Ecoinformatics Problems of Global Climate Change - New Ecoinformatics Tools in Environmental Science: Applications and Decision-making - page 431

there is a dependence of population concentration on the frequency of unfavourable
and dangerous natural phenomena on a given territory. In particular, in Iceland the
settling is affected by volcanic activity,

floods of
lowlands. In Chili, vast territories are covered with deserts and mountains, in
Uruguay

in the Netherlands — by the fl

floods happen frequently. In Brazil and Venezuela large areas are covered
with tropical forests. Apparently, in other regions, natural disasters also affect the
settling of population. However, this dependence remains poorly studied.
In North America, despite the general high level of population concentration in
the cities, in the two greatest countries of the continent

fl

in
2000 the level of urbanization did not reach 80 % (77.2 and 77.1 %, respectively).
By 2015, only in the USA the level of urbanization will exceed this threshold and
reach 81 %. This is explained, at least, by two reasons. One of them is the presence
in these countries of vast

— the USA and Canada —

flat territories within which there is plenty of safe (in
natural respect) and comfortable places for settling. Of course, the holding factor of
the growth of large cities is also a high standard of life in both countries, both in
cities (large and small) and at rural localities.
At present, the least urbanized are the countries in Africa. At present time, the
level of urbanization in Africa is characterized by the following data: Libya (88 %),
Gaboon (81.4 %), Djibouti (83.3 %), Western Sahara (95.4 %), Tunisia (66.2 %),
Algeria (57.7 %), South Africa (57.7 %) and Equatorial Guinea (49.3 %). A low
level of the urban population will remain here by 2015, not exceeding 50 % in most
countries. The urbanization of most of Africa is moving fast forward, especially
south of the Sahara. During 2000 - 2005 urbanization growth was 4.7 % in Eastern
Africa and 2.09 % in South Africa under average 3.76 % for all Africa.
In Asia, in the year 2000, among 50 countries 80 % threshold of the urban
population was exceeded only in 11 countries. Large countries on this list is only
Korea (81.9 %). In most densely populated countries the level of urbanization is:
China (32.1 %), India (28.4 %), Indonesia (40.9 %), and Pakistan (37.0 %). A high
level of urbanization is observed in Japan (78.8 %), which is explained by the
impact of unfavourable natural factors, such as tsunami, volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes, and typhoons. Asian cities are growing rapidly. Another 1.1 billion
people will live in the region

fl

s cities in the next 20 years. By 2030, more than 55 %
of the population of Asia will be urban.
One of the features of the current urbanization is the rise of cities and urban
agglomerations. In North America, by the year 2000 such cities numbered 41 (37 in
the USA and 4 in Canada). Among them were 3 cities with population exceeding 5
millions: New York (16,649 thousands), Los Angeles (13,140 thousands), and
Chicago (6,951 thousands). Among the European countries, Russia and Germany
head the list (11 and 13 cities-millionaires, respectively). In Europe there are only
four cities with population more than 5 millions: Paris (9,264 thousands), Moscow
(9,321 thousands), Essen (6,541 thousands), and London (7,640 thousands). In
Africa, there are three such cities: Kinshasa (5,064 thousands), Cairo (10,552
thousands), and Lagos (13,427 thousands). By the year 2015, about 500 mega-cities
with population more than 1 million should rise.

'