Dangers to Health Posed by Rapid Urbanization - Assignment Example

 Dangers to Health Posed by Rapid Urbanisation The world is facing a historically unmatched change from predominantly rural to urban living. In 1950, a third of the globe’s population lived in urban centers (Bostrom 2014, p. 7). However, today, the figure has already attained over a half, and researchers project that, in 2050, urban center dwellers are projected to account for over two-thirds of the globe’s population (Bostrom 2014, p. 7). This fast rise will mainly occur in developing nations. Asia and African came into question when you take thin, will be the fasted growing regions with the urban populace anticipated to attain 64% in Asia and 56% in African by 2050, which currently lie at 48% and 40% respectively (Bostrom 2014, p. 7). These developments involve an exceptional change of the urban world away from the north-west to the east and south. With reference to specific examples from the developing world, this paper will analyse some of the dangers to health posed by rapid urbanisation. The paper will also discuss some of the available solutions to the problems caused and how realistic are they. Dangers to Health Posed by Rapid Urbanisation In a majority of our nations, the health of urban centre settlers has enhanced through better access to healthcare and education, targeted public-health interventions, as well as better living conditions. One significant example was the case study conducted in Surat City, India (Calo 2014, p. 43). Nevertheless, when urbanisation is fast and unintentional, a blend of poverty, population density and lack of infrastructure, particularly waste and water management, can generate the conditions and circumstances that lead to issues such as the spread of communicable diseases. Nearly 700 million city settlers go through inadequate sanitation (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). The issue is specifically prone in south-central Asian, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa, wherein 43% and 62%, respectively, of the urban dwellers reside in slums (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). According to researchers, these situations lead to enhanced risks of worm infection, illnesses, cholera, plus diarrhea, which is a major cause of preventable death in Africa children. Diarrhea also spreads infectious illnesses like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) plus H1N1 influenza (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). As researchers anticipate the dwellers in slums to increase in addition to the rising complexity of transport networks between urban centers, the spread of such infectious illnesses could take place faster than anticipate and can be tough to manage, paving the danger of global outbreak of diseases (Esvelt et al. 2014, p. 1). Apart from communicable illnesses, fast and spontaneous is a vital driver in the increase prevalence of non-communicable illnesses in addition to their vital risk factors like unhealthy dies, use of tobacco, lack of physical activities, population and harmful taking of alcohol (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). Non-communicable illnesses such as cardiovascular illnesses, cancer, diabetes, as well as chronic respiratory illnesses, are the main cause of death in most developing nations. Such illnesses greatly affect low-, high- and middle-income earners (Gire et al. 2014, p. 1369). Each and every year, nearly 38 million citizens from developing nations lose their lives because of non-communicable illnesses; more than 14 million individuals prematurely die – this is before the attain 70 years and they come from middle- or low-income earning nations (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). The prevalence of diabetes in developing nations is rising: for example, in certain African states such as Nigeria, it is already being compared to that of the US. Back in 2012, the figures were 9.2% and 9%, respectively (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). In Kuwait, the prevalence of the disease is as high as 19%, and in low income nations like Burundi, the figure has attained 4.5% (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). Even though, a formal link between diabetes between urbanisation and diabetes has not been confirmed, the number of people who have settled in cities and have diabetes in middle- and low-income nations is anticipated to increase from 181 million today to 347 million individuals in 2035 (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). For instance, in India, diabetes prevalence is considered as an epidemic and it is attributed to the rapid urbanisation the nation has been experiencing of late. This will eventually put more pressure on the already fragile healthcare system in most parts of the world, the collapse of which might have overwhelming cascading effects with dramatic financial losses (Johnson et al. 2013, p. 4). Dealing with non-communicable illnesses will need extensive efforts to manage the cause of air pollution, which is projected to be the major cause of over seven million deaths the world over, in 2013 only (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). Air pollution is more problematic, according to research, in developing worlds rather than the more developed worlds. This is, in part, because of coal-fired power plants than are prevalent in these regions, as well as the utilisation of biomass heating and cooking, but mainly because of private transport vehicles (Moravec 2009, p. 54). More than 90% of air pollution in developing urban centres is because of old and poorly-maintained automobiles running on low-quality fuel, as well as roads that are prone to traffic jams (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). The fast rise of non-communicable illnesses in low-income nations might lead to more poverty-prone households and restrict the outcomes of economic growth. Available Solutions to the