Urban Issues and Challenges

Have you ever walked down a busy street where someone bumps into you? You might think, “Wow there are too many people here!” Well, that’s just one challenge with urban places – many people are moving in! The infrastructure in cities is then put to the test when many people move in at once. Each city has its own unique set of challenges and questions to answer. We’ll explore what creates these challenges and how different cities may face different issues.

Urbanisation

Urban areas are cities or towns where more people live. Urbanisation is the process of an increasing proportion of people living in cities or towns over rural areas. With that proportion increasing in urban areas and decreasing in rural, this leads to urban growth. Urban growth is an increase in urban population (in cities or towns).

Over half the world's population lives in cities now! Please see the explanation on Urbanisation for more information on this.

Urban growth is where many challenges arise. This growth differs based on the country, region, and city. The World Bank publishes a lot of information on the income and economic development of each country. Different countries are classified under Lower Income Countries (LICs), Newly Emerging Economies (NEEs), and Higher Income Countries (HICs).

• HICs have more developed economies, e.g. UK and Chile. They also usually have an established urban population of over 70% in the overall population (on average), with very low rates of urbanisation.
• LICs have less developed economies, e.g. Ethiopia and Uganda. The urban population tends to be much lower, roughly 30% on average. However, they have some of the highest urbanisation rates at over 5%.
• NEEs are a special category and have rapidly increasing economic development occurring, e.g. Brazil and China. The urban population can differ in each country but on average is 50%. The urbanisation rate is typically lower than LICs but higher than HICs, at around 2% on average.

Fig. 1 - World Bank's Income Groups 2020

Urban growth is caused by migration and natural increase. Migration is the movement of people to a place. There are different reasons for migration, called push and pull factors. Push factors are things like natural disasters and fewer job opportunities, which push people away from a place (e.g. rural regions). Pull factors are things like more jobs that are better paid and better access to services like healthcare and education, which pulls or attracts people to a place.

Natural increase is when the birth rate is higher than the death rate. This is usually due to a high young population (18-35) and better medical services available.

Very high rates of urbanisation are leading to more megacities around the world. A megacity is an urban area that is home to over 10 million people (e.g. London, UK, and Delhi, India). The majority of megacities are found in LICs and NEEs. You can read our explanation of Megacities to learn more.

Challenges of Urban Growth

Urban growth can push a city’s limits and bring to light issues such as affordable housing and urban pollution, but also access to basic services and amenities such as clean water, sanitation, energy, safety, healthcare, and education.

Affordable Housing

In many LICs and NEEs, urban growth has created issues of space. Sometimes construction does not keep pace with the number of people moving in or housing prices are too high for the average resident.

Because of a lack of affordable housing, people may take up residence in slums, squatter, or informal settlements as a quick fix. These kinds of homes are built outside of building codes and can be subject to eviction and demolishment.

Like LICs and NEEs, HICs also suffer from high housing costs relative to income. In capital cities in Europe, for instance, demand for housing is high. Many households have to spend more of their income on housing, which widens economic inequalities and can create financial difficulty. As a result, citizens are demanding government intervention on this issue.

Fig. 2 - Informal Settlements in Caracas, Venezuela

Urban Pollution

Urban pollution encompasses many types of pollution, such as waste, air, and water pollution. Cities generate a lot more waste and pollution than rural areas and demand more resources. Urban waste management is also increasingly important as cities grow and waste must be transferred out.

HICs tend to have older and more established sewage and sanitation systems which have managed to keep up with growth. LICs and NEEs can struggle to provide growing access to this, leading to illegal dumping and waste disposal in areas that can pollute clean water. When residents are not provided with adequate and reliable access to these services, they may take other solutions which, without their knowledge, can be harmful to the environment.

Air pollution is also common due to transport and industry emissions. More traffic congestion from urban growth leads to more CO₂ emissions. Fine particulate matter, a mix of dust or dirt with liquid droplets in the air, is also present in a majority of cities in the world. Breathing dangerous levels of fine particulate matter can lead to harm, illness, and death.

Fig. 3 - Smog over Almaty, Kazakhstan

Urban Inequality

Access to water, energy, and food is in high demand across all countries. Each city has a challenge in providing these necessary amenities to its residents.

