Growing Desperation in theMega City

For my second current event article, I tried to find an article that related not only to one place but was more global. This article caught my attention because of the way it talks about urbanization in 2007. This is the year of the "mega-city." Half of today's global population is now urban. This is a very large contrast from almost 60 years ago when only Tokyo and New York met the standards. In 2007 there are almost 20 mega cities around the globe.
Progress can be partly to blame for this "urban sprawl." During the Industrial Revolution city people in the U.S. and Europe were part and parcel of a factory economy. Unfortunately that progress also brought decades of slums, child mortality, and disease. Just by prediction, today's massive amount of progress is likely to bring a massive amount of cost.
Like i said before urbanization and modernization come hand in hand. Rural areas are considered underdeveloped, while urban areas have cultural sophistication. With art and diversity cities are the central areas for ideas and intellect for people to mingle and create. For people who can afford to live in the city work, mingle, and play urbanization can be looked at as great progression and modernization. However, for those who cant afford to mingle ad cant work, urbanization causes the underclass to live in very rough conditions.
The author of this article notes that these conditions of urbanization are very true throughout history. He plans out theories from Charles Dickens and Karl Marx. Although the horrors of the past can be dealt with using new and different methods (water issues, sewer issues, education, and medical issues.) China for example, had 150 million people leave their rural homes for the cities. Although some may become slightly successful, the majority of most live in poverty on less than 2.00 dollars a day. Children are the most prone to the despairs of poverty. Underprivileged kids are likely to roam in gangs than go to school. Diseases are also likely to spring up.
Without action from nations and international institutions, the mega cities will grow larger and more desperate. The government needs to stop in and help the situation is getting critical. If the problems are not helped this could become a global nightmare.

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-plcretsinas0819.artaug19,0,5067336.story