In the next ten years, the number of people living in cities will rise to around 3.3 billion. Tokyo already has a population of 27 million, Sao Paulo (Brazil) 16.4 million, and Bombay 15 million. World Bank forecasts show as much as 80 per cent of the developing countries growth occurring in the cities and major conurbations. There are both positive and negative aspects to these developments. At each stage in the history of urbanisation, environmental conditions in cities were improved dramatically. The process was often slow, but over time, many epidemic diseases have been controlled, the supply of clean water and the removal of wastes have come routine, the risks of fire have been contained, and standards of comfort and cleanliness have risen to unprecedented levels. Cities could not have become as large and as numerous as they are now if environmental conditions had remained unchanged. In a curious way, the pollution that cities suffer is largely due to their wealth. The rich consume a great deal more energy, water, building materials and other goods than the poor, and thus produce much more waste. This is what is happening, in the cities where rapid industrialisation is taking place-only the rich enjoy the benefits of piped water and refuse collection.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR M. Lakshmi Narasaiah
Dr. M. Lakshmi Narasaiah, has been working as Professor and Head, Department of Economics, Sri Krishnadevaraya University Post-Graduate Centre, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. He is a Post-Graduate in Economics and has secured first rank. He has received Ph.D., Degree from Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, in 1987. He has worked as UGC JRF and UGC SRF. Starting his professional career as an Assistant Professor of Economics in Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, he has been actively engaged in teaching and research for the past twenty years. He was associated with the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Planning Department in the center for planning and Development studies projects. He has extensively travelled abroad. He has to his credit 175 research papers published in reputed National and International Journals, a large number of book reviews and seminar papers besides supervising M.Phil., and Ph.D., studies. He is also working on number of research projects. He has frequently participated in national and international conference. He is author of 27 books. Prof. M. Lakshmi Narasaiah is a member of large number of national and international associations and is associated with academic in several universities and professional organization. He has been acting as a member of the "Review Committee" he various international economic journals.
There are no reviews yet.