Title: Urbanization and the Megacity - World Population
Headings: Urbanization and the Megacity
Urbanization and the Megacity
Implications of Growing “Too Fast”
The Rise of Slums
The Emergence of Megacities
Environmental Pros and Cons
Planning an Urban Future
distribution of world urban Population by area

Content: But that dynamic is changing. Today, most urban growth is natural increase – due to more births than deaths among those already dwelling in cities. Additionally, formerly small settlements are being reclassified as urban areas as the populace living there grows from within. Implications of Growing “Too Fast”
Depending on cities’ ages and locations, there is much variation in wealth and infrastructure. Many of the newer urban areas, located in Latin America, Asia and Africa, have an entirely different look, feel, and outlook than their older European or North American counterparts. How fast an area grew, or is growing, is a key component. When a city grows at a manageable rate, which is often considered roughly 1 percent annually, its infrastructure can keep pace with an increasing population and its demands. Necessities such as roads and public transportation, appropriate sewers and water treatment facilities, clinics, schools and housing have time to be planned and built alongside the increase in human numbers. The risk of fast urban growth, especially in an economically strained country, is that the necessary infrastructure often cannot expand fast enough to keep up with residents’ needs. Without infrastructures in place to provide basic needs, residents can be forced to create their own provisions with whatever is available.