A glimpse into our future: the megacity

30 November 2015 - 16:25 By TMG Digital

The future will see a world dotted with megacities‚ where two-thirds of the world’s population will live‚ working from home‚ relying on an internet nerve-centre. Conglomerations with 10-million or more people already exist‚ and so far there are 29 megacities around the world. Africa has Cairo‚ Lagos and Kinshasa‚ with Johannesburg‚ Luanda and Dar es Salaam expected to become megacities by 2030.A report Axel Theis in the latest Allianz Risk Pulse explores the scenario. Theis‚ a member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE responsible for Global Insurance Lines and Anglo Markets‚ says in a statement released on Monday: “Our main question is going to be‚ ‘How can we find the right balance between growth‚ quality of life and climate protection?’”“More than 12% of global city dwellers live in the megacities in 2015. That is more than 470 million people. Tokyo (38 million)‚ Delhi (25.7 million) and Shanghai (23.7 million) are the largest ones. They will remain so up to 2030‚ by which time 12 new megacities will have emerged‚ 10 of them in Asia or Africa. Delhi‚ Dhaka‚ and Lagos will each have added around 10 million inhabitants – the equivalent of another megacity.“African and Asian megacities are the fastest growing metropolises: Delhi‚ Dhaka and Lagos will grow by 10 million inhabitants each. Johannesburg is estimated to have 9.7 million dwellers in 2015. This could rise to 11.9 million by 2030. Luanda is at 5.5 million at the moment and is forecast to grow to 10.4 million in the next 15 years.In Asian and African megacities‚ children younger than 15 years make up at least a quarter of the populationIn the megacity of the future more and more people will live in smaller households because the traditional family unit is becoming increasingly disbanded.“The ideal city will be made up of many autonomous centers‚” says Thomas Liesch of Allianz Climate Solutions. “People will live and work in their respective districts‚ which will in turn save them a lot of time and energy. Fewer cars mean more space for pedestrians and a network of green spaces will connect the individual neighborhoods. This sort of development would improve the climate and leave more space for leisure activities and food production.”“The nervous system of tomorrow’s intelligent city will be based on the Internet: electricity‚ transportation as well as supply and disposal systems will all be electronically linked. Buildings will produce their own electricity and even store it‚ for example using high-powered battery storage systems.“The workplace and the home will merge. Supply chains will be optimized.”..

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