Question Describe two challenges of living in a Mega Cities.

Describe the
responses to these challenges (HSC 2003), referring to specific examples.
Living within a megacity is tough, and the number of problems associated
with living in a megacity seems endless. Unemployment, high levels of poverty, poor
urban infrastructure, housing concerns with the large number of squatter settlements
and the gap between the well-off and the poor continues to grow these are just a
small number of issues that these large cities inhabitants face on a daily basis.
Arguably the two major problems faced would be pollution and the rapid population
growth within these cities many governments have tried to adopt policies and
initiatives to curb these problems with mixed results.
Pollution, both air and water, have been a constant thorn to theses cities,
many have struggled to cope with it. Mexico City is a perfect case of a city that has
failed to take control of the problem. It is estimated that about 1 million of the 18
million residents of Mexico City have suffered some sort of permanent damage from
the pollution, other effects from the have been headaches, breathing difficulties and
eye irritations. Traffic congestion goes hand in hand with air pollution that the city
now faces on an annual basis the number of vehicles continues to grow at a rapid
rate. One response to this challenge has been the development of a successful
subway rail system it carries about 4.5 million passengers daily and the prices are
kept low, that is in an effort by the Government to encourage more people to use it.
The worst Mega Cities identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) in
terms of air pollution are Beijing, Los Angeles, Cairo, Jakarta, Mexico City, Moscow
and Sao Paulo. The WHO conducted a study in 1992 as a response to the epidemic
increases in pollution related illnesses. Some recommendations and responses to
address the problems of urbanization and air pollution include Constant air quality
management, attention to short term solutions to the problems at hand and as well to
look at long term objectives, having preventative measures in place in any new
industrial or urban development.
It is important that problems with air pollution (and pollution generally) are
dealt with quickly. The United Nations, which undertook a pollution study in 20 Mega
Cities, is intended to guide the efforts to solve and prevent some of these problems
from occurring in future emerging cites. Preventing pollution problems before they
occur is usually the most cost-effective method for dealing with air pollution.
Water pollution is also a large challenge that living within a Mega City poses
lack of reliable drinking water, small percentage of water is treated for pollution and
poor sewage measures are all problems. Within Mexico City, polluted water is a major
concern for the public, with the rapidly growing population the amount of untreated
sewage and industrial waste entering the citys water is growing to a level that alarms
public health officials. The untreated waste is often used to irrigate vegetables and
other crops grown for urban food supplies this poses major health concerns for both
farmers and consumers and this practice must be stopped.

The second major challenge faces by these cities is the rapid population
growth on an annual basis. For many cities the rate is well over 5 %, within Jakarta
and Beijing the percentage is closer towards a double-digit figure. Mexico has a rapid
urbanization process and Mexico City is at the heart of it, 74% of the countries now
live in these urban centers. The rural-urban drift has continued to see rapid
population growth and movement at the incredible rate of 1000 people a day.
Employment has been the reasoning behind such growth in population and subsequent
movement.
As a result of such a rapid population expansion, stress is placed on
infrastructure and it is clear than an inadequate urban infrastructure is what many
face on a daily basis. This is very evident within Beijing crowded hospitals, schools,
roads and public transport. Mexico City is also facing similar infrastructure troubles
with only 60 % of the citys garbage is collected due to poor funding and
overwhelming pressures placed due to the large size of the city. The remaining half
of the garbage isnt properly disposed of, it is simply left in the streets to rot or
dumped illegally on landfill sites spread across the city.
It is clear that Mega Cities face many difficulties and struggle to survive on a
daily basis. The responses to these challenges have not been as effective as they could
be burdening debt, corruption and high interest payments on loans are all hampering
possible initiatives. However in the case of Mexico City the initiatives have been
moderately successful a drop in the annual population growth rate from 4.8% in the
1980s to 1.8% in 1999, slowing of immigration and slow and steady infrastructure
improvements have taken place. The two major problems, pollution and rapid
growth, still need to be addressed but it is safe to say that authorities and other
organizations are changing the way that Mega Cities are functioning.