Unstable Urbanization Between The Years 2017 And 2050

Throughout human history, cities have been constructed along bodies of water. Such as rivers, deltas, and coastlines, which provide water sources, transportation routes, and power. These water sources have been modified to meet urban needs, which is often at the expense of local aquatic ecosystems surrounding the city. “The concentration of transportation and industry in urban areas also alters biogeochemical cycles, which significantly affects the flow of chemical elements and certain compounds” (Jiang) Metropolitan centres often concentrate sources of CO2, emissions and other various greenhouse gases and pollutants, which can heavily induce an imbalance of air quality in neighboring ecosystems. In more populous cities, such as Mexico city, major roadways have thousands of cars on them at one time and traffic congestion in megacities contributes to a concentration of emissions along nearby highways, beltways and typically in the central business district in a downtown area. In our ever expanding cities across the globe, it is estimated that only about 20% of the current world population can be said to have a generally adequate and sustainable standard of living. By “standard of living”, referring to the the income levels of individuals of the "developed" world consisting mostly of North America, Western Europe, and Japan. In the remaining 80% of the global population most of the inhabitants of “developing nations” live in conditions