A brief window of opportunity exists to shape the
development of cities globally before a boom in infrastructure construction
transforms urban land cover, according to a study in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers at Yale, Texas A&M and Boston University
predict that by 2030 urban areas will expand by more than 463,000 square miles,
or 1.2 million square kilometers. That is equal to 20,000 American football
fields becoming urban every day for the first three decades of this century.
The growth in urban areas will coincide with the
construction of roads and buildings, water and sanitation facilities, and
energy and transport systems that will transform land cover and cities
globally. Recent estimates suggest that between $25 trillion and $30 trillion
will be spent on infrastructure worldwide by 2030, with $100 billion a year in
China alone.
journal reference (open access): PNAS >>