Problems If properly managed, rising urban centres can lead to considerable benefits for such nations. This is because cities are an effective method of planning citizens live. They not only allow network effects, but also economies of scale and ease transportation, to make economic and financial activities more ecologically friendly (Müller & Bostrom 2014, p. 76). The diversity and proximity of people can as well spark innovation and lead to employment opportunities as exchanging ideas leads to new, and maybe more effective ideas (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). The diversity of such urban centres can also instill social tolerance and offer opportunities for civic engagement. The linkages between urban centers form the backbone of international trade, and cities generally generate the largest majority of the globe’s GDP, thus their significance (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). Critics have presented a number of solutions to these health issues brought about by the rapid urbanisation experiencing in developing nations. Some of these solutions include: (1) ensuring adequacy, as well as reliability of health related data and information – this helps in comprehending the graveness of situation and also for planning purposes; (2) development of inter-sectoral co-ordination; (3) sharing of effective experiences plus some of the best practice models – this should be a part played by the already developed nations because successful experiences from other nations can be adopted. with locals to suit their needs and also the needs of their people and the current situation; (4) decreasing the financial burden of health care through health insurance, community health funds and subsidised out-patient care through private providers; (5) utilising of Provision of Urban amenities to Rural Areas (PURA) model to slums, improve the infrastructure to enhance community participation, and enhance self reliability of such communities; (6) improving private-public partnerships; and finally (7) improving public health care facilities (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). According to Omohundro (2008, p. 43), also, governments have to play harsh in order to reduce these effects. For instance, he advocates for a number of methods that will be the solutions to the rapid urbanisation and health problems brought by it. The author claims that governments need to impose overly high land rates in urban centres and increase the land rates in un-urban centres. The author argues that lower cost of land and houses in urban centers in what is causing a lot of people to move to these urban centers and lead to the prevalent health issue that we are facing today. Another thing that the author claims is that regimes need to improve the infrastructure of rural regions. This will allow people to focus more on rural regions rather than urban centres. Also they need to impose proper planning both in rural and urban regions. This can be done through setting up proper sewage systems and also roads that will reduce the amount of traffic on the roads and; thus, the amount of air pollution cause by automobiles. Another issue that was brought up by Alirol et al. (2011, p. 140) is consumer preferences. Citizens in high income groups have higher preferences towards bigger houses, more bedrooms, larger lawns and bigger balconies. This also leads to urban sprawl as this alternative is not available in crowded urban centers. People basically watch out for low-density residential areas wherein they can get to their residences according to their preference (World Economic Forum 2015, p. 1). Conclusion Urbanisation opens up many opportunities but exacerbates risks, as well, and the speed at which it is taking place challenges people capacity to plan and adapt. This is predominantly true in developing cities. For fast urbanisation to offer opportunities to all, good governance and cautiously considered urban planning with effective regulatory frameworks are needed. Nevertheless, governments of fast-growing urban centres normally have little time for change and learning. As an impact, insufficient planning and unsuccessful governance can lead to significant economic, environmental and social costs, intimidating the sustainability of urban development. References Alirol, E et al. 2011, 'Urbanisation and infectious diseases in a globalised world,' The Lancet Infectious Diseases vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 131-141. Bostrom, N 2014, Superintelligence: paths, dangers, strategies, Oxford University Press, New York. Calo, R 2014, 'Robotics and the lessons of Cyberlaw,' California Law Review, 103, University of Washington School of Law Research Paper No. 2014-08. Esvelt, K et al. 2014, Concerning RNA-guided gene drives for the alteration of wild populations, viewed 1st July, 2015, at http://elifesciences.org/content/early/2014/07/17/eLife.03401. Gire, S K et al. 2014, 'Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak,' Science vol. 345, no. 6202, pp. 1369-1372. Johnson, N et al. 2013, 'Abrupt rise of new machine ecology beyond human response time,' Scientific Reports 3, No. 2627. Moravec, H 1988, Mind children, the future of robot and human intelligence, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Müller, V & Bostrom, N 2014, 'Future progress in artificial intelligence: a survey of expert opinion,' Müller (ed.), Fundamental Issues of Artificial Intelligence, Springer, Berlin. Omohundro, S M 2008, 'The basic AI drives,' P. Wang et al. (Eds), Artificial General Intelligence 2008: The proceedings of the first AGI Conference, IOS Press, Amsterdam. World Economic Forum 2015, Part 2: risks in focus: 2.3 city limits: the risks of rapid and unplanned urbanization in developing countries, viewed 1st July, 2015, at http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2015/part-2-risks-in-focus/2-3-city-limits-the-risks-of-rapid-and-unplanned-urbanization-in-developing-countries/ Read More