WE DID not need the UN to warn us that our world faces a huge and developing crisis in the explosion of urban population across the globe. We can already see it happening everywhere — from New York and London to Karachi and Mumbai to Johannesburg — with disturbing consequences.
In its State of the World Cities report, the UN World Urban Forum that has just concluded in Vancouver, Canada, paints a grim picture of the challenges facing major cities in the coming years. The poorest parts of mega cities could become centres of deprivation and great instability. Statistics are truly alarming: Thirty-eight per cent of urban growth will be in slums. By 2020, at least six out of 10 people would be living in cities. Goes without saying that this means a huge challenge to planners and leaders of the future.