What’s 40 feet by 8 feet by 8.5 feet?
In 1970 there were three cities in the world that were designated as Mega Cities, or had a population greater than 10 million. These Mega Cities were New York, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. The latest forecast is that in 2030 that number will be 41 cities. It’s further estimated that over 70% of the world population will live in cities by 2050 up from 2007’s 50 percent. The popular 1911, song while a bit early in its prediction, got it right, “How you going to keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?” Global Urbanization will continue to be a major trend going forward. Where are these cities? Three are in North America, five in South America, four in Europe, six in Africa, and 23 in Asia. What do these cities look like? Shell Oil has done a study of this trend with an obvious focus on the energy needs these new mega cities will require. These cities are classified in six classes based on population, how closely people live, and how much they produce. A couple of examples would be:
Developing Mega Hubs (Chongqing China – high population & low density, low GDP per person)
Sprawling Metropolises (Los Angles – high population & low density, high GDP per person)