
A
529 million - 13% of the world’s urban dwellers.
8% of the global population live in a megacity.
5
Q
Nature of Megacities
A
- according to the UN, there are 33 megacities, 29 existing in the developing world
- 1 billion ppl living in slums globally
- 1/3 of the urban developing world live in slums
- in Dhaka (Bangladesh), >5 million of the 10 million population live in shanty towns
- World Largest Slum is Orangi Town (Karachi Pakistan) with 2.4 million ppl
- the number of people living in the 5 biggest slums amounts to 5.7 million
- sites of political instability, social, political and environmental problems
- result of a growing global population (particularly in the developing world), a continued natural increase above replacement rate and growing urban population
6
Q
Characteristics
A
- economic, social, political and environmental problems
- challenges: inadequate housing, poorly developed traffic infrastructure, informal economic activity, limited access to clean water, unreliable power supply, lack of accessible sanitation, high crime rate, reduced access to formal employment
- sharp inequalities (wealth disparity) with a growing dense core of high-rises serving as regional headquarters / subsidiary offices of TNCs (serving primarily as manufacturing zones) (example: 29 billionaires and 50 000 millionaires in Mumbai, but 40% of Mumbai’s population live in slums)
- unregulated, uncontrollable urban sprawl and the world’s largest slums
- site of environmental degradation and pollution
- retreating waterfront from coastal flooding
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Q
Spatial Distribution
A
- 33 megacities, 29 in developing world
- 3 main zones: 20 in Asia (Delhi, Manila, Karachi), 6 in South / Central America (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro), 3 in Africa (Cairo, Nairobi)
- China has 6 megacities, India has 5
- many found in equatorial region (living conditions are more ideal in these locations)
- typically on coastline / significant waterways
- none located in Australia
8
Q
Why does rapid growth occur?
A
- Natural increase: where the TFR (total fertility rate) > replacement level (2.1)
- Migration: either internal migration (rural - urban) or external migration - migrants are often younger (between 15-30), affecting the demographic
- Reclassification: enlarging the size of urban areas through the incorporation of settlements their populations due to urban sprawl
9
Q
define urbanisation
A
the increasing proportion of a country’s population living in an urban area (%)
10
Q
Rapid growth statistics
A
- 55% of the global population live in urban areas (2018)
- the most urbanised geographic regions include North America (82%) Latin America + Caribbean (81%), Europe and Oceania
- in Mumbai, 1/2 a million migrants come in annually
11
Q
Push factors
A
- lack of employment opportunities
- starvation from insufficient yield
- extreme physical conditions
- hard labour (farming)
- lack of services
- overpopulation, resulting from high birth rates
- mechanisation has reduced jobs available
- lack of government investment
12
Q
Pull factors
A
- better paid jobs
- higher quality of life
- bright lights syndrome
- religious and political activities can be carried out more safely
- better chance of services (schools, medical treatment, entertainment)
- employment
13
Q
Mumbai Stats random
A
- population of 25 million
- history of the ‘Suez Canal’ as a place of importing and exporting
- birth rates are falling (in the past 20 years from 2.5 to 1.4) due to changing status of women in the workplace
- 60% of people moving to the city come within the state of Maharashtra
- wealth disparity: 29 billionaires and 50 000 millionaires in Mumbai, but 40% of Mumbai’s population live in slums
14
Q
Challenges list
A
- housing
- traffic infrastructure
- water and power supplies
- sanitation services
- employment
These are challenges existing as a result of unplanned and unregulated growth.
