[UNEP TYAC Express]State of World Population: Unleashing the Potential of Urb

naturaller

Dear TYAC,

read this for your information.

Thanks.

Cecilia Kibare/UNEP/NBO/UNO
29/06/2007 09:04 AM

Subject
Fw: State of World Population: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth




State of World Population: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth
The 30th edition of the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) annual
report, State of World Population, this year turns its focus on urban
growth. It notes that in 2008, for the first time in history, more than
half of world population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban
areas. This number is expected to swell to almost 5 billion by 2030. In
Africa and Asia, the urban population will double between 2000 and 2030,
requiring pre-emptive action to prepare for future urban growth.

UNFPA’s State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban
Growth states that although cities have pressing immediate
concerns—including poverty, housing, environment, governance and
administration—these problems pale in comparison with those raised by
future growth. Reacting to urban challenges as they arise is no longer
enough: cities must plan ahead, with specific attention given to poverty
reduction and sustainability.

Although attention has been focused on mega-cities, most urban growth will
be in smaller towns and cities, the report finds, and their capacities will
need considerable strengthening to meet the future challenge. Action now by
governments, civil society and the international community can make a huge
difference to social, environmental and living conditions.

The report makes two underlying observations: poor people will make up a
large part of urban growth; and most urban growth comes from natural
increase rather than migration. Once this is understood, three initiatives
stand out:

• Accept the right of poor people to the city, abandoning attempts to
discourage migration and prevent urban growth.
• Adopt a broad and long-term vision of the use of urban space. This means,
among other things, providing minimally serviced land for housing and
planning in advance to promote sustainable land use, looking beyond the
cities’ borders to minimize their “ecological footprint.”
• Begin a concerted international effort to support strategies for the
urban future.

Between 2000 and 2030, Asia’s urban population will increase from 1.36
billion to 2.64 billion, Africa’s from 294 million to 742 million, and that
of Latin America and the Caribbean from 394 million to 609 million.

“What happens in the cities of Africa and Asia and other regions will shape
our common future,” UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya A. Obaid said at the
report’s launch. “We must abandon a mindset that resists urbanization and
act now to begin a concerted global effort to help cities unleash their
potential to spur economic growth and solve social problems.”

To take advantage of potential opportunities, governments must prepare for
the coming growth. “If they wait, it will be too late,” she warned. “This
wave of urbanization is without precedent. The changes are too large and
too fast to allow planners and policymakers simply to react: in Africa and
Asia, the number of people living in cities increases by approximately 1
million, on average, each week. Leaders need to be proactive and take
far-sighted action to fully exploit the opportunities that urbanization
offers.”

罗辑actwin

very helpful~~
Thx for putting this information on GSEAN.

月光凤尾竹

看不懂。。