In recent times, the population of the Earth has hit the staggering number of seven billion people and it continues to rise every day. It is amazing to think about how quickly the population has grown in the latter half of the 20th century. It has more than doubled from what the population was in 1960 (Esteban). With the amount of resources that the human population uses it is astonishing that the Earth is capable of sustaining this much life. It is also astounding that cities are able to bear the total consumption of their residents. The city is central to human life and in 2007 more than half of the world’s population lived in cities and by 2050 that number will be up to three quarters (New Lenses 5). Cities will not be able to keep up with
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Michael Breheny supports this theory in his article, “The Compact City and Transport Energy Consumption”, by stating “One of the best known studies of urban densities is that by Newman and Kenworthy. They measured per capita petroleum consumption and population densities in a range of large cities around the world, finding a clear negative relationship between the two…” (84). As cities start to expand the people living in it have to travel longer distances to get to their destination. Another researcher, Donald W. Jones states, “Urbanization itself introduces demands for medium and long distance transportation for people, food, industrial supplies and manufactured products, … , and both encourages and permits the use of more compact energy forms” (Jones 40). Urbanization is seen in cities that are not compact or have a high density, so the findings in Jones’ article support the hypothesis drawn from the Think-Tank paper. Finally, Philip Abelson found that the prevalence of single family homes wasted a great deal of energy in heating. He states, “The United States uses relatively more energy in space heating and cooling than do the other countries. In part this is due to the prevalence of single dwellings and to inadequate insulation” (Abelson 605). Single family homes are more common in low density population cities and metropolises; Abelson’s findings are …show more content…
Two paths are overall more impactful because they deal with how the cities which will see the most population growth will develop in the near future. The two paths are controlled urbanism and late-stage growth. Controlled urbanism typically “occurs in small, less developed countries that grow very rapidly and transition into wealthy cities” (New Lenses 29). By quickly raising its GDP through outside influence from an economic development project, the city is capable of rapid growth as people flock to the city in search of jobs. With the driving force of the economic project, the city is able to keep up with the growing population and continue to gain
Michael Breheny supports this theory in his article, “The Compact City and Transport Energy Consumption”, by stating “One of the best known studies of urban densities is that by Newman and Kenworthy. They measured per capita petroleum consumption and population densities in a range of large cities around the world, finding a clear negative relationship between the two…” (84). As cities start to expand the people living in it have to travel longer distances to get to their destination. Another researcher, Donald W. Jones states, “Urbanization itself introduces demands for medium and long distance transportation for people, food, industrial supplies and manufactured products, … , and both encourages and permits the use of more compact energy forms” (Jones 40). Urbanization is seen in cities that are not compact or have a high density, so the findings in Jones’ article support the hypothesis drawn from the Think-Tank paper. Finally, Philip Abelson found that the prevalence of single family homes wasted a great deal of energy in heating. He states, “The United States uses relatively more energy in space heating and cooling than do the other countries. In part this is due to the prevalence of single dwellings and to inadequate insulation” (Abelson 605). Single family homes are more common in low density population cities and metropolises; Abelson’s findings are …show more content…
Two paths are overall more impactful because they deal with how the cities which will see the most population growth will develop in the near future. The two paths are controlled urbanism and late-stage growth. Controlled urbanism typically “occurs in small, less developed countries that grow very rapidly and transition into wealthy cities” (New Lenses 29). By quickly raising its GDP through outside influence from an economic development project, the city is capable of rapid growth as people flock to the city in search of jobs. With the driving force of the economic project, the city is able to keep up with the growing population and continue to gain