Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
many large cities in developing countries, especially in Latin America, where 75 percent of the population
now lives in overcrowded cities, leaving the rest of the vast continent nearly empty.
In Curitiba, ambitious urban planning has been the key. A system of express buses provides inexpensive
mass transportation at a fraction of the cost of subways, while reducing automobile traffic in the city by
25 percent. Large sections of pedestrian areas are free from cars and are crowded with shoppers. Exclusive
bicycle roads have been constructed and factories help their workers finance the purchase of bicycles, an
idea borrowed from the Chinese. Instead of massive urban-development projects, the city has attempted to
recycle its older buildings. City officials also recognize that jobs must be found for the country people who
continue to flood into the city, and old buses have been converted into classrooms where basic job skills are
taught. For the young, there are apprenticeship programs, providing schooling, meals, and a small amount
of pay along with real skills. To battle the garbage problem in areas where collection services cannot reach,
the poor are given food in exchange for sacks of trash and refuse brought to collection centers.
Henry Thoreau, the man who said we should “simplify,” would be proud.
Can the World Feed Itself?
Even more pressing than the problems of urban overcrowding presented by the world population boom is
the more basic question of having enough food to go around. Ethiopia's predicament captures the essence
of famine across the African continent, and Africa exemplifies a worldwide problem. During the headline-
making famines of 1985, 35 million Africans suffered from acute hunger. According to some estimates,
150 million Africans suffer some degree of hunger and malnutrition even in non-drought years.
The simplistic answer to the question of world hunger is “Yes, there is enough to go around.” But then
it gets tricky.
William Clark, president of the International Institute for Environment and Development, recently
wrote:
Many detailed scientific studies have shown that the entire planet's population can be adequately
housed and fed and provided with a livelihood which allows them to live beyond the fear of
poverty. There are even sufficient resources for the six or more billion people who will be here by
the end of the century. The issue is how existing resources are managed. The key to the future is
the concept of sustainable development.
By sustainable development I mean the rational use of resources to meet all basic human needs.
To be sustainable, development cannot ignore long-term costs for short-term gains. Concern for
the environment is not a luxury that only richer nations can afford. If some development project is
damaging forests or soil or water or clean air, then it is not true development.
Clark and other experts in the field of world agriculture and food development agree. The undernour-
ishment of some 500 million people today does not stem from a global scarcity of resources. There is no
doubt that the world could produce enough food. Yet tens of millions starve, and millions more are mal-
nourished, because nature hasn't been “fair” in allocating resources. But this is where things get really
tricky. National and global economic reforms are needed. But once you start to talk about the inequities of
the distribution of the earth's resources, the haves get mighty nervous about the have-nots, and any talk of
the “redistribution of wealth” sends shivers down the spines of the people whose wealth is most likely to
be redistributed.
