A Tale of

20

he urban poor have seen globalization be-

fore, whether in the name of Civilization,

Empire, Industrialization or Moderniza-

tion: all terms used to describe the web of

international forces - in finance, trade, mi-

gration, governance and culture - that have

shaped national and global history.

One hundred and seventy years ago, such forces were

at work in Victorian England, the first industrialized

society on earth. Throughout the 19th century, Eng-

land’s expansion of national wealth and consumer

purchasing power continuously outpaced the rise in

population, so there was much to be said for indus-

trialization. The promise of employment in the fast-

growing cities ensured that rural-to-urban migration

rapidly transformed England into an urban society.

However, the contrast of living conditions between

rich and poor in the city remained glaring.

Eventually, politicians and reformers realized that

something had to be done about the growing

human and environmental tragedy, whether by reg-

ulating the price of bread, for example, or offering

poverty relief backed up by punitive forms of social

regulation. It took decades for the institutions of

government to temper the Industrial Revolution

with social justice, often only in response to the

threat posed by radical political movements such as

The Chartists (1837 – 1848) or the public outcry

caused by writers such as Kingsley, Mayhew and

Dickens.

Even though the cost to those who lived in the over-

crowded cities was inhumanly high, within a few

decades the domestic benefits of the Industrial Rev-

olution were indisputable: reduced cost of bread,

meat, coffee, tea and coal; an 80 percent reduction

in the cost of cloth; factory working hours reduced

from 74 to 60 hours per week for adults

and from 72 to 40 hours for children; five

years added to the average life span;

criminal law reformed and per capita

taxes reduced by fifty percent. One can

see how difficult it must have been to

convince those with power and wealth,

the main architects and beneficiaries of

19th century globalization, that swifter

progress toward social justice was needed.

British slums in the 1850s“Then, as now, these slums existed in part because they

were profitable for landlords. A lodging house of eight

rooms might take on a hundred boarders, each paying a

shilling or two a week to live in ‘hugger-mugger promis-

cuity,’ sleeping with as many as twenty members of the

same or opposite sex in the same room.”

Michael Crichton, The Great Train Robbery

Dickens’s London

Cities

A Tale Of 2

One of the notoriouslyover-crowded slum areasof London. Sheets dry ona makeshift pole pokedfrom the window of alodging house and awoman emerges from acellar. Cellar dwellingswere illegal at this time.

T

Riis’s New York

21

American slums in the 1890s

“As a result of this laissez-faire

philosophy of private enterprise,

of the weak municipal authori-

ties of the new state-centered po-

litical system, and of the political

tenets and antiurban biases of

the agrarian philosophy, some of

the worst housing and living

conditions experienced by

modern man were created in

America during the coming half

century….On the congested

streets of the city - frequently of

mud and often strewn with

garbage - the contrast between

the personal wealth of the few

and the abject poverty of the

many was startling.”

International City Managers Association, The Practice of Local Government Planning

In the latter half of the

19th century, New

York, the main

gateway to the New

World, grew to be-

come the largest city on

earth. Many immigrants

arrived from the crowded

slums of Europe and set-

tled in conditions just as

bad or worse than those

they had left. The “rail-

road flats,” 5 to 7 storey

versions of the London

slum, were a standard so-

lution to unprecedented

demand for city space.

Parked together like

crates in a warehouse,

these elongated walk-up

flats had no side win-

dows, water supply or

sanitary facilities. A small rear yard contained a communal latrine, and some-

times a well, creating appalling public health conditions.

The second half of the 19th century, often called the “Gilded Age”, nevertheless

witnessed the failure of American governance to provide any relief to the poor,

urban or rural. Industrial growth seemed like an unlimited blessing - but the

depression of 1893 and other events began to change all that.1

The willingness of industrialists - heroes of virtue, hard work and success - to

fire workers, shut down plants and use violent means to suppress strikes, tar-

nished their reputation.2 Then, the eyes of the “other half ” were opened to the

filth, disease and squalor of America’s slums through the photographs and writ-

ings of journalists such as Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens - the latter, for ex-

ample, writing a series of influential articles on corruption in six major

American cities for McClure’s Magazine in 1902 and 1903.3

Such popular accounts of the living conditions of the poor awakened a society

that had hitherto believed that most social problems emanated from the moral

defects of the people themselves - particularly immigrants. Out of this flood of

exposés came a series of reforms, including the founding of the National Mu-

nicipal League in 1894 as a citizens’ campaign for the reform of the state and

local government.

