Blog 4: Urbanization Bad for Environment

Kristin Nicholson

September 21, 2012

3:33pm

As results of more people are moving into cities around the world those cities are getting bigger and bigger. According to the article, for the first time in human history, more than half the world’s population was living in towns and cities in 2008. Urbanization is growing at a very fast pace, with people moving from villages and towns to cities. Urban areas such as Times Square or India cover approximately 3 to 5% of global land. This percentage is projected to increase rapidly by 2020. Most of the expansion will be in Asia and Africa. The authors point out how this urbanization could lead to environmental problems.

As urbanization will bring more prosperity to economies, it could possibly lead to problems. This would happen because of a lack of planning for the environment. In countries developing countries where biodiversity is concentrated, urbanization could take a toll on the precious flora and fauna of the world. More buildings mean less land for plants in animals and more endangered species. In other words, they would be moving people in while dislocating the wildlife that once lived there. With careful planning, this displacement could be avoided. With the rampant occurrence of urbanization, this planning would be very hard to maintain. Building “green” eco-friendly buildings is one way developers could decrease the effect urbanization has on the environment. Preserving natural habitats of exotic plants and animals is another way to avoid the negative effects of urbanization.

http://science.time.com/2012/09/18/urban-planet-how-growing-cities-will-wreck-the-environment-unless-we-build-them-right/