Face it. From the get-go, we’ve been in expansion mode — both in the context of urban development and growth rurally speaking. There’s just no denying that fact. Being that this is the nature of our being, how well the rural and urban environments will interrelate or mesh with one another will, in large measure, determine how well we as collective, larger communities will fare going forward.
By mid-21st century, the projection is that cities will house anywhere between 65 and 80 percent of the total population. And, the population could — and maybe is likely to surpass — 400 million people by that time.
That’s considerable.
How will we manage? That’s the $64 million question.
One of the first things that needs to be looked closely at is what lies beyond city borders. The land in question; is it principally forest, open range or space, or farmed?
Next: Are the dynamics of that in a constant state of flux? This is what’s known as the farmed, forested, open-range land-urban interface. How has the relationship between the two shifted over time?
Within the city sphere of influence, how far has the street network expanded? How fast and in what ways has it grown? Is resources growth, like fire and police protection, for example, hard-pressed to keep pace? How fast either (also known as emergency response services) is able to respond to 911 calls is a good indicator.
What about the quality of the air in your area? Has it substantially degraded over time?
Moreover, what are your morning and afternoon work commutes like? Has local traffic become more bogged down?
How about the number of the unhoused? Is this increasing?
Here’s the rub. Growth seems inevitable. So, as long as this appears to be the case, the key is to grow responsibly, sustainably and in ways that do not stress or push city resources to their limit. In other words, the trick is to be able to find satisfactory ways of keeping our urban, suburban and exurban districts from becoming too unwieldy. Add to this that as we move ahead, such will become even more of a challenge what with the impact the changing and the changed climate will have and has had.
Again, proper management, land use and sustainability are core values and key.