Projections from a new research suggest that cities will explode at an amazing pace with a population of 100 million by the end of this century, and Lagos, a city in Nigeria could be the first to achieve that.
This means by 2100 if Nigeria’s population continues to grow at the current rate and people continue migrating to cities at the same rate as we have now, Lagos with its current 21 million people could be home to more people than the state of California.
Lagos, which is already one of the world’s 10 largest cities, sprawls across 1,000 square kilometres. With some fascinating buildings and skyscrapers in the city, Lagos also has its poorest residents often living in slums by the lagoon.
Its economy, however, continues to grow than other major cities in other African countries, with manufacturing, transport, construction and retail all being a contributor to the country’s economy.
According to Daniel Hoornwega a co-author of the study, “Lagos, Dar Es Salaam, Kinshasa: These are the cities that are looking at four- to five-fold increases in population. By the end of the century, the lion’s share of large cities, the top 20 if you will, most of those will be in Africa,”.
The world’s population has been forecasted to reach up to 14 billion by the end of the century. Eighty percent of those people will be living in cities, the research says. Often, urbanization comes with its associated problems of poor sanitation, slums, congestion and pollution.
Nevertheless, the Canadian researchers say increasing urbanization can be a positive thing.
“Cities, by their nature, because of a more compact lifestyle, can provide a quality of life higher than anywhere else with less energy per unit of GDP,” Hoornweg said.
“So, cities actually provide a really important opportunity. We will not get to global sustainability without big cities.”
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