Cities dominate planetary landscape

Opinion

I grew up in Winnipeg. Well, no one’s perfect! When I was a kid, Winnipeg was the third largest city in Canada, behind just Toronto and Montreal. Its population, in 1950, was about 350,000 and now it is over 850,000. Since those days, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa have passed Winnipeg, with Vancouver passing Montreal to sit in second place. Brandon has reached about 60,000 citizens, almost double what it was 25 years ago.

I have occasion to drive through or around Winnipeg, mostly for medical appointments, family or social engagements, or shopping at Costco. Yes, I agree that Brandon should have a Costco, too! I am struck by the almost instant neighbourhoods that are going up on the outer edges of the city, by the fact that the Perimeter Highway is becoming an inner ring rather than an outer circle, and that I can now easily get lost in new subdivisions that I didn’t know existed.

This mirrors the situation globally. Not only is our world population growing, but we are becoming an urban planet with two-thirds of people expected to live in cities by 2050. More than a decade ago, I wrote in the Sun that we had marked the day that more people lived in cities on Earth than in rural areas. But, what impact is this process having on our planet and its people? And what can we do to make these changes as positive as possible?

Our civilization in the past was dominated by rural life where food was grown and people lived on farms or in small villages. People did live close to one another, so that they could trade goods and band together when it was necessary to protect one another. Industry and technology led to urbanization as factories and businesses offered work to people in centres, in what has been called the metropole, rather than in the hinterland. High population countries like India, China and Nigeria, which once were very rural, now have large mega-cities, and people who might once have been farmers, are now urban workers. Mexico City and Mumbai, India both have populations of 22 million, and Shanghai’s population has reached over 30 million.

As farm technology has lessened the need for large numbers of rural workers, the economy has stagnated outside cities, and people have had to move into non-farm jobs and into cities. In my experience, people in Canada or overseas, have had to adapt. My southwestern Manitoba neighbours found themselves farming evenings and weekends and working at urban jobs otherwise, while farm sizes grew and used less human labour. On a working trip to Peru, I met a man who worked as an accountant in a large city during the week and came “home” on the weekend to his farm and was mayor of his local town.

Large cities create great environmental challenges, such as having to deal with sanitation, transportation, housing and more. Cities are major contributors to our deteriorating environment, but also have their fair share of social and economic problems as rural and remote people come to the city seeking “a better life” — paid work, a place to stay, and further education. As many can’t find jobs or training, whether it is in Winnipeg or Brandon or in a Third World capital, they find themselves living in poverty. Out of the rural frying pan and into the urban fire! In a city in Canada, we might find this situation to be a cause of crime, homelessness and other social ills. In some countries, the situation of countless young men with nothing to do can lead to social violence on a larger scale.

Urban centres are trying to deal with these problems, but often find them overwhelming. Budgets need to be stretched to deal with the growing list of priorities that cities have on their docket. Affordable housing is one that is high on Canadians’ wish list. Infrastructure needs to be built and rebuilt to deal with growing populations – roads, bridges, sewers, traffic control and more. Environmental considerations are paramount, from garbage and recycling to clean air and water. Of course, the high cost of living in cities finds some relief with people growing urban gardens and establishing other community social projects and services, such as food banks. Finally, citizen engagement — how do we get “the people” and leadership working co-operatively together to deal with all these issues?

Our current federal government, along with its provincial and municipal counterparts are being counted on by the public to deal with all these urban challenges. As our way of life changes, in this case from rural to urban, enlightened leadership, creative thinking and community co-operation will be needed to bring about a good result.

» Zack Gross is board president of the Marquis Project, a Brandon-Westman based international development organization.