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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

China is investing an additional $45 billion in a megacity project [reuters.com] that will merge Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei provinces:

China on Friday earmarked 290 billion yuan ($45.45 billion) for manufacturing and industrial park projects to support its efforts to integrate Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province into a megacity, state media reported.

The government hopes to ease pressures on its crowded capital by transferring industries further out into the integrated metropolis, which it says has a combined population of about 110 million people. It dubbed the area "Jing-Jin-Ji" last year, using shortened versions of the names of the cities and province.

Demographia World Urban Areas lists the fastest growing cities [theguardian.com] as Batam [wikipedia.org], Mogadishu [wikipedia.org], Burkina Faso [wikipedia.org], Xiamen [wikipedia.org], and Yinchuan [wikipedia.org]. Megacities and the impending 70% urbanization of the world's population have their proponents, such as architect Lord Foster [telegraph.co.uk]:

Design plays a huge part. Cities that are consistently rated highly by the public in terms of quality of life are relatively compact and pedestrian-friendly, with good public transport and generous parks and civic spaces. These more desirable cities are comparatively dense and have evolved historically from a traditional European concept. They consume less energy than the more recent suburban model of cities – like LA with its low-density housing and a dependence on car travel. A new study suggests that urban sprawl costs the US economy more than $1 trillion annually.

Across the globe, people are likely to live longer and healthier lives in cities. In most countries in the world, cities provide better access to education and health services. The longest life expectancies today can be found in high-density, highly developed cities like Hong Kong or Singapore. Unlike cumbersome national governments and international organisations, cities can act quickly and decisively. When it comes to the future of life on Earth, cities are not the problem – they are the solution.

Via NextBigFuture [nextbigfuture.com].

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