NEWS: UN: Most Humans Will Live in Cities by 2008

CULTURE: UN: Most Humans Will Live in Cities by 2008

A new UN report says that by next year 3.3 billion people or over half the world's population will live in cities, a trend they warn will increase religious extremism. Traditionally urbanization has always been associated with more secular social trends, but the report suggests that global poverty is helping turn the urban poor into a bunch of religious fanatics.

Radical Islam in Arab countries, Pentecostal Christianity in Latin America and Africa, and Shivaji in India are named in the report as the fastest growing urban religious extremist movements. Even in China, supposedly a godless Communist state, rapid urban industrialization is creating new pockets of religious fervor. And while theoretically the world’s religions preach peace and love, the reality is that the urban trend points toward ever-increasing violence.

The report isn’t all doom and gloom. The report claims the urban poor can be an economic asset instead of a liability.

Anyone whose driven through their own city’s Skid Row can tell you it's difficult to be optimistic about this global trend. Its hard to imagine cardboard dwelling communities of the world’s forgotten souls being converted into bustling business districts. But if the United Nations claims we can make lemonade out of the sour fruit of world-wide poverty, more power to ‘em!

Economic and population growth are the only things cities create. Unfortunatly those two things destroy everything else.

HA HA! I'm moving to the mountains this monday! Fuck you UN, I don't need your cities.

and thats why I want to carry a sword. everywhere.

I fucking hate religion

if we end up in the dark ages again, it's only fair.

On the same note, Mike Davis has an excellent book on the topic called Planet of Slums.

I own a warhammer I always have in my car or slung over my shoulder.

I don't know if urbanization in inevitiable like they say. There's an interesting bias in that. I suspect it is partial true in that it is ineviyiable leading to its own destruction. Its doubtful we can really live like that worldwide for long before it all comes crashing down. Religious extremism is the least of our worries after a point. But hell man how is it any different from a marxist revolt anyways. The same shit already happened in other places and the world didn't end.