Rapid Population Growth and Increased Urbanization - Essay Example

We can say that in the longer run, the effects of rapid population growth may be substandard housing or even homelessness.
It is an established fact that humans need certain basic things to survive in this world, which include food, clothing and shelter. Rapid population growth and increased urbanization have made shelter one of the most critical problems around the world. The earth’s carrying capacity or the amount of inhabitants it can sustain in terms of food, water and housing is limited and specific (Ehrlich, 1990). The increasing population does not commensurate with the resources as there is no change in resources. Resultantly, there is going to be an extreme shortage of resources with every passing day.

Besides the reduced availability of land for accommodation, there are a number of other devastating effects of overpopulation. All other resources like food, clean water are interlinked with the land; at present more than 99% of the food supply comes from land and only 1% is obtained from oceans and other water habitats (Pimentel et al., 1994). The other implication of rapid growth and less land availability is the issue of human and factories’ waste, which if not disposed of properly, can cause a number of health problems like typhoid and cholera (United Nations, 1991, p. 219).

The world is becoming a place where the human population is becoming more and more crowded thereby increasing the needs of life. The challenges for the engineers in the provision of basic needs to humans like water, sanitation, nutrition, health care, safety are also increasing with every passing day. In the next 20 years, the expected increase in population is two billion, out of which 95% are in developing and 5% are in underdeveloped countries. Such huge growth is going to increase the extraordinary requirement for energy, food, waste disposals, health care, ecological onslaught, telecommunication and transportation networks. The role of engineers in providing a matching response to these requirements will be very critical and vital (Amadei, 2004).

Although civil and environmental engineers have played a crucial role in improving the living standards of humankind by providing better sanitary services, developing and managing the water sources and transportation systems, ironically, these efforts have inadvertently contributed towards rapid population growth. Foreseeing the dilemma of rapid growth and the problems affiliated with it, the engineering profession needs to evolve new strategies to meet the projected requirements in diversified conditions of reduced natural resources vis-a-vis increased demands. Engineers need to assume a completely different attitude towards natural and cultural systems and revise the connections between engineering disciplines and non-technical fields.

In order to reduce the effects of rapid population growth, there is a need to formulate a comprehensive strategy for sustainability and improvement in existing resources available worldwide. This strategy must also include procedures for conservation and careful management of land, water, and energy; once these natural sources are exhausted, they cannot be re-generated by human technology. Research is required to be done in technological advancements for better management and judicial distribution of natural resources. Read More