Urban   overcrowding   is not   a fresh   happening,   but   it has   recently   become   an international   demographic   trouble.   The growth of the world's 'Megacities'   such   as   Tokyo,   Jakarta,   Sao Paulo   and Cairo,   with populations   approaching   20 million,   is   one   of   the most marked   trends   of recent   decades.   In 1950   for instance,   New   York   City   was only one of its kind   among   the world's   cities   in   having   more   than   10 million inhabitants.   By 1975 that number had grown to 15 million. By 2015 it is expected it will reach 21 million.   (UNO 2005).   Two   principal   reasons   for   this   happening   can be   identified,   one   economic and   the other   socio-cultural.
People   migrate   to the   cities   in   search   of both   economic   security   and   better   social   conditions. As   the economy   of a country   develops,   its   cities   develop   as centers   of industry   investment   and education,   providing   plentiful job   opportunities   for   those   in   search   of a higher   standard   of living. Sydney,   Sao Paulo   and Frankfurt   are   all   blossoming   up to date   cities   which   have   urbanized   exponentially since   the Second   World   War.   A further   example   is   Tokyo,   the core   for   Japan's   rapid   economic development   in   the 1960s   and   70s;   its   population   grew   rapidly   as people   moved   there   to find employment,   and   it is now   the most   populous   city   in   the world   (population   35.3   million).
Not   the entire   developing   nations,   however,   are   ready   to deal with   such   rapidly   growing   city populations.   The   dominant   problem   coupled   with overcrowding   is poverty   and   its attendant social   deprivations   -   homelessness,   unemployment   and   insecurity.   immigrants   to cities   from   countryside areas   are   usually   the poorest   members   of urban   society,   and   in many   cities   are   often   enforced   to live in   shantytowns   or slums   on   the margin   of   the   city   with no   access   to clean   drinking   water   or safe sanitation,   in   cramped   and... [continues]

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