15
Q
Dhaka, Bangladesh
A
- > 5 million of the city’s 10 million people live in Shanty towns
16
Q
Favelas in Rio
A
- Rochinha = largest favela in Brazil (150 000 + population)
0 in Rio > 1.2 milion people live in Favelas on less than 1 euro a day - infant mortality rates are high, with 50 per 1000 compared to national average of 15 per thousand
17
Q
Slums in Cairo
A
- City of the dead (with 1/2 a million of Cairo’s population)
- Garbage city
18
Q
The 4 responses to housing
A
- slum demolition
- slum upgrading
- slum rehousing
- site and service scheme
19
Q
Slum demolition example - Oto Gbame
A
Challenge:
1/5 of the city’s 23 million residents are either living in or at risk of poverty
- typically occurs during major international events / sport competitions
Oto Gbame Slum demolition (Lagos Lagoon)
- 2017, the state government demolished the informal waterfront settlement, evicting 30 000 squatters with 15 losing their lives
- 300 000 people across 40 illegal waterfront communities on the Lagos lagoon have lost their house due to demolitions
20
Q
Slum upgrading - Favela-Bairro Project
A
Favela Bairro Project (1990-2000)
- partnership between brazilian government and inter-american development bank (funding $180 million) in the slum to neighbourhood project
- successfully developed many favela communities (253 000 residents in 73 different favela communities)
- social benefits: increased standards of living, improved literacy rates, improved average household income, an increase in property prices, decrease in gang related violence
21
Q
Slum Rehousing (SPARC - Mumbai)
A
SPARC = NGO response
- grassroots - works with locats to accommodate to community aspects that slums provide (terraces, wide corridors, interconnection)
- 1 apartment houses 2000 people - 1 million people in Dharavi
- on the periphery of the city
22
Q
ki
A
ki
23
Q
Site and Service Scheme
A
- Informal builders provide the bulk of affordable housing
- Sites and services schemes are the provision of plots of land, either on ownership or land lease tenure, along with a bare minimum of essential infrastructure needed for habitation
- Key components are the plot of land and infrastructure
- The beneficiaries themselves use their own resources, such as informal finance, etc
Positives - Able to phase construction of their property over a length of time
- Residents have legal land tenure to their new sites and an affordable alternative to transition into formal housing
- Heavily subsidised by the government and available to low-income earning applicants (e.g. selling for Rs1 rather than Rs10000
- Access to safe water, access to sanitation, secure tenure, durability of housing, sufficient living area
Negatives - Location of schemes is usually on the urban periphery (cheaper and more available land) making it more difficult to access employment
- Urban sprawl exacerbates pressure on transport infrastructure and increases environment degradation
- Scheme relies on construction skills or the financial capacity to afford to pay for construction from outsourcing
24
Q
Challenge: Employment
A
- unemployment / unemployment is up to 30-40% in many megacities
- the informal sector: comprises almost 3/4 of all non-agricultural jobs in developing countries. accounts for 65% of all jobs in Dhaka, 50% of mexico city’s
- Delhi: 65.7% of employed populations in informal sector
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Informal sector
o Low pay, labour intensive, low in productivity, poor working conditions, great potential for exploitation, lack of security, no protection, inability to save
o Can create a cycle – with the inability to collect taxes from informal sector, government hindered in financing public services
o Provides cheap goods and services, meeting the demands of lower income groups street vendors, bottle collectors, shoe polishers, professional beggars, food stall holders, prostitutes
o Illegal, but authorities turn a blind eye
o Represents about ¾ of non-agricultural employment, and about 72% of total employment in African megacities
- Over-representation of women in the informal economy in developing urban areas (result of education access, cultural norms, religious seclusion)
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Dharavi Mumbai (informal sector)
- More than 5000 businesses and 15 000 single roomed factories
- total turnover is up to $1 billion
- 500 - 2000 dollars annually per capita
- 60 primary schools, 13 secondary schools, 8 private schools
- large recycling industry, employing approx 250 000 ppl
- 60% of Mumbai's plastic is recycled at Dharavi
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Employment Response - International Labour Organisation Labour Standard (2015)
- Aim: facilitate the transition of workers from formal to informal, promote employment in formal economy, prevent informalisation of jobs
- Rio and Sao Paulo have rapidly formalised their economies, with job creation in formal economy being 3x that in the informal economy
- Of the 187 member states, some governments (including China and India) have not ratified all conventions into domestic law
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Employment NGO response - Microfinance (Grameen Bank - Bangladesh)
- Microfinance: a financial service targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. It includes microcredit and the provision of small loans to poor clients.
