Urbanization: expanding opportunities, but deeper divides | UN DESA (2024)
21 February 2020
Whether the process of urbanization is harnessed and managed, or allowed to fuel growing divides, will largely determine the future of inequality, says UN DESA’s World Social Report 2020. For the first time in history, more people now live in urban than in rural areas. And over the next three decades, global population growth is expected to take place almost exclusively in the world’s cities and towns. The total number of people living in cities is expected to grow from approximately 4.4 billion today to 6.7 billion in2050.
Like some other megatrends, urbanization has the potential to become a positive transformative force for every aspect of sustainable development, including the reduction of inequality. When properly planned and managed, urbanization can reduce poverty and inequality by improving employment opportunities and quality of life, including through better education and health. But when poorly planned, urbanization can lead to congestion, higher crime rates, pollution, increased levels of inequality and social exclusion.
Inequality within cities has economic, spatial and social dimensions. Economically, inequality is generally greater in urban than in rural areas: the Gini coefficient of income inequality is higher in urban areas than in rural areas in 36 out of 42 countries withdata.
Larger cities are generally richer but more unequal than smaller cities. The opportunities that cities bring are unevenly distributed in space, preventing entire neighbourhoods and groups of population from accessing proper health care, good schools, sanitation, piped water, employment opportunities and adequate housing among others. Slums are the most notable extreme of the spatial concentration of urban poverty and disadvantage.
The uncontrolled growth of many cities has resulted in inadequate provision of public services and a failure to guarantee a minimum quality of life for all urban residents. The current speed of urbanization in developing countries makes urban governance and adequate planning increasingly urgent. As cities grow, inequality is likely to increase unless we implement policies to address it.
While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reducing urban inequality, some Governments have been able to address the spatial, economic and social aspects of the urban divide and promote inclusive urbanization, including in rapidly growing cities. Their successful strategies have four elements in common. First, they have established land and property rights, paying particular attention to security of tenure for people living in poverty.
Second, they have improved the availability of affordable housing, infrastructure and basic services and access to these services, since good transport networks, including between residential and commercial areas, are key to spatial connectivity and economic inclusion.
Third, they have facilitated access to education and decent employment for all urban residents.
Fourth, they have introduced mechanisms to allow participation in decision‑making,encouraging input from all stakeholders on the allocation of public funds and on the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of all policies.
I'm well-versed in urbanization, inequality, and sustainable development. The UN DESA's World Social Report 2020 offers a comprehensive outlook on these interconnected topics. Urbanization, the shift of populations from rural to urban areas, presents a pivotal juncture in our societal evolution.
The report underscores that how we manage urbanization shapes future inequality. It emphasizes the unprecedented shift where urban dwellers outnumber rural inhabitants for the first time in history. By 2050, the global urban population is expected to swell to 6.7 billion, highlighting the monumental impact of this trend.
Urbanization's potential as a positive force for sustainable development is highlighted, provided it's effectively planned and managed. Well-managed urbanization can uplift communities by creating employment opportunities, improving education and healthcare, and enhancing overall quality of life. Conversely, poorly planned urban growth breeds congestion, crime, pollution, and exacerbates inequality and exclusion.
The multidimensional nature of urban inequality is discussed, spanning economic, spatial, and social realms. The report reveals the economic disparity between urban and rural areas, often with higher income inequality in cities. Moreover, larger cities tend to be wealthier yet more unequal. Unequal distribution of opportunities within cities denies access to essential services like healthcare, education, sanitation, and adequate housing, leading to spatial concentration of poverty in areas like slums.
The consequences of unchecked urban growth are laid bare—insufficient public services and a compromised quality of life for urban residents. Urgent calls for better urban governance and planning in developing nations echo throughout the report. It emphasizes that without proactive policies, urbanization will exacerbate inequality.
However, the report isn't all doom and gloom. It highlights successful strategies employed by certain governments to mitigate urban inequality. These strategies revolve around four pillars: ensuring land and property rights, providing affordable housing and essential infrastructure, facilitating education and employment accessibility, and promoting inclusive decision-making processes.
For a more in-depth exploration of the intersection between urbanization and inequality, Chapter 4 of the World Social Report 2020, titled "Inequality in a rapidly changing world," offers comprehensive insights.
This report encapsulates the urgency and the potential for transformative change in urban landscapes, offering a roadmap to harness the positive impacts of urbanization while mitigating its detrimental effects on inequality.
Urbanisation has negative consequences on health due mainly to pollution and overcrowded living conditions. It can also put added pressure on food supply systems. The pressures of urban living may lead to crime and other consequences of social deprivation.
Higher costs of living and increased competition for jobs can also trap people in poverty. Rapid and poorly planned urbanization can also quickly lead to increased violence, crime and social unrest. Widening inequalities tend to be more starkly visible in urban areas than rural ones.
Poor air and water quality, insufficient water availability, waste-disposal problems, and high energy consumption are exacerbated by the increasing population density and demands of urban environments. Strong city planning will be essential in managing these and other difficulties as the world's urban areas swell.
Implementing urban planning and zoning: Governments can enforce urban planning and zoning regulations to control the growth and development of cities. This can include restrictions on where new buildings can be constructed, limits on building height, and requirements for green space and public amenities.
Urban areas can grow from increases in human populations or from migration into urban areas. Urbanization often results in deforestation, habitat loss, and the extraction of freshwater from the environment, which can decrease biodiversity and alter species ranges and interactions.
Urbanization can also lead to a number of economic problems, such as the decline of traditional industries, the rise of informal economies, and the increase in costs associated with infrastructure and services. It can also cause problems such as unemployment, underemployment, and inflation.
Negative impacts include inadequate water and sanitation, high infant mortality, lack of rubbish disposal, industrial pollution, and respiratory infections. Urban areas also pose stressors such as crowding, noise pollution, and social isolation, which can contribute to mental health problems.
While the impacts of rapid unsustainable urbanization are water stress, scarcity, and high consumption, sanitation wastewater, water pollution, air pollution, climate change, noise pollution, cultivated land depleted, urban sprawl, dust, solid and hazardous wastes, destruction of biodiversity, high energy consumption, ...
Millionaire cities are those that have over a million residents. This is different from Megacities which are far larger, they have at least 10 million people. Some definitions also set a minimum level for population density (at least 2,000 persons/square km).
With more people comes more waste and pollution, which can lead to water contamination, air pollution, and other environmental issues. This has a detrimental effect on the planet's ecosystems as well as human health. WHO estimates that pollution can be associated with 7 million premature deaths each year.
Overpopulation also presents significant social and economic challenges. High population densities in urban areas strain infrastructure leading to overcrowded cities, inadequate housing, and overwhelmed healthcare and educational systems.
Habitat loss is the greatest threat to biodiversity. Urbanization not only destroys and fragments habitats but also alters the environment itself. For example, deforestation and fragmentation of forest lands lead to the degradation and loss of forest interior habitat as well as creating forest edge habitat.
On the positive side, it improves social and economic aspects of people's lives. However, it also brings negative impacts, such as increased air pollution, flooding, urban heat island effect, health issues, urban poverty, crimes and violence, and traffic congestion.
Urbanization allows more people to have access to environment-friendly facilities and services at affordable prices. Fourth, urbanization drives innovation, including green technologies. In the long term, environment-friendly equipment, machines, vehicles, and utilities will determine the future of the green economy.
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