In 1909, legislation was passed giving municipalities the right to engage in city

planning. Among many other local, state and national reforms of the “Progres-

sive Era” were housing codes and zoning to regulate construction; civil service

legislation that curtailed patronage; protection for women; development of fire

codes; laws setting reserve requirements of banks; licensing laws for profes-

sionals; laws regulating disposal of sewage and garbage as well as food pro-

cessing in restaurants; and laws regulating hours and working conditions of

women and children.

Thus two different countries - and cities - responded to the harsher effects of

globalization: through public awareness, and democratic reform.

“Five Cents a Spot,” Lodgers in a Bayard Street TenementPhotograph© 1889 Museum of the City of New YorkJacob A. Riis Collection #155

Two Cities

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nnnn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

(Po

pu

lati

on

000

's)

TOKYO20

15

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

6,92

0

26,4

44

MUMBAI

2015

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

(Po

pu

lati

on

000

's)

2,90

1

26,1

38

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

MEXICO CITY

2015

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

(Po

pu

lati

on

000

's)

2,88

5

19,1

80

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

SÃO PAULO

2015

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

(Po

pu

lati

on

000

's)

2,42

3

20,3

97

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

NEW YORK

2015

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

(Po

pu

lati

on

000

's)

12,3

39 17,4

32

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

2015

2010

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

(Po

pu

lati

on

000

's)

LAGOS288

23,1

73

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

NUMBER OF AGGLOMERATIONS OFMORE THAN 1MILLION PER REGION, 2000

0

50

100

150

200

250

Poly

nes

ia

Mic

ron

esia

Au

stra

lia/N

ew Z

eala

nd

Oce

an

ia

No

rth

ern

Am

eric

a

Mid

dle

Afr

ica

Wes

tern

Afr

ica

Sou

ther

n A

fric

a

No

rth

ern

Afr

ica

East

ern

Afr

ica

Afr

ica

Car

ibb

ean

Cen

tral

Am

eric

a

Sou

th A

mer

ica

Lati

n A

mer

ica

an

d th

e C

ari

bb

ean

No

rth

ern

Eu

rop

e

Sou

ther

n E

uro

pe

Wes

tern

Eu

rop

e

East

ern

Eu

rop

e

Euro

pe

Sou

th-e

aste

rn A

sia

Wes

tern

Asi

a

Sou

th-c

entr

al A

sia

East

ern

Asi

a

Asi

a

Pop

ula

tio

n (i

n m

illio

ns)

206

109

61

21 15

64

26 2011 7

51

33

135

43

12 9 8 8 6

41

6 6 0 0 0

Toronto

São Paulo

Santiago

Rio de Janeiro

Porto Alegre

Philadelphia

New York

Mexico City

Los Angeles

Lima

Guadalajara

Chicago

Buenos Aires

Bogotá

Belo Horizonte

4,651

17,755

5,538

10,582

3,708

4,402

16,640

18,131

13,140

7,443

3,908

6,951

12,560

6,288

4,170

THE

SIX

WO

RLD

'S L

AR

GES

T C

ITIE

S

A WORLD OF CITIESTHE WORLDÕS LARGEST CITIES

1000

500

250

100

50

25

5

1

Population Density(persons/km2)

nn

nn

nn

nn n

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nnnn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

nn

2015

0

10

20

30

40

50

Few

er t

han

50

0,0

00

50

0,0

00

to 1

mill

ion

1 t

o 5

mill

ion

5 t

o 1

0m

illio

n

10

mill

ion

or

mo

re

(%)

9.8%6.5%

26.3%

9.8%

47.6%

Few

er t

han

50

0,0

00

50

0,0

00

to 1

mill

ion

1 t

o 5

mill

ion

5 t

o 1

0m

illio

n

10

mill

ion

or

mo

re

9.2%6.1%

26.7%

10.1%

47.9%

2000

(%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

Few

er t

han

50

0,0

00

50

0,0

00

to 1

mill

ion

1 t

o 5

mill

ion

5 t

o 1

0m

illio

n

10

mill

ion

or

mo

re

4.4%8.2%

21.2%

11.4%

54.8%

1975

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

(%)

Source: World Population Prospects: The 1999 Revision, United Nations Population Division

THE TEN LARGEST CITIES IN EACH REGION, 2000 (in 000's)

