overpopulation in urban areas
Only the last few decades, under the influence of the incredible pace of economy and urbanization growth, the population of major cities has risen sharply and continually. It is undeniable that the increase of population can bring specific benefits. However, in fact, cities are facing severe problems because of overcrowding namely the rise of shabby slums, the increasing rate of crime and the high level of pollution. This requires both urban managers and individuals to take necessary actions to deal with them.
One of the problems is that, in contrast to many inhabitants' expectation, there is the presence of countless slums whose living conditions are poor and insanitary in urban areas. In most world cities, numerous lower - income earners are huddling in impoverished areas where lacks clean housing, fresh water and even basic amenities. For example, more than 70 percent of Africa's urban population lives in slums where one toilet can be shared with 500 slum dwellers as in Nairobi, Kenya (World statistics day, n.d). To solve the problem, the governments should allocate national budget to build affordable housing units so that even low - income people could buy a dwelling in cities. Simultaneously, sanitation systems need improving or constructing to treat an increasing number of waste and garbage so as to protect residents' health better.
Secondly, the high rate of criminals is making residents worried about the state of insecurity in urban section. For example, theft, pickpocketing, burglary and mugging are considered as popular phenomena in cities. Additionally, several cities namely Los Carbo (Mexico), Caracas (Venezuela), Natal (Brazil) are even regarded as "the most dangerous cities in the world" due to their high homicide rates, according to Dillinger (2018). It is also argued that the original of crime is usually stemmed from impoverished areas with the high incidence of unemployment and low intellectual level (Juszczyk, n.d). As a result, the way forward must be to create more jobs in order to not only attract people to participate in social production operation, but also might minimize the potential crime triggered by unemployment. At the same time, each of resident needs to proactively seek jobs, respects the law and strictly avoids committing crimes.
Finally, the issue of growing pollution levels is a factual challenge to the municipal governments and affecting directly the life of urban dwellers. In fact, the quality of living environment in urban areas is degrading severely due to problems such as air or noise pollution. For example, in densely-populated cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, there are overrun with vehicles on roads, which induces uproarious noises and discharges into the atmosphere a large amount of toxic emissions (Air pollution in Vietnam causes premature death, 2018). As a consequence, numerous people suffer from hearing impairment, metal tension or respiratory diseases. To deal with the problem, the government should invest more money for public transportation systems so as to encourage more people to use public vehicles instead of private transport means. By doing that, the environmental pollution could be decreased partly.
In conclusion, overpopulation in urban areas is triggering serious problems such as bad living conditions in slums, the increasing growth of criminals and environmental pollution. Overpopulation issue has a risk of escalating out of control if the governments' response policies are failed or residents ignore it. Therefore, in my point of view, the main responsibility for solving the problem lies with both the governments and individuals.
Reference list
1.Air pollution in Vietnam causes premature death
2.Dillinger, J. (2018). The most dangerous countries in the world
3.Juszczyk, A. (n.d). Social problems in mega - cities are the result of overpopulation - Mexico City
4.World statistics day. (n.d) A look at urbanisation