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Reading Warm-up
What problems do you think cities of 10 million or more people might share?
1. Which is a likely problem in a megacity?
2. Which problem is connected to transportation?
Reading · The Advent of the Megacity
Identify urban problems
The Advent of the Megacity
Following is an interview with Dr. Janice Perlman, founder and president of Mega-Cities Project, Inc. Her organization attempts to make cities worldwide more livable places by taking good ideas from one place and trying to make them work in another.
Q. How do you define “megacity”?
A. We define megacities in our work as cities that have reached populations of 10 million or more. The majority of these are in developing countries. Migration to the city is the route for many people to greater choice, opportunity, and well-being. By coming to settle in the city, they have in effect “voted with their feet.”
Q. Why are these places going to be very important in the next hundred years?
A. The 21st century won’t be a century of rural areas and small towns but of giant cities that will set the standard of how we live, how our environment is preserved or not preserved, how our economies work, and what kind of civil society we develop.
Q. Do megacities in the developed and developing world differ, or are they linked by certain similarities?
A. These large cities have a lot more in common with each other than they do with the small towns and villages in their own countries. For example, every megacity struggles with a widening gap between rich and poor. Every “first-world” city, such as Los Angeles, New York, London, or Tokyo, has within it a “third-world” city of poverty and deprivation. And every third-world city, such as Calcutta, Cairo, or Mexico City, has within it a first-world city of high culture, technology, fashion, and finance.
In addition, all megacities share the problems of providing jobs and economic opportunities, and making housing, education, and health care available. They deal with crime and violence, as well as basic infrastructure such as water, sanitation, and public transportation. This is no easy task.
Q. Is the solution to urban problems strict central planning?
A. Absolutely not. We need decentralized planning that includes local citizens. In my view, attempts to create planned cities or communities—like Brasilia or Chandigarh—are too sterile and miss the spontaneity of cities that grew organically, like Rio de Janeiro, Bombay, or even New York City.
The best example of urban planning I’ve seen recently is in Curitiba, Brazil, which set up a brilliant public transportation system in anticipation of population growth. The historic areas of cities like Siena, Paris, or Barcelona all have elements of planning that led to buildings of similar heights and architecture, but they were not centrally planned.
Megacities are really very exciting places. The truth is, I’ve never met a megacity that I didn’t like!
| The World's Ten Largest Urban Areas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | 1996 | 2015 | Rank |
| Tokyo | 27.2 | 28.9 | 1 |
| Mexico City | 16.9 | 19.2 | 7 |
| São Paulo | 16.8 | 20.3 | 4 |
| New York | 16.4 | 17.6 | 9 |
| Mumbai | 15.7 | 26.2 | 2 |
Urban Problems Mentioned or Suggested
Choose the types of urban problems Dr. Perlman mentions or suggests in the interview.
1. Which group contains problems mentioned or clearly suggested?
2. Which infrastructure problem is directly mentioned?
3. Which public-safety issue is mentioned?
4. Which list best matches the article overall?
Understanding Meaning from Context
1. “By coming to settle in the city, they have in effect ‘voted with their feet.’”
2. “Every first-world city ... has within it a third-world city ... And every third-world city ... has within it a first-world city ...”
3. “The Mega-Cities Project works to share experiences that work across boundaries of culture and geography.”
4. What is Dr. Perlman’s general attitude toward megacities?
Discussion Builder · Now identify urban problems
Step 1 · Pair Work
Check which urban problems you think exist in your area. Discuss and provide examples.
- poverty
- crime
- crowding
- disease
- inadequate public transportation
- pollution
- corruption
- lack of housing
- discrimination
- unemployment
Builder Check
1. Which problem is about not having enough places to live?
2. Which problem is related to dirty air, water, or land?
Unit 5 Checkpoint
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C. Negative Prefixes
1. Painting graffiti on public buses and trains is really...
2. Littering and spitting on the street are...
3. Young people who play loud music without consideration exhibit...
4. Screaming into cell phones in theaters is...
5. A rude salesperson is not only disrespectful but also...
6. Air pollution downtown is really...
7. Politicians who are _____ and corrupt should be punished.
8. It doesn’t help when people are _____ to each other.
D. Paired Conjunctions
1. Restaurants shouldn’t allow smoking. Theaters shouldn’t allow smoking. (neither)
2. Smoking should be banned. It should be restricted. (either)
3. Littering doesn’t offend me. Spitting doesn’t offend me. (neither)
4. I think loud music is rude. I think loud people are rude. (not only)
Final Quiz
1. A megacity has a population of...
2. What does “voted with their feet” mean in the article?
3. Which city is praised for its public transportation system?
4. What does Dr. Perlman prefer over strict central planning?