World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures

The World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures

Question: The World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures was launched by-
(a) UN-Habitat Programme
(b) United Nations Development Programme
(c) World Bank
(d) United Nations Population Fund
Ans:(a)
Related facts:

  • On 18 May 2016 United Nations-Habitat programme launched the World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures.
  • According to this report there are top 600 cities, with 1/5th of the world’s population producing 60 per cent of global GDP.
  • The report says that unplanned and unmanaged urbanization leads toward increased inequality and this in turn fuels growth of slums, causing disastrous impacts on climate change.
  • In 1995, there were 22 large cities and 14 megacities globally; by 2015, both categories of cities had doubled.
  • 22 (79 per cent) of the megacities located in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
  • The fastest growing urban centres are the medium and small cities with less than one million inhabitants, which account for 59 per cent of the world’s urban population.
  • Between 1950 and 2005, the level of urbanisation increased from 29 per cent to 49 per cent, while global carbon emissions from fossil-fuel burning increased by almost 500 per cent.
  • Cities account for between 60 and 80 per cent of energy consumption, and generate as much as 70 per cent of the human-induced greenhouse gas emissions primarily through the consumption of fossil fuels for energy supply and transportation.
  • The war in Syria has given rise to the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II.
  • In 2015, more than 1.5 million forced migrants and refugees arrived in Europe compared to 280,000 in 2014.
  • The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, “Habitat III” will take place in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016.
  • The report calls for a comprehensive approach to the New Urban Agenda which will be vital to success in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Reference:
http://unhabitat.org/un-habitat-launches-the-world-cities-report-2016/
http://wcr.unhabitat.org/main-report/