Future Megacity Operations Summary

These tools include demographics, development, urbanization and culture. These tools must be understood by geographers in order to be used properly. They can help with this understanding through the organization and use of space. In the article Geography Strikes Back claims are made that tools such as these help geographers to understand global conflicts. For example the article poses the questions, “Why does President Vladimir Putin covet buffer zones in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus…?” and then goes on to answer saying that it is, “Because Russia still constitutes a vast, continental space that is unprotected by mountains and rivers… [Putin] expresses a deep geographical insecurity” (Kaplan 1). Geographers can organize space on maps to come to conclusions such as these. These conclusions in turn help geographers to understand development and culture in areas of impact. As the global population explodes human geography becomes increasingly important. Using statistics and data to show demographical shifts and urbanizations has led to many claims of future problems such as megacities. Megacities are cities with a population of 10 million or more. Using population growth trend lines and progressions, James Canton in his article is able to claim that, “By 2040 most of the world’s population will be living in megacities.” (Canton 1). He also

Presently, low-income occupiers are in deeper poverty because of the dislodgment caused by gentrification. Furthermore, a lack of resources plagues low-incomes families and forces them into shelters. Current actions taken by city officials are a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, by including more voices in urbanization of cities in the future, the advancement of cities can include all members rather than just the wealthy.

The author Mike Davis has done countless research on the topic of urban poverty. In his studies he collects and receives his information from other sources. Perhaps this is the reason why he has a negative view on slums. This is illustrated in his piece “Planet of Slums” as he discusses the politics, urban development, and methods within the slums population. According to Davis, slums and urban poverty have and will continue to significantly increase. While doing so, the gap in exclusion and inequality will grow. As a result, this will weaken urban elites in their work to utilize cities as engines of growth. Slums and slum population are classified as those who are living below the poverty lines, all while, being associated with overcrowding, having poor or informal housing, inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, and insecurity of tenure. This is being recognized as an international phenomenon. To emphasis this phenomenon, approximately half of the slum population in most

Viewing the complex matter of gentrification succinctly, it helps to uncover how multifaceted it is; in that gentrification involves the oppression, marginalization, displacement of vulnerable populations, particularly, the poor, and the black who are often already negatively impacted by the effects of classism, and racism. Gentrification threatens to erode the communities and livelihood maintained by these set of people because their displacement becomes a precondition for the total transformation of the area.

Gentrification is a process in which wealthier people move into an existing urban community. As rent and the price of living goes up, lower income people who cannot afford to live in the community anymore are driven out. Neil Smith, in his essay Gentrification as Global Urban Strategy, argues that gentrification has evolved from an unplanned and haphazard process and into a ‘crucial urban strategy’ that capitalistic urban governments utilize for the convenience of capitalist production.

In the early morning hours of the 19th of March 2003 the leviathan force better known as the United States military began an occupation to topple the brutal Saddam Hussein regime. The conflict later known as the Iraq War and dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States, brought together four separate nations to overturn Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist government. The war introduced tactics and strategies of urban warfare, the likes of which have never used by the U.S. military before; and despite President George W. Bush declaration on the 1st of May 2003 abroad the USS Abraham Lincoln, the war was anything but “mission accomplished.” Operation Iraqi Freedom consisted of twenty-one major battles throughout its rough ten-year occupation. Operation Phantom Fury, or better known as the Second Battle of Fallujah, was one of those strategic key battles. Then Major General Richard F. Natonski led the 1st Marine Division through Operation Phantom Fury. I will introduce a brief history of LTG Natonski, the strategic location of the City of Fallujah, and an in-depth critical analysis of the mission command throughout the deadliest battle in the Iraq War.

Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums, predicts the direction in which the world’s cities are headed, and how the changes in living conditions are only going to deteriorate if certain trends continue. The title of his book explains Davis’s vision for the future of cities as he feels there is enough evidence pointing towards an exponential rise in slum populations across the world’s largest cities. Additionally, he expresses his opinion on many issues regarding the rapid rise in developing cities’ slum populations, although he offers very one-sided arguments geared towards those who feel the current system is causing more problems rather than improving current conditions. This causes Davis to overlook the problems of slums as resolvable through different modes of assistance such as international aid programs. Instead, he views aid programs as the root cause of imbalance created during industrialization. Throughout the book, Davis presents information that confirms his preconceptions towards the slums. Therefore, all the evidence that is presented by him portrays confirmation bias as Davis fails to mention anything about the resolution of the problem of the growing number of slums and instead sees this problem as unavoidable. Particularly, Davis’ writing, although intended for the general population, is more geared towards critics who have similar ideas. Instead of providing the means through which the economy could be improved and the problem of slums could be resolved, it is

