How do the largest cities in the world consume goods such as electricity, water and other natural resources? A mega city is a term used to identify a metropolitan area with a population of 10 million people or greater. In 1970 there were a total of 8 mega cities across the globe, this number increased to 27 in 2010 and is expected to reach 37 by the year 2020. Mega cities are home to 6.7% of the world’s population, although they consume 9.3% of global electricity and produce 12.6% of global waste. So why do these cities use an unproportional amount of resources and are all cities equally bad? It turns out the answer is no.
Cities in colder climates tend to use more energy for heating and similar purposes. In addition wealthier cities create more waste, due to increased consumption. “Wealthy people consume more stuff and ultimately discard more stuff,” said U of T civil engineering professor and industrial ecologist Chris Kennedy. The average New Yorker uses 24 times as much energy as a citizen of Kolkata, and produces over 15 times as much solid waste.
In a world where more people are living in cities each year it is imperative that we find a more sustainable solution to these wasteful mega cities.
Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150428125353.htm
I think that we are on our way to more sustainable cities. Waste is always going to be a big issue, but many cities have hired Urban Developers to add more greenery to cities in the form of rooftop gardens and better designed parks- which helps with emissions- as well as cities having things like ride shares and bike shares.
What do you mean by a more sustainable solution to these megacities? Do you mean switching to solar or wind power or alternate fuel sources to power the consumption? Or do you mean to have people move to different areas and to decrease population in these cities?
It seemed a little unclear in your blog post, but I will assume you mean alternate fuel sources. I do agree with that, that it is possible the best solution. However some cities do not get enough sun for solar power, or wind for wind power, so it seems unlikely that there will be a solution for megacities in the near future. Also because of such a large population in these cities, and the general wealth of the citizens, it will be impossible to limit their consumption without some sort of backlash.