URBLOG

Urban Population Trends

URBAN POPULATION GRAPH

Orginal Guardian data blog

Urbanization is, to be sure, still manifested in the continues massive expansion of cities, city-regions, and mega-city-regions,   it equally entails the ongoing socio-spatial transformation of  diverse, less densely agglomerated settlement spaces that are, through constantly thickening inter-urban and inter-metropolitan infrastructural networks, being even more interlinked to the major urban centres. We are witnessing, in short, nothing less than the intensification  and extension of  the urbanization process at all spatial scales and across the entire surface of planetary space.

Neil Brenner     ‘What is critical urban theory’ in CITY 13/2-3 June- September2009 p. 205

 

GLA-LSE research on the impact of an amnesty for irregular migrants

Economic impact on the London and UK economy of an earned regularisation of irregular migrants 

In 2007, the UK provided a home to an estimated 618,000 irregular migrants - of these 442,000 live in London. GLA Economics commissioned the London School of Economics to research the potential economic impact of allowing those with an irregular status to become regularised.

Summary

What's it like to live in the middle of a population explosion?

'Everyone's sleeping with one eye open' James Meek reports from Lagos, bursting at the seams and soon to overtake Cairo as Africa's biggest city.

The road, lined with banks and churches, ....a dialogue between Christ and Mammon sputters at the expressway's edge. Jesus - The Answer. Zenith Bank. Skye Bank. Mountains of Fire and Miracles Ministry. Gracespring Chapel (Oil of Gladness Ministries Inc). GT Bank. EcoBank. Consuming Fire Christian Ministry.

"Why is the government trying to impose on our cities the developed world model of how a city should look? They're shying away from the fact that our economy is not as advanced as those countries'. ... By the time it comes together, this is what you end up with; this dirty, fragmented city is what the economy can carry for now. If we shy away from that, then we continue to inflict pain on our people."

Florida on how recession might reshape urban america

Richard Florida: How the crash will reshape America

The economic crash has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America’s economic landscape will look very different than it does today. What fate will the coming years hold for New York, Charlotte, Detroit, Las Vegas? Will the suburbs be ineffably changed? Which cities and regions can come back strong? And which will never come back at all?

Challenging the ‘Parallel Lives’ Myth

Race, Sociology, Statistics and Politics Wednesday May 13^th 2009,

London School of Economics

A seminar to mark the offical launch of ‘Sleepwalking to Segregation’? Challenging myths about race and immigration by Nissa Finney and Ludi Simpson (Policy Press 2009) with Robert Moore, Ludi Simpson, Paul Gilroy, Debbie Phillips, Shamser Sinha and Kjartan Sveinsson.

New UN STATE OF THE WORLD'S CITIES report

Harmonious Cities

The report from UN Habitat  adopts the concept of Harmonious Cities as a theoretical framework in order to understand today's urban world, and also as an operational tool to confront the most important challenges facing urbanization and development processes. For the first time, preliminary findings of a global analysis of spatial, socio-economic and environmental dimensions at the city level are presented in order to promote greater understanding of the dynamics and forces that promote harmony in cities. The book also analyses the determinants of urban growth or decline, which can help guide planners in supporting processes that lead to harmonious urban development.

John Vidal in The Guardian

'In a survey of 120 major cities New York was found to be the ninth most unequal in the world and Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, and Miami had similar inequality levels to those of Nairobi, Kenya and Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Many were above an internationally recognised acceptable "alert" line used to warn governments.

India was becoming more unequal as a direct result of economic liberalisation and globalisation, and that the most unequal cities were in South Africa and Namibia and Latin America. "The cumulative effect of unequal distribution [of wealth] has been a deep and lasting division between rich and poor. Trade liberalisation did not bring about the expected benefits."'

Mapping "endz" and "boundaries"

Young people and territoriality in British cities 

A new study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundationinvestigates territorial behaviour by young people to see whether this imposes significant constraints on their lives, and to consider the implications of this kind of behaviour for communities.

Full report          My neighbourhood - young people's maps

Rowena Davis in The Guardian

'Globalisation may be breaking down international boundaries, but children are increasingly confining themselves to their immediate neighbourhoods. Many of them inhabit a world where stepping onto the wrong side of the road is insult enough to justify attack, where postcodes mark out borders that can't be crossed and where urban tribes spend their lives patrolling areas as small as 200 sq metres.'

 

WHO Commission highlights inequities within countries

Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale"

A child born in a Glasgow, Scotland suburb can expect a life 28 years shorter than another living only 13 kilometres away. A girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than another in Japan. In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 17 400; in Afghanistan, the odds are 1 in 8. Biology does not explain any of this. Instead, the differences between - and within - countries result from the social environment where people are born, live, grow, work and age.

The Report and background material

Executive summary [pdf 5.34Mb]

More about the Commission

Immigration and social cohesion in the UK

Latest research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

The disputed consequences of recent immigration for everyday life in the UK include concerns over social cohesion. While many point to migrants' economic contribution, others raise concerns about pressures on welfare, labour and housing markets, and the cohesiveness of everyday life.

Some of the "findings go against the grain of the idea that we need a fixed notion of Britishness and British values. Rather, 'cohesion' is about negotiating the right balance between separateness and commonality. What most people welcome is the opportunity to meet residents in their area at social occasions or cultural events, and to be able to exercise the choice of, selectively, getting to know people better."

East Midlands region fastest growing in England

NEWS FROM ONS

The fastest growing English region, over the 10 year period from 2006 to 2016, is expected to be the East Midlands; the South East is projected to remain the most populous region.