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Cities Now Home to More Than Half of All People

February 8th, 2010 at 08:44am Under Economy Report

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Over half the world’s people now live in cities. The latest “Global Report on Human Settlements” says the historic change took place last year. The report came out this week from U.N. Habitat, a United Nations agency.

A century ago, less than five percent of all people lived in cities. By the middle of this century it could be seventy percent, or almost six and a half billion people.

Urban sprawl in Corona, California

Already three-fourths of people in developed countries live in cities. Now most urban population growth is in the developing world.

Urbanization can lead to social and economic progress, but also pressure on cities to provide housing and services. The new report says almost two hundred thousand people move into cities and towns each day. It says worsening inequalities, driven by social divisions and differences in wealth, could lead to violence unless cities plan better.

Another issue is urban sprawl. This is where cities expand into rural areas, sometimes at a much faster rate than urban population growth.

Sprawl is common in the United States. Americans move a lot. In a recent study, Art Hall at the University of Kansas found that people are moving away from the major cities to smaller cities. He sees a trend toward “de-urbanization” across America.

But urban economies still provide possibilities that rural areas do not.

Sabina Deitrick at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, is an expert on cities. She notes that urbanization brings social change that can empower women.

SABINA DEITRICK: “Women entering the labor force is one big change and that always goes up with urbanization and certainly will proceed in many, many countries where urbanization is increasing rapidly.”

Sabina Deitrick has closely studied Pittsburgh from the loss of its main industry, steel, to its rebirth as a smaller city with different industries. She says the reuse of existing land and spaces and the reinvention of urban life is important if cities are to succeed.

Professor Deitrick notes that a city’s ability to educate and train its people is important to jobs and new industries. Even new industries based on old ideas.

Around the world, people leave rural farm jobs to go to the city. Yet now there is growing demand for farm products grown close to the cities where they are used. Urban farming is taking hold in some of the world’s biggest cities. Sabina Deitrick says studies show that urban farming is one area where woman can earn more than men do.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

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Rebalancing the World Economy

February 2nd, 2010 at 08:38am Under Economy Report

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Last week’s meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the third Group of 20 summit in less than a year. Leaders of the major developed and developing economies discussed ways to fix the world financial system.

In April they had agreed to do everything necessary to prevent a collapse. This time they noted their success, but warned that the “process of recovery and repair remains incomplete.”

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruk, left, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the G20 meeting

The presidents and prime ministers launched what they called a Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. At the same time, they agreed to make the G20 the main group — the “premier forum” — to guide international economic cooperation.

For years that has been a job for the Group of 8: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. But the G8 leaves out developing nations with big populations and growing economies like China, India and Brazil.

In Pittsburgh, rich nations agreed to also give up some of their representation in the International Monetary Fund. And they called for more voting power for developing nations in the World Bank.

Ghiyath Nakshbendi is a professor of international business at American University in Washington. He says the decision to cooperate on economic policy is important given how much Gross Domestic Product the G20 represents.

GHIYATH NAKSHBENDI: “They are going to work together in order to achieve the goals of the world — that really, when you talk about the G20, you are talking about nineteen countries plus the E.U. that produce ninety-five percent of the G.D.P. in the world.”

Martin Edwards is an assistant professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey who has written about the I.M.F. He says increasing the influence of developing nations will increase the standing of the fund and the World Bank. But he notes that having more players at the table could also mean more disputes.

In terms of financial reforms, experts say there is widespread support for some proposals to control risks. But others are unpopular in America and Britain. These include linking the pay of bankers to their bank’s long-term performance.

G20 leaders plan to meet next in Canada in June and in South Korea next November. They face many hard choices in the coming months. Professor Nakshbendi says the biggest question is to what extent are they willing to follow their own advice.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

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