THE WORLD'S URBAN POPULATION, BY CITY SIZETHE WORLD'S URBAN POPULATION, BY CITY SIZE

TokyoTashkent

Shanghai

Saint Petersburg

Riyadh

Paris

Osaka

Nairobi

MoscowMinsk

Milan

Metro Manila

Maputo

Luanda

London

Lagos

Kinshasa

Kiev

Khartoum

Katowice

Karachi

Johannesburg

Jakarta

Istanbul

Essen

DhakaDelhi

Dar Es Salam

Damascus

Casablanca

Cape Town

Calcutta

Cairo

Budapest

Bucharest

Bombay

Beirut

Baku

Baghdad

ArbilAlexandria

Aleppo

Addis Ababa

Abidjan

26,4442,148

12,887

5,133

3,324

9,624

11,013

2,310

9,3211,772

Warsaw2,269

4,251

10,870

3,025

2,677

7,640

13,427

5,064

2,670

2,731

3,487

11,794

2,335

11,018

9,451

6,541

12,31711,695

2,347

2,335

3,541

2,993

12,918

10,552

1,825

2,054

18,066

2,055

1,936

4,797

2,3694,113

2,173

2,639

3,305

20002000

19501950

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Urban Population as % of World's total, 1998

OEC

D

East

Asi

a

Sou

th A

sia

LAC

East

ern

Eu

rop

e a

nd

th

e C

IS

Sub

-Sah

aran

Afr

ica

Sou

t-Ea

st A

sia

an

d t

he

Paci

fic

Ara

b S

tate

s

per

cen

tag

e (%

)

5%7% 7%

10%

14%15%

17%

31%

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2000

A WORLD OF CITIESTHE WORLDÕS URBANIZED AREAS

0 - 10

10 - 20

20 - 30

30 - 40

40 - 50

50 - 60

60 - 70

70 - 80

80 - 90

90 - 100

% of urbanpopulation,by country

URBANIZATION RATESURBANIZATION RATESSource: World Population Prospects: The 1999 Revision, United Nations Population Division

