Mega cities Flashcards
Nature of MC
Main five MC: Mumbai, Mexico City, Dhaka, Lagos and Jakarta.
Population of over 10 million
Rapid growth and urbanisation
-> 300,000 new migrants annually from Bangladesh rural areas into Dhaka.
Lacks modern infrastructure -> leading to the largest populated cities having worse economies.
-> 1200 people per square kilometre in Dhaka
Character of MC
Focus on secondary sector
High amounts of poverty -> ‘pull’ factor from rural areas
-> $US 67 a month in Dhaka
Limited government intervention and high corruption -> mass polluter and drainage of resources.
-> Protesters fired from their jobs in Dhaka
-> Heads of protest were arrested symbolising the widespread corruption within these Mega cities.
Runs off an informal economy
-> 75% of Dhaka works in informal economy
Spatial distribution of MC
21st: Majority of MC are in Asia and Latin America -> most former administration centres during colonisation.
-> 24 of 31 mega cities are in developing countries located in the ‘Global South’ (Oceania, Africa, South America and Asia)
Rapid growth of MC in Africa
-> Same reasons why all MC grow.
MC challenges housing
Majority of homes aren’t ‘habitable’
-> 25% of residents live in favelas
Common practice of slums & squattering, which has seen massive growth across MC, becoming a primary practice for settlement.
-> 7.2 million affected by floods in Bangladesh to understable houses
Uses cheap building resources & no regulation -> leading to death because of poor to no housing regulations.
-> Mexico cities houses are built without regulations
Self help projects aimed at providing people with water, drainage and electricity in their homes in slum areas
-> The most recent government effort of the 1990s is the slum upgrade program, which aims to grant slum dwellers tenure rights to the land they’re living on.
-> It also provides loans to slum households to enable them to make permanent improvements on their dwellings
MC challenges water and power supply
Inadequate power and water supplies -> Most MC face power & water scarcity.
-> 10% water access in Jakarta & Dhaka
Use of dangerous options such as Keronse & power theft -> leading to high mortality rates over basic human needs.
-> India 300 million live in ‘energy povery’
Reliant on groundwater, as old colonial infrastructure prevents modern constructions
Responses:
Co-operation with NGO: Isla Urbana: engineers in Mexico City are helping to build new rainwater harvesting systems to better capture water from the rain and floods. This helps lessen the reliance on ground water from aquiferso
-> As of 2017, Isla has installed over 2000 systems, harvested over 170million litres of water, as well as provided water for 16,500 individuals. This indicates the short term successfulness addressing the situation
MC challenges Sanitation services
Dumping of waste is common
-> 20,000 tons of waste produced everyday in Beijing.
Contamination leads to diarrhoea & polio -> due to no GOV sanitation programs
-> Cario uses open drains into nile which is main collection of water.
The creation of landfill, where people in Manila scavenge for an income.
Sanitation leading to disease i.e chlora
-> 50% higher infant mortality rate in favelas.
Lack of self hygiene
-> 50% of favelas have in-door toilets
SELF-HELP PROJECT: Orangi Pilot Project was established for the slums in Karachi in 1980 in an effort to improve water sanitation in the area. Through the project, over 72,000 of Orangi’s 95,000 houses have been connected to covered sewers
-> In Delhi, the government is proposing local water harvesting schemes by storing excess monsoon rains in the Delhi area as groundwater basin
-> Yamuna river
MC challenges traffic infrastructure
High traffic in MC -> becoming gridlocked in most areas.
Decrease in extreme poverty leading to more vehicles
-> 2,300 cars for every km of road in Mumbai
Unstandisaided driving regulations
Colonial infrastructure can’t support high pop & amount of vehicles
The three-phase Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP), funded by the World Bank, seeks to strengthen the city’s mass transport infrastructure and improve the efficiency and capacity of the suburban railway services
➔To supplement the MUIP initiative, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has initiated a program of road network improvements and the construction of an efficient traffic-dispersal system in Greater Mumbai
➔To avoid consuming more land, a new eight-lane bridge will carry traffic 4km over the sea
MC challenges Employment
Relient on informal economy, as lack of economic opportunities force people to join.
The existing US$67 monthly wage is considered insufficient to meet the basic needs of a family, nor cover other household expenses.
-> 2000 to 3000 workers were fired and 1500 were charged with vandalism, looting, threatening other workers and assaulting factory officials
-> At Least 13 union leaders and activists, many of whom had no association with the protests, were detained or arrested
Response:
Informal economy isn’t taxed -> Zero taxes to GOV, leading to no program reforms, continues the cycle of poverty.
Lack of finance forces people to squat.
An alliance of NGOs, known collectively as the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) are campaigning to improve the working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries-
-> Since 1989, CCC has worked to ensure that the fundamental rights of workers are respected
-> In 2017, thousands of garment workers held a series of non-violent protests. They were demanding an increase in the minimum wage to US$191-203 per month.
MC challenges Other social and health issues
Air pollution is dangerously high in MC -> due to sulphur dioxide from
unregulated industrial pollution.
Increase in lung & heart disease in MC due to air pollution.
-> 90 times higher air pollution then WHO safety regulations in MC’s
Sanitation leading to disease i.e chlora
-> 50% higher infant mortality rate in favelas.
According to the World Bank, 33,000 Mexicans die from air pollution every year.
Mexico City only enjoys only 31 days a year when the air is safe to breathdays,
Response:
1989, the Mexican government instituted a day without a car program. However this was ineffective as the wealthy could just buy another car, leading to the projcet being scrapped in 2014
-> Highlighting the complexity of the resolutions.
Trucks are only use LPG petrol which is a more environmentally-friendly alternative to diesel
the air stayed within ‘satisfactory’ levels for 141 days.
-> Clear reduction in carbon monoxide, showing clear improvements in Mexico City’s air pollution problem
