首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
People are moving to cities in droves. In 1950, two-thirds of the world’s population lived in the countryside. New York was then
People are moving to cities in droves. In 1950, two-thirds of the world’s population lived in the countryside. New York was then
admin
2013-10-08
79
问题
People are moving to cities in droves. In 1950, two-thirds of the world’s population lived in the countryside. New York was then the only settlement with more than 10 million people. Today there are 20 such megacities, and more are on their way.
Most of these megacities are in developing countries that are struggling to cope with both the speed and the scale of human migration. Estimates of the future spread of urbanization are based on the observation that in Europe, and in North and South America, the urban share of the total population has stabilized at 75 %- 85 %. If the rest of the world follows this path it is expected that in the next decade an extra 100 million people will join the cities of Africa, and 340 million the cities of Asia: the equivalent of a new Bangkok every two months. By 2030 nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will be urban.
In the long run, that is good news. If countries now industrializing follow the pattern of those that have already done so, their city-dwellers will be both more prosperous and healthier. Man is gregarious species, and the words" urbane" and "civilized" both derive from the advantages of living in large settlements.
History also shows, though, that the transition can be uncomfortable. The slums of Manchester were, in their time, just as awful as those of Nairobi today. But people moved there for exactly the same reason: however nasty conditions seemed, the opportunities of urban life outstripped those of the countryside. The question is how best to handle the change.
If there is one thing that everybody agrees on, it is that urbanization is unstoppable. Migrants attempting to escape poverty, and refugees escaping conflict, are piling into cities in what the executive director of UN-HABITAT, Anna, Tibailjuka, describes as" premature urbanization."
Dr Tibailjuka believes it might be possible to slow the pace of migration from the countryside with policies that enhance security and rural livelihoods. There is room for debate, though, over whether better rural development in any form can seriously slow the pace of urbanization-- or even whether such a slowdown would be a good thing.
Michael Mutter, an urban planning adviser at the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID), says that the relevant indicators suggest that in many countries the effective" carrying capacity" of rural areas has been reached. As happened in Europe in the 18th century, population growth and technological improvements to agriculture are creating a surplus population. That surplus has to go somewhere to earn its living.
Indeed, some people go so far so to argue that governments, international donors and aid agencies spend too much on rural development and neglect the cities. Most countries have a rural development policy, but only a few have urban ones. DFID, for example, spends only 5% of its budget directly on urban development. Moreover, these critics point out that, although rural areas often have worse sanitation, illiteracy and homelessness than cities, such figures are deceptive. Being illiterate, homeless or without access to a flush toilet are far more serious problems in a crowded city than in the countryside.
Of the many lessons being learnt from past urban-development failures, one of the most important is that improvements must involve local people in a meaningful way. Even when it comes to the poorest slum- dwellers, some governments and city authorities are realizing that people are their own greatest assets. Slumdwellers International is a collection of" grassroots" federations of people living in slums. Its idea is simple. Slum-dwellers in a particular place get together and form a federation to strengthen local savings and credit schemes, and to lobby for greater co-operation with the authorities. Such federations are having a big impact on slum-upgrading schemes around the world.
By surveying local needs and acting as voices for slum-dwellers, these federations have been able to show the authorities that shim-dwellers are not simply a homogenous and anonymous mass of urban poor, but are real people in need of real services. They have also been able to apply pressure for improvements in security of tenure-- either through temporary guarantees of residency or, better still, formal ownership. Such secure tenure gives people an incentive to improve their dwellings and is thus the crucial first step to upgrading a slum into a suburb.
Over the past six years, South Africa’s government has been pursuing an active programme of housing improvement. The government quickly realized that, with the poor in the majority, providing social housing for all would be impossible. The minister for housing, Sakie Mthembi-Mahanyele, says the approach that has worked so far has been a combination of government, the private sector and the poor themselves. The poor, says Mrs. Mthembi-Mahanyele, have responsibilities, and the government meets them halfway. Those with an income are expected to contribute some of it to the building of their houses. Those without are asked to contribute" sweat equity" by helping to build with their own hands.
South Africa has also transferred ownership of more than 380,000 council houses, worth more than 28 billion rand ($2.7 billion) to private individuals. With these houses as collateral for loans, owners have already started to upgrade and improve their properties. There is still a long way to go. An estimated 2-3 million more houses are needed. She adds that the government is still wrestling with financial institutions to get a better deal for the poor.
According to the passage, some slumdwellers are not interested in improving their environments because they ______.
选项
A、are unsure of their residency.
B、dislike urbanization.
C、are used to the president environment.
D、are homogeneous and anonymous.
答案
A
解析
根据第10段,一些贫民窟居民联盟通过施加压力来争取贫民窟居民的永久居住权和所有权,通过这样,人们积极地来改变自己的居住环境。因此选项A正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/bhZO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Accordingtotheinterviewer,whatattitudedomostyoungpeopleholdtowardskeepinghealthy?
Accordingtotheinterviewer,whatattitudedomostyoungpeopleholdtowardskeepinghealthy?
Britainhasapopulationof______in1990.
ThesecondlargestandmostimportantriverinBritainis______.
NorthernIrelandissmall,butitissignificantbecauseof______there.
InTheCanterburyTalesChaucerdescribesagroupofpeoplewhowastogotoCanterburytovisitThomasBecket’stomb.Theywere
Duringtheearlyyearsofthiscentury,wheatwasseenastheverylifebloodofWesternCanada.Peopleoncitystreetswatched
OneoftheimportantdecisionsattheYaltaConferencewas______.
WhichtwospeechesmadeEmersonfamous?
WhichtwospeechesmadeEmersonfamous?
随机试题
定期检查库存控制模式的关键是()
It______tenyearssinceyouleftme.
A.环甲肌B.甲杓肌C.环杓后肌D.环杓侧肌E.杓肌使声带松弛的肌肉是
病人李某,女性,胃大部分切除术后8h未排尿,下腹部胀痛难忍,有尿意但不习惯床上排尿。
国家质检部门鼓励代理报检单位以( )向检验检疫机构进行申报,但不得利用电子报检企业端软件开展远程电子预录入。
《土地使用税暂行条例》第6条规定,下列免缴土地使用税的是( )。
【2015年贵州贵阳】中学生李某犯盗窃罪被判有期徒刑1年缓刑3年,李某可回学校继续读书。()
ISDN为了使通信网络内部的变化对终端用户是透明的,它必须提供一个标准的________。
A、Inarestaurant.B、Inashop.C、Inasupermarket.D、Inalibrary.A男士问女士点菜了吗,女士回答说她正在看菜单并且问男士是否饿了。很显然这个对话发生在餐馆里。在听录音时应注意抓住关键词,
Morethanaquarteroftheworldadultpopulationarestillunabletoreadandwrite.Theyarecalledilliterates.Aworldwide【B
最新回复
(
0
)