Major Ghanaian cities are at a critical point that will determine whether they become an engine of or a burden on the country’s development. Ghana’s urban areas contribute to more than two-thirds of the country’s gross national product, and cities will continue to grow rapidly, especially those other than capital cities.
The EEA Signals 2019 ‘Land and soil in Europe’ explains key pressures — such as urban sprawl, contamination, intensive use of agricultural land, landscape fragmentation — impacting Europe’s land and soil.
Access to jobs, services, and people is key to a city’s economic vitality and quality of life. Many cities are experiencing a decline in accessibility due to a confluence of rapid urbanization and motorization trends.
Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of M. C. Mehta Vs Union of India & Others dated 24/08/2018 regarding unauthorized constructions in Burari, Delhi. The report submitted by the Monitoring Committee has noted that even though the land is agricultural land but several multi-storeyed buildings have come up in the area. There is hardly any vacant land in that area and there is no agricultural land in the area. The Monitoring Committee has already noted that even water bodies have been encroached upon and a large number of trees have been cut down.
The research demonstrates for the first time how investors as well as citizens benefit from compact urban forms with good public transport connections, shared green spaces, and a mix of housing, shops, services, and businesses rather than urban sprawl.
The theoretical concepts “urban informality,” “periphery,” and “everyday state,” primarily emerging from the “new geographies” of the Global South, are used to make sense of the complicated state–society interactions leading to the transformation of land at the rural–urban interface of the postcolonial metropolitan capital of Delhi. The history of land development in a village called Khora is examined, which, located at the intersection of Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, has transformed from a sparsely populated village in 1971 to one of the densest “unauthorised colonies” in Asia in 2011.
The process of urbanization in Africa has the potential to be the most important instrument for social and economic development and poverty alleviation if a comprehensive framework for urban growth is established. The timing to get urbanization right is critical as most urbanization in Africa is yet to happen.
The increase of urban areas and dominance of the landscape of cities by dense built forms, roads, impermeable surfaces results in the phenomenon of urban heat island wherein the built areas experience higher temperature than the surrounding suburbs.
The origin of cities can be traced back to the river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley and China. Initially these settlements were largely dependent upon agriculture; however, with the growth in population the city size increased and economic activity transformed to trading . The process of urbanization gained impetus with the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago and accelerated in the 1990s with globalization and consequent relaxation in market economy. (Guest Editorial)
Urbanization, a major driver of global change, profoundly impacts our physical and social world, for example, altering not just water and carbon cycling, biodiversity, and climate, but also demography, public health, and economy. Understanding these consequences for better scientific insights and effective decision-making unarguably requires accurate information on urban extent and its spatial distributions.
