The Economist Magazine published a very interesting interactive timeline showing city size and growth from 1950-2030.
You can play the whole sequence or move the slider to individual years and study trends and comparisons. You can click on individual cities and see the growth trend. The timeline is very well presented.
City growth and urbanization across the world is dramatic, and well demonstrated by this timeline.
The urban growth in China and India/Pakistan/Bangladesh, in particular, is stunning.
The USA and European trends are interesting, and the growth of mega-cities in Africa and South America is also dramatic.
What the Economist Magazine Timeline clearly shows is just how dynamic forced urbanization is, and how much change there has been in a relatively short period of time.
From an infrastructure management perspective there are a few observations from this timeline:
- Urbanization is very dynamic and continuing at a fast pace.
- Urbanization requires the building of municipal and utility infrastructure.
- Infrastructure asset management clearly demonstrates that the large proportion of asset lifecycle costs are locked in at the time of construction – build poorly, to inadequate standards and you will have high maintenance costs and shorter asset life.
Build well, to the right standards and you will have fewer maintenance costs and longer asset life.
- With the explosive growth of urbanization and even the shifting patterns within countries, there will be an ever-increasing need to develop then manage infrastructure efficiently, well, and affordably.
I would encourage you to have a look at the Economist Timeline. It is very educational.
PHOTO CREDIT: Screenshot of The Economist Magazine webpage; Guangzhou dusk panorama” by chensiyuan – chensiyuan. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons.
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