Growing cities face catastrophe
Level 3 Advanced
1
Brainstorming
In your class, brainstorm as many positive and negative aspects as you can about living in a city.
Which of your suggestions would you expect to come up in an article about a UN report into urbanization and
growing cities?
Keywords synonyms
Skimreadthearticleandndsynonymsforthefollowingwordsorexpressions.Theparagraphnumbers
havebeengiventohelpyou.
1. A disaster (title) ____________
2. An inhabitant (subtitle) ____________
3. A change, a passage, or a transformation (para 1) ____________
4. Inescapable, unavoidable (para 2) ____________
5. Never having happened or existed before (para 2) ____________
6. Move (para 3) ____________
7. Multiple periods of 1,000 years (para 3) ____________
8. Growing untidily, expanding in all directions (para 4) ____________
9. Shanty town, poor housing area (para 4) ____________
10. Hygiene, cleanliness (para 4) ____________
11. Hands-on, take the initiative (para 7) ____________
12. Produce, production, harvest (para 8) ____________
3 Pronunciation
Writethewordsbelowintothechartaccordingtotheirpronunciationpattern.
oOoo
ooOo
inevitable
millennia
oOooo
Caribbean(BE) Caribbean(AE)
sanitation
comparison
ooOoo
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unprecedented catastrophe
executive
agricultural
population
generation
Growing cities face catastrophe
Level 3 Advanced
Growing cities face catastrophe,
says UN
Urban dwellers to outgrow rural population
next year
Bigriseinpoverty,slumsandpollutionisfeared
1 Humanity will make the historic transition from
a rural to an urban species sometime in the
next year, according to the latest UN population
gures.ThemovewillbeledbyAfricaandAsia,
which are expected to add 1.6 billion people to
their cities over the next 25 years.
But urbanization can be positive. No country in
theindustrialagehaseverachievedsignicant
economic growth without urbanization, said Ms
Obaid. Cities concentrate poverty, but they also
present poor peoples best hope of escaping
it.Thepotentialbenetsofurbanization,which
include easier access to health centres and
education, far outweigh the disadvantages.
However, the report warns that if we do nothing,
the growth of urbanization will mean more slums
and poverty, as well as a rise in attempted
migrationawayfrompoorregions.Todayone
billion people live in slums, 90% of whom are in
developingcountries.Theghtagainstpoverty
willtakeplaceintheslums.Towinit,politicians
need to be proactive and start working with the
urbanpoor.Theonlywaytodefeaturbanpoverty
is head on, said Ms Obaid.
Theclimateisexpectedtoincreasinglyshape
and be shaped by cities. In a vicious circle,
climate change will increase energy demand
for air conditioning in cities, which will add to
greenhouse gas emissions. It could also raise
temperatures in urban areas by 2-6oC. Heat,
pollution, smog and ground-level ozone [from
cities] affect surrounding areas, reducing
agricultural yields, increasing health risks and
producingtornadoesandthunderstorms.The
impacts of climate change on urban water
supplies are expected to be dramatic, the report
says. Cities like New Delhi, in the drier areas, will
be hit particularly hard.
Developing countries are at a great disadvantage
whentheystarttourbanize.Theywillrequire
houses, power, water, sanitation and roads, and
will have to build faster than any rich country has
ever done.
2 Thespeedandscaleofinevitableglobal
urbanization is so great most countries will not
bepreparedfortheaffectitwillhave,Thoraya
Obaid, executive director of the UN Population
Fund, says. In human history we have never
seen urban growth like this. It is unprecedented.
3 Ms Obaid added: In 2008, half of the worlds
populationwillliveinurbanareas.Theshiftfrom
rural to urban areas changes a balance that has
lastedformillennia.Withinonegeneration,ve
billion people, or 60% of humanity, will live in
cities.TheurbanpopulationofAfricaandAsia
is set to double in this time. She said that each
week the numbers living in cities grows by nearly
a million.
4 Most cities [in developing countries] already
have pressing concerns, including crime, lack
of clean water and sanitation, and sprawling
slums. But these problems are not as serious as
those that could be raised by future growth. If we
donotplanaheaditwillbeacatastrophe.The
changes are too fast to allow planners to react. If
governments wait, it will be too late.
5 According to the State of the World Population
Report, which Ms Obaid launched in London,
large-scale population growth will take place
in the cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
It suggests the largest transition to cities will
occur in Asia, where the number of urbanites
will almost double to 2.6 billion in 2030. Africa
10 Thereportalsotalksabouttheendforgrowthof
existing mega-cities. Only Dhaka in Bangladesh,
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John Vidal, environment editor
ThursdayJune28,2007
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is expected to add 440 million to its cities in
the same period, and Latin America and the
Caribbean nearly 200 million. Rural populations
are expected to decrease worldwide by 28 million
people.
Growing cities face catastrophe
Level 3 Advanced
and Lagos in Nigeria, of the worlds 20 megacities, are expected to grow more than 3% a
year in the next decade ... most growth will be
insmallercities,ofunder500,000people.The
goodnewsisthesecitiesaremoreexible[in
expansion]; the bad news is they dont have
enough housing, water, and waste disposal.
11 Ms Obaid said: It concerns everyone, not just
developing countries. If we plan ahead we will
create conditions for a stable world. If we do
not,anddonotndeducation,jobs,andhouses
for people in cities, then these populations will
become destructive, to themselves and others.
Guardian News & Media 2007
First published in The Guardian, 28/06/07
4 Comprehension
ArethesentencesTrue (T) or False (F)?Iftheyarefalse,saywhy.
1. Governments around the world are prepared for the problems that come with growing cities.
2. ThebiggestgrowthregionsareAsia,AfricaandSouthAmerica.
3. According to the report, some of the biggest problems faced are in sanitation, transport, health issues,
schooling and animal welfare.
4. TheUNsuggestsinstallingairconditioningunitstocombattherisingtemperatures.
5. Most of the growth will take place in the worlds existing mega-cities.
5 Collocations
1.Matchthewordstomakecollocationsfromthearticle.
climate
countries
developing
emissions
pressing
change
greenhouse gas
concerns
2.Writewordsonthelinestomakecollocationsfromthearticle.
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Urban
Growth
Growing cities face catastrophe
Level 3 Advanced
3.Writeatleast4sentencesusingsomeofthecollocationsin1and2.
......
......
......
......
6 Aviciouscircle
Drawadiagramoftheviciouscircledescribedinparagraph8relatingtoclimatechangesandcities.
Includeatleast4steps.
change
Step 1 Climate
........................
Step 4 .
Step 2
Step 3
7DiscussionAreyouatownoracountryperson?
Get into groups with other townies or country-folk, and discuss what you like best about living in the countryside
or in urban areas. Note down the strongest arguments for your side and then, in a whole class discussion, try to
convince the other group to move to your side.
8WebquestMegacities
NEWS LESSONS / Growing cities face catastrophe / Advanced
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ChecktheInternettondoutwhicharethelargestcitiesintheworld,bypopulationandbyarea(citylimits
and metropolitan).
Do different websites give different answers? What factors affect the answers?
