Abstract
In 1950, a mere 30% of the world’s population was urbanized. By 2020, that number had climbed to over 55%, and projections indicate that by 2050 over two-thirds (approximately 68%) of the world’s residents will live in cities. In this chapter, urbanization is defined and applied to recent global environmental trends today and into the future. This chapter enables the reader to analyze urban growth and discuss the future of cities in the context of global environmental challenges, assess the impact of cities on the world’s climate crisis now and into the future, and explain measures cities are taking to address contemporary environmental challenges. The chapter notes that because of projected trends in global urbanization, cities must be part of the solution to our impending global environmental crises.
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Welford, M.R., Yarbrough, R.A. (2021). Urbanization. In: Human-Environment Interactions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56032-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56032-4_8
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