Wybrane problemy rozwoju miast na przelomie XX i XXI wieku

Wzrost ludności a rozwój miast. Urbanizacja i rozprzestrzenianie się miast jako problem globalny. Rozwój miast - problem Unii Europejskiej. Problemy urbanizacji w Polsce.

The global population number has increased four fold within the last 100 years - from 1.5 billion in 1900 to over 6 billion in 2000. Particularly the developing countries grow rapidly in terms of demography. The phenomena is accompanied by fast development of cities. In 1960 25% of the global population lived in urban areas, whereas now the percentage is close to 50%. The trend is expected to continue also in the future and in 2030 over 60% of the world population will live in urban areas. The number of great metropolises is rapidly growing. According to prognoses, by 2015 there will be 37 cities with over 5 million population and only 8 of them will be located in developed countries. The rapid development of cities leads to a number of environmental problems related to water supply, sewage management or waste disposal. The phenomenon of urban spread, that is, extensive urbanization of open areas has become a common phenomenon in developed countries. Urban spread, typical of US cities occurs now also in Europe where the rate of the increase in urban areas exceeds the rate of population growth. The phenomenon is observed in Poland, too. Therefore, any action aiming at putting urban development in order according to the principles of sustainable development gains in importance. The ideological assumptions for actions of that type can be found in such documents as the "New Athens Charter" or the EU document entitled "Towards Thematic Strategy of Urban Environment". Their implementation requires effective legal and administrative tools. Poland has to draw appropriate conclusions from the global experience and develop its own strategy for controlling urbanization processes.