Slum Hordes? World at Urban Crossroads, Warns Report...

[bridgit]

'SAN FRANCISCO - Over half the 1.1 billion people projected to join the world's population over the next quarter century could live in under-served urban slums, warns a report released today by an environmental and social policy think tank. But a little creative leadership could still harness the positive aspects of urbanization to brighten the world's economic and environmental future.

"The scale of urbanization is unprecedented," the Worldwatch Institute's Molly Sheehan told OneWorld as the group prepared to launch its flagship annual report "State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future."

"We've gone from approximately 10 percent of the world's people living in cities in 1900 to half today--and if we continue on this course we're expected to top 70 percent in the next 20 or 30 years."

The highest rates of urban growth are expected in Asia and Africa, the report notes. Unlike previous periods of urban growth, however, this one is not necessarily tied to improved conditions for the poor.

"You don't see people going from cities to rural areas that much in search of economic opportunities," Sheehan said. "People who are moving to cities believe there's a better future for them there. However, poverty has been increasing in urban areas."'

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0111-06.htm

[illinoisprogressive]

1. because there are no improvements for the poor in a coorporate controlled world.

[bridgit]

3. nope, sadly it's all about the stock payout & golden parachutes...

[bridgit]

2. delete...