Some people love cities, and other people hate. But more people than even are choosing to live in one. The first cities started about 5000 years ago, Since then , cities have always been the centers of everything important. The government, businesses, and the university were always in the city. Around the world more than 1 million people every week move from rural areas to cities. In the year 2030, 60 percent of the world’s people will live in cities
These cities will be bigger than ever . A megacity is a city with a population of over 1 million people. In 1995, the world had 14 megacities. In 2015, there will be 21 megacities. And the ranking will continue to change. Today, the world’s five largest cities are 1.Tokyo 2.Mexico city 3.Sao Paulo 4.New York, and 5.Mumbai(Bombay). In 2015, they will probably be 1. Tokyo 2.Dhaka, 3.Mumbai, 4. Sao Paulo 5.Delhi.
Megacity around the world face the same problems: traffic and housing. Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a good example. “There are 30 million daily trips in Sao Paulo,” says Jorge Wilheim, a city official. “One – third is public transport, one – third is private cars, and one – third is walking. Sixty to seventy percent should be on public transportation.” The city is building a new freeway and adding to the subway system, but it’s slow work. Every day, million of people are sitting in traffic jams
Housing is also a serious problem for the 18 million people is Sao Paulo. Most of the jobs are downtown, and houses and apartments are very expensive there. So workers live in cheaper places far away from their jobs and commute for many hours . And many new residents can’t find any housing for their families , so they live in slums. These are places where people find empty land and build small huts
Ilson da Silva is one man who has does this. When he came to the city six years ago, he didn’t have a job. He built a one – room hut next to a garbage dump. Now he works as a janitor, and his hours has three room and a flower garbage. The government has brought in running water and electricity, and the slum is becoming a real neighborhood. For Ilson, and for million of other people, megacities mean hope for a better future