A tale of two cities

We live in an age of urbanisation — the

UNFPA

estimates that 4.2 billion people or 55% of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2030, this will be over five billion. By 2050, 68% of the world will be urban.



The World Economic Forum finds 83.6% Americans live in cities while 51% Asians were urban in 2020, compared to under 20% in 1950. Cities are economic powerhouses — they contribute over 80% of gross national product worldwide — while being locales of miraculous possibilities. People find freedom, aspiration, camaraderie and dignity in cities globally.



However, there are darker dimensions to the glittering city. UN Habitat finds cities consume two-thirds of the world’s energy and generate 75% of global carbon emissions. Just 25 cities cause 52% of urban greenhouse gas emissions through electricity generation, transport and industry. These emissions have a dual impact. They intensify pollution within cities — WHO finds over 80% people in urban areas face unsafe air quality — while worsening climate change which is now impacting cities through extreme rain events, rising sea levels, water scarcity and heat stress. Worryingly, India has 43 of the world’s 100 most environmentally risky cities.



Climate change also impacts the urban socio-economy. The UN estimates one in seven people on

Earth

is already a migrant. As climate change makes farming less viable, migration to cities will grow. Already over one billion people worldwide live in slums — by 2030, one in four could reside thus. Alongside, the UN finds 2.9 billion people live in cities where income inequality is more pronounced than it was one generation ago. These factors have profound implications for the meaning of a city — if not managed in time, the city could transform to its dark twin, embodying vulnerability, inequity and instability.

However, multiple mitigations can help create more sustainable cities. As Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise, these range from climate resilience measures within cities to reshaping urban life with empathy and equity — and even approaching the city via the rural. Join

Times Evoke

in a tale of two cities for we can still build the one we’d like to live in.