Consequences of urbanisation

The message is stark and clear; increasing urbanisation, which is a growing trend, is consuming good agricultural land in many parts of the world, land that will in the future be desperately needed for crops. So the more houses and roads we build the less land there will be for producing food to feed the nations. There are also implications in the process of soil sealing for the quality and continuity of water supplies, for the welfare of biodiversity and sealing the soil also changes the soil's ability to be help in the quest to reduce the potential impact of climate change. In the developed world attempts have been made to curtail the spread of buildings and infrastructure onto good land but even here it is a difficult struggle. The situation is much more serious in the less developed countries of the world.

There are a number of issues which combine to put future food production in a perilous state in the less developed countries of the world. Firstly land degradation, including soil erosion, desertification and salinisation, is extensive and increasing. Secondly poverty limits the extent to which the land can be saved from such degradation Thirdly, the rate of world population increase is greater than that in the developed countries alone. Fourthly, given such poverty there is extensive migration to the cities where shanty towns cover large areas of land. Here in the developing countries, more than anywhere else, is the spiralling situation of land degradation, poverty and starvation, and urbanisation, such that less and less land becomes available for crops and feeding the people. The future for many of these areas is bleak.

To remedy this situation requires a massive global effort of unprecedented proportions. Is there the will in the world to do this? Without it millions of people will be subject to starvation and premature death. As with most factors that affect the environment and global and national economics the first step must be for each country and its government to recognise there is a problem and put plans in place to deal with it. Unfortunately few governments of the world either want to recognise the looming problem or even more so, are unlikely to face up to the problem and put the necessary safeguards in place. While the potential catastrophes are clearly evident to most scientists and many of the more intelligent forward looking public, governments of many countries seem unable to face up to it. There will undoubtedly be a need for international support for many of the developing countries to meet this challenge. In its absence and with lack of action many developing countries will spiral downwards into a situation from which it will be difficult to return and this will also impact on the more developed countries of the world.