Inequality exists not only among cities but within cities, as different neighbourhoods have differing access to services. Quality of life and even life expectancy can change depending on where residents live. Climate change is also expected to affect different parts of the world and resilience will depend on geographic location and city resources. The very poor are most at risk of things like water scarcity, flooding, and the effects of natural disasters, simply because they don't have the money for the expensive solutions.

Urban inequality occurs due to several complex reasons. It can arise out of poor planning for more resource distribution, historical segregation by race and income, and/or other social issues. As a result, some parts of cities with less access to jobs, education, and housing could on average have a lower standard of living and lower life expectancy than wealthier neighbourhoods.

Fig. 4 - Urban inequality can lead to major differences in standards of living

Different countries are challenged by similar issues. However, cities in more developed countries are usually older, more established, and have more resources to manage urban growth. Developing countries may struggle more with managing urban growth and other issues due to lack of access to resources. Although urbanisation and urban growth create many urban issues, poor urban planning can also exacerbate this if the issues are not addressed.

One thing both developed and developing countries have issues with is urban sprawl, the urbanisation of the countryside around the urban core/inner-city areas. This usually occurs when there is a lack of affordable housing in inner-city areas, when new businesses expand, when there is a need for more access to roadways, or simply the need for more space. The issue is that although land may be cheaper, there is a loss of agricultural and open land and increased pollution and congestion. This can contribute to a lower environmental quality.

Fig. 5 - Urban Sprawl in London, Ontario, Canada

Urban Challenges in Developed Countries

As mentioned previously, developed countries are usually older, more established, and have access to more resources to tackle urban challenges. However, there are some challenges developed countries focus more on, for instance, inequality in standard of living and the environment.

Standard of Living and Inequality

In developed countries, issues of inequalities in housing, education, jobs, and health are at the focus. This falls within the discussion of standard of living and the differences residents have within a city. For instance, those with lower income may live in housing that has access to fewer parks and more roads. This kind of housing can lead to health problems as the quality of the air and surrounding areas are poorer and healthy city amenities may be further away.

Another issue is access to education. Children in deprived districts may leave schools with fewer qualifications due to generally low incomes and high unemployment, instilling a need for work over learning. Without a good, initial education, future steady employment can be difficult to achieve. This pattern of life can keep some districts underdeveloped and government intervention may be necessary. Unhealthy lifestyles can also sometimes arise from a lack of education. Excessive drinking, smoking, or nutrient-deficient diets can also affect life expectancy.

Energy and Environment

On average, residents of cities in developed countries consume more energy than residents of cities in low-income countries. This is usually because there is the availability of obtaining more space (e.g. bigger homes) and resources (e.g. cars, technology) that consumes more energy. The issue of energy sources (e.g. gas, coal, solar, wind) arises especially as cities grow.

If the energy source a city relies on pollutes the air and water too much (e.g. gas, coal), then the environment is degraded. Residents are becoming more concerned with the environmental impact of their consumption not just in their cities, but in the world.

It is important to note that NEEs also consume lots of energy; this is needed to allow the countries to continue developing.

Urban Challenges in Developing Countries

Developing countries tend to experience rapid urban growth. This rapid urban growth has led to a rapid formation of informal settlements and high levels of pollution.

Rapid Formation of Informal Settlements

There are urban challenges unique to developing countries. For instance, the comparatively higher rates of migration into urban areas in developing countries are leading to a higher creation of informal settlements. This is due to a range of factors such as a lack of affordable housing, established social and community connections in informal settlements, and access to jobs in those areas.

However, because the settlements are informal, they may not have adequate access to clean water, energy, or sanitation (sewage and rubbish systems). Without adequate infrastructure and systems in place, disease can form and spread in these areas.

The growth of the informal economy is also likely as unemployment and underemployment are usually higher in developing countries. Without the opportunity for official, permanent employment many residents may take up work in the informal sector, where working conditions and pay are not as well monitored.

Industrialisation and Pollution

Due to less environmental regulation, air and water pollution are more common in developing countries. This is mainly due to rapid industrialisation, where emissions tend to be very high. Developing countries may be the sites for factories and textile industries which pollute more. Developed countries benefit from this by having cheaper products and labour without dealing with the environmental consequences. We call this movement of manufacturing to other countries 'offshoring'.

Air pollution can come from more traffic congestion in older vehicles and unregulated factory pollution. Water pollution can form from improper dumping of sewage and industrial waste. This can lead to spreading of disease, illness, or even death.