- Microfinance services reach excluded customers – helping them become more self-sufficient, expand their business and aid in the transition into the formal economy
- In 2021: over 7000 microfinance institutions are operating in megacities of the developing world, providing small loans to 120 million recipients
- Grameen Bank: a microfinance organisation founded in 1983, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Lens primarily to groups of women – by 2011, the total borrowers of the bank were 8.4 million (97% of those being women). Loans money to over 100 million individuals globally – repayment rate of over 98%
- Way to promote economic development and supports microentrepreneurs. Helps the poor to manage their finances more effectively and take advantage of economic opportunity
- Negative = could create indebtedness
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Water, challenge:
- lacking draining systems, urban flooding leaves to spread of disease
- 1/4 of city residents globally (789 million) live without access to improved sanitation facilities
- 500 million people in cities rely on shared sanitaiton
- 27% of urban dwellers in the developing world do not have access to piped water at home
- the urban poor pay up to 50x more for a litre of water than richer neighbours
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Challenge - Water in Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Brazil possesses 14% of the world's water, however only 1.6% of this is in Sao Paulo (which has 25% of Brazil's population)
- 1/2 of the 22 water basins face critical shortages
- half the water supply is bought from neighbouring basins
- only 60% of sewerage is treated
- over 75% of forests surrounding Sao Paulo's water catchments ahve been degraded
- 20% of water is lost due to leaking pipes
- close to 1/3 of Sao Paulo's 11 million people live in slum conditions
- Drought: turned off water supply for 12 hours a day
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Response - water in Sao Paulo
The nature conservancy - the green blue water coalition
- increase water security for more than 60 million brazilians in 12 metropolitan regions
- 'Cantareira Catchment Project' aims to reforest the reservoir (which only has 22% of its original forest cover)
- forest will produce water supply in dry periods through fog capture, prevents erosion, reduces sediment pollution by 36%, provides jobs for >140 000 ppl
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Challenge - water - mexico city
- home to 21 million people
- 20% of Mexico's population lives in MC
- climate change, over extraction, ageing infrastructure and sewerage contamination affect quantity and quality of water available for domestic use
- 40% of the city's water is lost through leaking pipes
- 2/5 of a family's wage goes to buying water
- 5 million Mexicans live without access to clean water
- 81% of Mexicans report they do not drink tap water
- Mexico City ranks 1st for gastrointestinal infections from water
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Response - water - mexico city
Privatisation of Water and Urban Protests
- Privatisation: provide better, cheaper and cleaner water
- Allows for municipalities to diver water from citizens instead to industry (such as fracking)
- urban protest delayed passing of the bill
Isla Urbana Rainwater Harvesting
- NGO
- collects and cleans rainwater
- provides individual residences with 40% of water supply
- 75 million litres of water have been saved since the implementation
- 500 rainwater harvesting systems installed (60 000 people affected)
- saves $200 a year for a family
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Challenge - Power
- electricity shortages are detrimental due to increased expectations for communication technology
- 40% of the world's poor living in urban areas lack access to energy services
- South Asia alone, 800 million people have no access to electricity
- stolen electricity results in high prices and dangerous conditions
- faulty wiring can cause devastating fires (i.e. in 2020, slums of Dhaka experienced 30 separate fire incidents, impacting 20 000 squatters
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Response - power - Delhi India
Tata Power Company 'Abhas' Bill Collectors
- partnership in Delhi India
- power theft is responsible for $10 billion of losses annually
- hired 841 women (across 223 slums) to persuade people to pay their energy bills
- 183% increase in revenue - active power connections risen by 40%, meaning that 56000 previously freeloading homes become active bill paying customers
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Response - power - Manila Philippines
Litre of Ight
- self help project
- reduces fire from candles
- 1/5 filipinos living in poverty
- bulbs are solar charged
- cost <1 dollar to make
- over 15 000 bottle lamps sold
- 1000 solar bottles saves 20 tonnes of CO2
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Challenge - sanitation
- ¼ city residents worldwide live without access to improved sanitation facilities
- 1.8 billion ppl globally use a water source which has faecal contamination
- 6000 children die daily from waterborne diseases
