section by Miike Pritchard

World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’ Level 1 1

Elementary

Key words

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to help you. urban

urbanization

mega

ghetto

rural sanitation

unrest wealth

sprawl wasteful

1. The word __________________ means extremely big or impressive. (para 1) 2. __________________ is the process by which towns and cities grow bigger and more and more people go to live in them. (para 3) 3. __________________ is a large amount of money and other valuable things. (para 4) 4. __________________ means relating to the countryside, or in the countryside. (para 5) 5. __________________ means relating to towns or cities, or happening there. (para 5) 6. __________________ is a part of a city that starts to spread into the countryside in a way that is ugly and not carefully planned. (para 5) 7. If something is __________________, it uses resources carelessly so some of them are wasted. (para 6) 8. __________________ is angry or violent behaviour by people who are protesting against something. (para 7) 9. __________________ means the conditions and processes that relate to people’s health, especially the systems that supply water and deal with human waste. (para 8) 10. A __________________ is an area of a city where people of a particular type live, usually in poor conditions. (para 9)

Find the information

Find the following information as quickly as possible. 1. Where is the largest mega-city in the world? 2. How many people live there? 3. What percentage of the world’s population will live in cities by the year 2050? 4. What percentage of people in rich countries will live outside cities? 5. What percentage of the world’s population lives in the 40 largest mega-regions?

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6. Which city is the least equal city in the world?

World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’ Elementary

UN report: World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’

areas already comes from people in urban areas sending money back,” Moreno said. The growth of mega-regions and cities is also leading to the kind of urban sprawl we have never seen before with new slums, unplanned development and big differences in income as more and more people move to smaller towns or cities near bigger cities.

The largest of these mega-regions, says the report, is the Hong Kong-ShenhzenGuangzhou region in China, home to about 120 million people. Other mega-regions have formed in Japan and Brazil and are developing in India, West Africa and elsewhere. Now for the first time, more than half the world’s population lives in cities. The UN said that urbanization is now impossible to stop. Anna Tibaijuka, of UNHabitat, said, “Just over half the world’s population now lives in cities but by 2050, over 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. By then, only 14% of people in rich countries will live outside cities, and 33% of people in poor countries.” The development of mega-regions is generally a positive thing, said the report’s co-author Eduardo Lopez Moreno. “Mega-regions, rather than countries, are now creating the world’s wealth. Research shows that the world’s largest 40 mega-regions cover only a very small part of the surface of the Earth and are home to fewer than 18% of the world’s population but represent 66% of all economic activity and about 85% of technological and scientific innovation,” said Moreno. “The top 25 cities in the world provide more than half of the world’s wealth,” he added. “And the five largest cities in India and China now provide 50% of those countries’ wealth.” It makes economic sense for people to move to cities but it has an effect on the rural economy too. “Most of the wealth in rural

“The population of cities like Los Angeles grew 45% between 1975 and 1990, but their surface area grew 300% in the same time. This sprawl is now increasingly happening in developing countries with the image of a ‘world-class lifestyle’ outside the traditional city,” say the authors. Urban sprawl, they say, is wasteful, it adds to transport costs, increases energy consumption, requires more resources and destroys farmland.

“As cities become more unequal, there is a greater danger that economic differences will bring social and political tension. Urban unrest in unequal cities is likely. The cities that are the most successful are generally those that are reducing inequalities,” said Moreno.

In a survey of world cities, the United Nations found the most unequal were in South Africa. Johannesburg was the least equal city in the world, only a little ahead of East London, Bloemfontein and Pretoria. Latin American, Asian and African cities were generally more equal, but mainly because they were very poor, with a high level of slums and poor sanitation. Some of the most equal cities were Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh.

The US is one of the most unequal societies with cities like New York, Chicago and Washington less equal than places like Brazzaville in Congo-Brazzaville, Managua in Nicaragua and Davao City in the Philippines. “In the US there are cities inside cities. The richest 1% of families now earns more than 72 times the average income of the poorest 20% of the population. In the ‘other America’, poor black families live together in ghettos without quality education, work and political power,” says the report. © Guardian News & Media 2010 First published in The Guardian, 22/03/10

A major new United Nations report says that the world’s mega-cities are joining together to form enormous ‘mega-regions’ which may cover hundreds of square kilometres and be home to more than 100 million people. These so-called ‘endless cities’ could be one of the most significant developments – and problems – in the way people live and economies grow in the next 50 years, says the report.

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John Vidal, environment editor 22 March, 2010

Level 1

World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’ Level 1

Elementary

3 Comprehension check Match the beginnings with the endings to make sentences about the text. 1. By 2050, …

a. … represent 66% of all economic activity.

2. About 120 million people …

b. … cannot be stopped.

3. The world’s largest 40 mega-regions …

c. … than rich ones.

4. Economic differences …

d. … live in the Hong Kong-Shenhzen-Guangzhou region in China.

5. Poor cities are more equal …

e. … over 70% of the world’s population will live in cities.

6. The process of urbanization …

… could lead to social unrest.

4 Chunks Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text. 1. over the population world’s just half 2. of the population world’s over 70% 3. top world the cities 25 in the 4. India largest in five the cities 5. world the least in city equal the 6. in big income differences

5 Opposites Match these words from the text with their opposites.

2. tiny

_______________

3. poor

_______________

4. urban

_______________

5. reduce

_______________

6. equal

_______________

enormous

major

_______________

unequal

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1. minor

rural

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increase

rich

World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’ Level 1

Elementary

6 Word stress Put these words into two groups depending on their word stress. region

endless

report

per cent

rural

resource

destroy

unrest

income

require

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tension

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surface

World’s biggest cities merging into ‘mega-regions’ Level 1

Elementary

KEY 1 Key words

4 Chunks

1. mega 2. urbanization 3. wealth 4. rural 5. urban 6. sprawl 7. wasteful 8. unrest 9. sanitation 10. ghetto

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

2 Find the information 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

China about 120 million over 70% 14% fewer than 18% Johannesburg

just over half the world’s population over 70% of the world’s population the top 25 cities in the world the five largest cities in India the least equal city in the world big differences in income

5 Opposites 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

major enormous rich rural increase unequal

6 Word stress A

3 Comprehension check 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

e d a f c b

region endless rural surface income tension

report per cent resource destroy unrest require

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