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Articles on Urbanization

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Xi Jinping shakes hands with Chinese construction workers at a Belt and Road Initiative site in Trinidad and Tobago in June 2023. Frederic Dubray/AFP via Getty Images

Growth of autocracies will expand Chinese global influence via Belt and Road Initiative as it enters second decade

More autocratic governments, growing urbanization and emerging technologies will bolster the spread of Chinese influence around the world, an expert on emerging economies explains.
Riverbanks are reinforced to reduce flood risks, but these techniques reduce biodiversity and limit public accessibility. (Shutterstock)

We must rethink the way we build along the St. Lawrence River

The sustainable and inclusive development of the St. Lawrence River is essential. A prolonged laissez-faire attitude will have harmful consequences on people and the environment.
Concrete and asphalt roads, and other built materials readily absorb, store and release heat, raising city temperatures, a phenomenon called the urban heat island. (Pixabay)

Small green spaces can help keep cities cool during heat waves

During heatwaves, the highest temperatures are often found in urbanized areas. Small green spaces are often overlooked as a way to cool urban areas.
Flooding is seen in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia after the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Sept. 2, 2021. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Cities worldwide aren’t adapting to climate change quickly enough

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that share is growing. Rapid climate change could make many cities unlivable in the coming decades without major investments to adapt.
A sand mine in Nepal. Growing urbanization and its need for concrete is fuelling a global sand crisis. (Michael Hoffmann)

Roving bandits and looted coastlines: How the global appetite for sand is fuelling a crisis

As sand markets boom, entrepreneurs, organized crime and others are cashing in — leaving widespread environmental damage in their wake.
Chilean police clash with anti-government demonstrators during a protest in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 12, 2019. Santiago is one of a dozen cities worldwide to see mass unrest in recent months. AP Photo/Esteban Felix

Urban unrest propels global wave of protests

From Santiago and La Paz to Beirut and Jakarta, many of the cities now gripped by protest share a common problem: They’ve grown too much, too fast.
Honey can carry clues about where pollutants come from. (Shutterstock)

How clean is your city? Just ask the bees

Urban pollutants are a health concern in growing cities. Scientists are turning to honey bees to help monitor contaminants in soil, water, air and plants.
Scorpions used to be a rural problem in Brazil. Now, residents of São Paulo and other urban areas are dealing with an infestation of these venomous creatures. AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini

Venomous yellow scorpions are moving into Brazil’s big cities – and the infestation may be unstoppable

Brazil’s scorpion infestation, which is terrorizing residents of São Paulo and other major cities, is a classic ‘wicked problem.’ That means officials must think outside-the-box to fix it.
Cities were once considered a source of many problems. But that vision has changed over the last generation. Graeme Roy

Our changing views of the city: A new urban celebration

Our current celebration of cities is a big shift from the past generation when cities were seen to contain all of our problems. Should we believe the hype? Are the new ideas equally problematic?
Wooden stakes representing the 2,224 confirmed overdose deaths in British Columbia - many of them young Indigenous people - over the last three years, are placed on the ground at Oppenheimer Park, in Vancouver on September 29, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Indigenous women suffer greatest risk of injury

Research shows that Indigenous women are at greatest risk of injury within Canada. Income, education and housing inequities play a role. So does systemic racism and post-colonial trauma.
Metropoles like Shanghai have survived and thrived in large part because of their massive populations. But what happens when people start to become a liability rather than an asset? Reuters/Aly Song

Can the world’s megacities survive the digital age?

Research shows that technology disrupts economies of scale, turning megacities’ huge populations from strength to liability. To survive, megacities, like companies, must adapt.

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