- 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water
Mexico City:
- 10 000 tons of waste produced daily, over 1.4 dumped illegally
- Instead of flowing underground, sewers flow 5m above residential housing – dangerous during downpours (as seen in 2010 when the sewerage ‘lakes’ overflowed into homes)
Dhaka:
- 2/3 sewerage is untreated
- 50 000 chidren die annually of cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and other waterborne diseases
- The average under-five child mortality rate across 8 informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya is 35% higher than the national figure
- Average ratio is 16 households to 1 facility
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Response - sanitation - mumbai
Community Toilets
- Highly ineffective
- 78% of community toilets in Mumbai’s slums lack water supply, 58% have no electricity
- Residents collectively pay 10 million rupees daily for access to these toilts
- Average of one toilet per 190 people – with lines at peak times reaching up to 2 hours (resulting in many ppl engaging in open defecation)
- Fragile planks over a 15-foot drop into open sewerage – 6 ppl die annually from drowning in human waste
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Response - sanitation - Karachi
Orangi Pilot Proposal (Self Help Project)
Facilitated through technical and physical guidance:
- 90% of the 8000 streets in the slum have sewerage pipes
- 96% of households have latrines or some equivalent
- Investment of $1.26 million USD with micro investments of under 1000 rupees from over 112000 households
- NGOs have coupled this investment – 4.93 million USD (such as Katchi Abadies)
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Response - sanitation - Bangladesh
Bangladesh Municipal Water Supply and Sanitation Project
- Funded by the Asian infrastructure investment bank (AIIB) who have invested $170M to improve sanitation services in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Treat sewage and septage – reducing inland flooding and water pollution
- Provide 50 000 new household sewer connections
- Construct a new Sewage Treatment Plant with a capacity of treating around 150M litres of domestic waste water per day
- Will support Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority
- Project was delayed multiple times due to COVID-19
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ew dw about this
- 2019: 18 million people in 53 UNICEF-supported districts in India accessed toilets for the first time
- Enabled access to safe sanitation and hygiene spaces for children in 150 000 vulnerable schools across India
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Challenge, traffic infrastructure
- Cities only cover 2% of the earth’s surface, but 54% of the world’s population live in cities
- LEDCs’ governments have limited funding and other priorities so traffic has become a major issues
- Urban sprawl: people’s homes and places of work are separated by long commutes – public transport is often either non-existent or inefficient – public transport are affordable, however, low fares means that the government gains little funds for maintenance
- Turning to other options: bicycles (in Beijing there are > 10 million bicycles across the city)
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Challenge and Response - Traffic - Sao Paulo
Challenge:
- 12 million residents
- 70% of journeys are made by bus and in the east where some individuals live, buses are the only link to their work
- 40% of residents own a motor vehicle – however this exhausts the road system
- A 40km commute to work takes > 2 hrs and involves 4 modes of transport
Response
- Rich people navigate the city by helicopter (having the most helicopters with more than 450 helipads on roofs) 500 helicopters, 700 flights daily
- This solution is not viable for poorer citizens who live on the periphery
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Challenge and Response - Traffic - Jakarta
- 3.5 million ppl a day commute into city from wider metropolitan area (many by car as a result of inadequate public transport)
- Average Jakartan spends 10 years of their life in traffic
- 70% of city’s air pollution comes from vehicles
- Typically 2-3 hrs to travel 25 miles into centre from Bogor (largest of satellite cities)
- Difficulties acquiring land rights in cities south delayed plans for light rail system (to boost capacity from 800 000 to 1.2 million a day)
Response
Government:
- Implemented an ‘odd-even’ scheme to allow drivers with odd license plates to use the roads on odd days, etc
- 43% decrease in the number of average travel time from period 1 to period 4 of the implementation
3 in 1 Car Pooling Rule
- Introduced in 2003
- Only cars with 3 or more occupants allowed to use the main roads
- Lead to industry of ‘jockeys’ – people who hire themselves out to be a passenger so drivers can cheat traffic controls
Buses
- 120 mile Transjakarta network carries 350 000 people a day
- Dedicated bus lines often used by cars/motorbikes
- Unreliable, often not on time, overcrowded
- Separate section for women and 10 women only buses
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Yay \
Thank god :) hi
