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KIDDING ASIDE SUPPORTS WORLD POPULATION AWARENESS WEEK
OCTOBER
Population and the Urban Future
By 2050 two-thirds of the world's population
will live in cities. By 2015, of the 23 mega-cities with populations of
more than 10 million people, 19 will be in developing countries. More than
half of the urban population in these developing countries lives in poverty,
subsisting on less than $2 a day. Six of every ten children in the
developing world are projected to live in cities by 2025, and more than half of
them will be poor.
These are figures that we all need to
heed. While the attractions of urban migration are obvious - hopes for
better employment opportunities and access to better education, health care and
social services - the burgeoning growth of today's cities has led to substantial
pressures on urban infrastructures, manifested especially in sanitary, health
and crime related problems. To address these issues The Population
Institute is dedicating this year's World Overpopulation Awareness Week to
'Population and the Urban Future'.
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