20302030

Selected urban population growth rates, 1995-2000

Sour

ce: W

orld

Pop

ulat

ion

Pros

pect

s: T

he 1

999

Revi

sion

, Uni

ted

Nat

ions

Pop

ulat

ion

Div

isio

n

COUNTRIES

Liberia

Rwanda

Malawi

United Rep. of Tanzania

Burkina Faso

Uganda

Nepal

Ethiopia

Mauritania

Cape Verde

Kenya

Yemen

Nigeria

Cameroon

Pakistan

Indonesia

Senegal

Gabon

Paraguay

Jordan

Philippines

Ecuador

Algeria

Zimbabwe

Turkey

Malaysia

Morocco

Kuwait

Côte d'Ivoire

Botswana

India

El Salvador

Portugal

Tunisia

Thailand

Zambia

United Arab Emirates

China

Colombia

Bahrain

Venezuela

Egypt

Lebanon

Brazil

South Africa

Mexico

Chile

Argentina

Barbados

Djibouti

Trinidad and Tobago

Finland

New Zealand

Canada

United States of America

Azerbaijan

Australia

Norway

Uruguay

Poland

Austria

Cuba

France

Greece

Netherlands

Germany

Japan

Spain

Denmark

Russian Federation

Sweden

Slovakia

United Kingdom

Belgium

Romania

Italy

Armenia

Slovenia

Hungary

Czech Republic

Bulgaria

Lithuania

Ukraine

Latvia

Estonia

%

9.56

9.37

8.49

6.31

5.74

5.23

5.20

5.16

5.12

5.09

4.93

4.68

4.52

4.48

4.31

4.22

4.21

3.99

3.90

3.80

3.74

3.58

3.57

3.53

3.35

3.34

3.23

3.22

3.15

2.97

2.84

2.73

2.70

2.51

2.50

2.48

2.48

2.47

2.46

2.45

2.35

2.28

2.24

2.04

1.90

1.89

1.67

1.60

1.56

1.47

1.15

1.14

1.13

1.11

1.11

1.02

1.02

0.99

0.99

0.67

0.62

0.62

0.60

0.58

0.50

0.38

0.37

0.33

0.32

0.30

0.30

0.27

0.23

0.22

0.10

0.10

0.08

0.05

-0.07

-0.11

-0.21

-0.21

-0.22

-1.47

-1.62

CITIES

Tabora

Wenzhou

Songnam

Toluca

Ouagadougou

Maputo

Asansol

Sana'a

Hiroshima

Islamabad

Dhaka

Lagos

Antananarivo

Yaoundé

Tijuana

Kabul

Nairobi

Quito

Riyadh

Ndjamena

Bursa

Lusaka

Guayaquil

Harare

Bamako

Brazzaville

Addis Ababa

Dakar

Khartoum

Amman

Barranquilla

Accra

Istanbul

Kinshasa

Porto

Maracaibo

Conakry

Mecca

Bandung

Asunción

Ibadan

La Paz

Abu Dhabi

Rabat

Fortaleza

Monterrey

Oslo

San José

Alexandria

Ankara

Ahmedabad

Algiers

Lima

Kuala Lumpur

Vancouver

Bangkok

Helsinki

Tunis

Singapore

Düsseldorf

Zurich

Los Angeles

Buenos Aires

Teheran

Denver

Liverpool

Dublin

Rio de Janeiro

Havana

Lyon

Stuttgart

Tokyo

Kyoto

Frankfurt

Gdansk

Athens

Vienna

Berlin

Saint Petersburg

Madrid

Semarang

Seoul

Odessa

Budapest

Riga

United Rep. of Tanzania

China

Republic of Korea

Mexico

Burkina Faso

Mozambique

India

Yemen

Japan

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Nigeria

Madagascar

Cameroon

Mexico

Afghanistan

Kenya

Ecuador

Saudi Arabia

Chad

Turkey

Zambia

Ecuador

Zimbabwe

Mali

Congo

Ethiopia

Senegal

Sudan

Jordan

Colombia

Ghana

Turkey

DR Congo

Portugal

Venezuela

Guinea

Saudi Arabia

Indonesia

Paraguay

Nigeria

Bolivia

United Arab Emirates

Morocco

Brazil

Mexico

Norway

Costa Rica

Egypt

Turkey

India

Algeria

Peru

Malaysia

Canada

Thailand

Finland

Tunisia

Singapore

Germany

Switzerland

United States of America

Argentina

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

United States of America

United Kingdom

Ireland

Brazil

Cuba

France

Germany

Japan

Japan

Germany

Poland

Greece

Austria

Germany

Russian Federation

Spain

Indonesia

Republic of Korea

Ukraine

Hungary

Latvia

10.08

9.80

9.49

7.78

6.32

6.20

6.10

6.00

5.46

5.46

5.37

5.33

5.16

5.09

4.98

4.88

4.88

4.85

4.76

4.67

4.42

4.39

4.36

4.33

4.32

4.11

3.96

3.93

3.88

3.87

3.83

3.61

3.56

3.55

3.48

3.41

3.36

3.35

3.26

3.10

3.08

3.04

2.96

2.91

2.75

2.64

2.62

2.43

2.40

2.36

2.28

2.22

2.20

2.18

2.12

2.06

1.99

1.93

1.43

1.32

1.20

1.15

1.14

1.11

0.97

0.84

0.79

0.77

0.66

0.59

0.51

0.51

0.49

0.44

0.41

0.15

0.09

0.04

0.03

0.00

-0.21

-0.73

-0.73

-0.96

-1.44

%

A WORLD OF CITIESAN URBANIZING WORLD

Sour

ce: W

orld

Pop

ulat

ion

Pros

pect

s: T

he 1

999

Revi

sion

,U

nite

d N

atio

ns P

opul

atio

n D

ivis

ion

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

3.97

2.67

0.34

2.11

1.11 1.

26

6.00

(%)

Poly

nes

iaM

icro

nes

iaM

elan

esia

Au

stra

lia/N

ew Z

eala

nd

all O

cean

ia

No

rth

ern

Am

eric

a

Sou

th A

mer

ica

Cen

tral

Am

eric

aC

arib

bea

nal

l Lat

in A

mer

ica

& C

arib

bea

n

Wes

tern

Eu

rop

eSo

uth

ern

Eu

rop

eN

ort

her

n E

uro

pe

East

ern

Eu

rop

eal

l Eu

rop

e

Wes

tern

Asi

aSo

uth

-eas

tern

Asi

aSo

uth

-cen

tral

Asi

aEa

ster

n A

sia

all A

sia

Wes

tern

Afr

ica

Sou

ther

n A

fric

aN

ort

her

n A

fric

aM

idd

le A

fric

aEa

ster

n A

fric

aal

l Afr

ica

Urban populationgrowth ratesin countries,

by region,1995-2000

< 00 - 22 - 44 - 6> 6

Average annual rateof change of theurban population (%)

Source: World Population Prospects: The 1999 Revision, United Nations Population Division

URBAN POPULATION GROWTH RATES, 1995-2000