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 The urban population in the highly industrialized countries is projected to be 547 million, or 84 percent of their combined population of 649 million, by 2020. Today, urban areas account for 80 percent of the total population of 597 million. On average, municipalities obtain about US$ 2,900 per capita in revenue per year.
In 2020, there will be 5 urban agglomerations larger than 5 million inhabitants in Europe: Paris, Moscow, London, Essen/Ruhrgebiet and St. Petersburg. Most urban populations in Europe live in small or medium-sized towns; half the urban population lives in small towns of 10-50,000 people, and a quarter in medium-sized towns of 50-250,000. Only 25 percent of the urban population lives in cities with more than 250,000 people.
Cities in highly industrialized countries no longer deal with the effects of urbanization, but rather with a combination of other demographic issues and the impacts of global trends: increasing internationalization of metropolitan regions; changes in the distribution of responsibilities between the public and private sectors; a generally stronger role for a few major cities within each country; ageing populations and the related problems of access to health care and pensions; international migration; and the highly detrimental impacts of social and economic polarization.
For the past two decades, the highly industrialized countries committed themselves to economic policies aimed at encouraging macroeconomic stabilization, structural adjustment and the globalization of production and distribution. Although these policies have in general been effective in promoting short-term economic growth, low inflation and lower current account imbalances, negative longer-term societal implications are now emerging as major political and socio-economic dilemmas. Growing political disenchantment arising from widening income gaps, declining political participation and widespread social exclusion are manifesting themselves in cities across North America and Europe alike. In the United States, for instance, racial tension is reported to be the number one issue facing cities. |