As Rio’s favela residents watch their homes smashed to rubble, working-class people in urban areas worldwide are forced out of their apartments as rents skyrocket and local businesses are shut down. Gentrification is, without a doubt, a two-sided coin. For new-comers it provides affordable housing and job opportunities, but for those displaced it often means the loss of a livelihood, a school, a place to live. People are forced out of cities they have known all their lives and young people returning after only a few months or years can hardly recognize their own neighborhoods

If we are to look at the history of mankind, human conflict and wars have existed since prehistoric ages as a way of settling differences. However, in late centuries when battles between oppositions were settled beyond the gates of the city, with the technological advancements that have conquered armed forces and soldiery, they have been aimed against housing which is the primordial element of urbanization. The city itself as a form, as an institution, as a way of life, becomes the target.

Recently, urbanization has become the newest form of progress. However, it seems that urbanization has created some unforeseen problems. Bocquier suggests “economic uncertainties that prevail in most urban settings lead to a deterioration of living conditions…this deterioration particularly affects the urban poor” (pg. 1). As society began to change and progress at such a quick pace, many people have been left behind and have had to adapt to survive to their new environments.

These are some of the alternative solution to posed gentrification at the city of Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles. So, have in mind that gentrification is controversial process. It’s clear enough that it only affect the urban development of the cities. But the problem of gentrification needs to be research more for feather results.

Gentrification has been a controversial issue both in urban planning and politics primarily due to the displacement of poor people by the rich folks (Shaw & Hagemans, 2015). Many individuals have viewed gentrification as an illegal act that should be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, another group of people believe that gentrification is the way forward to promoting growth and development. With such contrasting ideas, this paper is going to take a look at gentrification from a positive and negative perspective, its effects, and how it can be prevented or contained. Apart from this, the paper will also address the following questions.

Megacities are populated with Millions of residents; these overcrowded cities cause issues with inadequate water supply, in many cities. Shanghai, China and Karachi, Pakistan experience scarce water supply daily; some residents go days or weeks without water because of shortages, contamination, and high prices. “Around 300 million people are suffering from water shortages (Tao, Tao, and Kunlun Xin).” Deaths have arisen due to water contamination, killing thousands of people yearly. Karachi water is being stolen and sold on a daily basis; making low income families pay extremely high prices to get the essential water they need. Shanghai and Karachi demonstrate the poor conditions megacities go through when a city is too big for its own good.

There are numerous social, economic, cultural, and political issues that accompany rapid urbanization. Concerns about rapid urbanization and violent conflicts have long been uttered in different respects: mainly this concern have related to the capacity of social orders to adjust to such development, and the likelihood that it may increase urban violence and insecurity. And on the other hand, this has related to concerns that growing political and social demands would inevitably follow the upsurge of masses in urban centres (xxx, xxx). The assumption is that political and social questions that accompany rapid urbanization could exceed the institutional capacity of a state and yield disenchantment of migrants ' expectations

Mike Davis, in his “Planet of Slums” (New Left Review 2004)1, surely comes out swinging in his attempt to convince his readers that the IMF and the World Bank are managing the world into survivalist death camps known as the modern urban city, making some good arguments for sound judgements in the areas of political and/or business histories. Mike throws out all kinds of great big scary numbers, many of which seem to be quite a bit over exaggerated, for instance he predicted there would be “at least 550” cities in the world with populations of over a million by 2015, whereas in 2016 there were only 512 of them as reported by the United Nations in their “The World’s Cities in 2016” Data Book2. He got some of his data form the UN, who has backed off from the numbers Mike used in the years since 2004, but have some new predictions for those that may desire (They now predict there could be as many as 662 of them by 2030)2. But Mike also reported there were 400 of them when he wrote this article in 2004, whereas Mongabay reports there were but 336 of them in 20053. Many of the city population numbers also seem quite high, at least as compared with Google and Wikipedia. He even more paranoidly claims that in many cases the actual populations of these slums are massively undercounted, and that many times they were undercounted deliberately by the heads of state themselves.