Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Mayday 23: World Population Becomes More Urban Than Rural
North Carolina State University
There’s no big countdown billboard or sign in Times Square to denote it, but Wednesday, May 23, 2007, represents a major demographic shift, according to scientists from North Carolina State University and the University of Georgia: For the first time in human history, the earth’s population will be more urban than rural.
Working with United Nations estimates that predict the world will be 51.3 percent urban by 2010, the researchers projected the May 23, 2007, transition day based on the average daily rural and urban population increases from 2005 to 2010. On that day, a predicted global urban population of 3,303,992,253 will exceed that of 3,303,866,404 rural people.
Though the date is highly symbolic, the researchers – Dr. Ron Wimberley, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at NC State; Dr. Libby Morris, director of the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia; and Dr. Gregory Fulkerson, a sociologist at NC State – advise avoiding the urge to interpret this demographic transition to mean that the urban population has greater importance than the rural.
Urban and rural populations, they say, rely heavily on each other.
Cities refine and process rural goods for urban and rural consumers. But if either cities or rural areas had to sustain themselves without the other, Wimberley says, few would bet on the cities.
“As long as cities exist, they will need rural resources – including the rural people and communities that help provide urban necessities,” he said. “Clean air, water, food, fiber, forest products and minerals all have their sources in rural areas. Cities cannot stand alone; rural natural resources can. Cities must depend on rural resources.”
(22 May 2007)
Principle 14: Density, Compact Communities and Smart Growth
WorldChanging
Urban density is major element in the picture of a bright green future. Compact homes, closely situated, make a drastic difference in the all-around efficiency of a city, from energy to transportation to shopping for basic necessities. They also make it easy to skip driving and take transit or walk, which decreases pollution and improves physical health. Finally, they foster the creation of supportive community networks in which resources can be better shared and everyone feels safer.
Knowing, however, that populations in general are on the rise, and urban populations in particular, it’s important to look ahead towards growth that can accommodate greater numbers without degrading the surrounding natural environment and encouraging sprawl. Smart growth strategies look at ways to make living closer to the city more appealing than a life out in the suburbs, encouraging more dense development on the edge of cities and less sprawl out into the open space outside the metropolitan area.
(22 May 2007)
Original has links to related articles at WorldChanging.
Get Moving on Traffic Relief
Editorial, NY Times
Congestion pricing, a system of charging drivers for traveling on a city’s most-crowded streets, is a proven success that New York City is right to want to emulate. It has worked in Stockholm and London, where skepticism gave way to resounding support. Residents of both cities were turned around by the unclogged streets, quicker commutes, better public transportation and cleaner air. Now that Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to give congestion pricing a try, state leaders, starting with Gov. Eliot Spitzer, should get on board.
Mr. Bloomberg’s proposed traffic reliever – charging $8 for most drivers on streets south of 86th Street in Manhattan during prime weekday hours – requires state approval to move forward. With less than four weeks remaining in the regular legislative session, time is short.
Mr. Spitzer’s enthusiastic support could help give the plan the boost it needs and burnish his own environmental credentials. So far he’s been noncommittal, and the clock is ticking.
(25 May 2007)
