the challenges of living in megacities (developing countries) -- note-taking

Intro: Despite all the positive qualities of a mega city in a developing country, challenges remain. As illustrated in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia, with its vast landscape of towering skyscrapers, bad waste management and slums have created more problems that prevent further development.

Challenges of living in megacities:

1. housing

   rapid growth of the city’s population results in challenges in accommodating houses for the people

   • slums — areas of makeshift or substandard housing, created by the people to give themselves a home

2. traffic infrastructure

   the dropping rates of extreme poverty in the world made vehicle ownership more common for the world’s population, worsening the traffic. This may cause two things, which are:

   • inhibit movement

   • blocking flows

3. water and sanitation supplies

   clean, running water and waste management are essential for health and disease control in any place, significant for megacities.

   • inability to provide water into slum areas

   • inability of old colonial infrastructure to deal with the volume and the new materials in sewer systems

   many cities rely on groundwater extraction which may be unsustainable.

4. electricity services

   • inadequate supply — frequent blackouts

   • use biomass energy (wood) as an alternative to electricity for the poorest households

5. unemployment

   • the growing population overwhelms the job creations

   • leaves the city without revenue to provide adequate services. informal economic conditions make wages and conditions difficult to regular.

6. health and social issues

   • happens in cities with high levels of inequality

   • air pollution and communicable diseases are considered great threats to health in megacities