Today, population explosion is one of the major concerns of the world. The ever-growing population of the world has reached 7,160,183,896 as in June 2013.
The World Population Day is an annual event observed on July 11, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, approximately the date on which the world's population reached five billion people. The year 2013 will mark the 24th anniversary of the World Population Day.
Almost one-sixth of the world's population lives in squalid, unhealthy areas, mostly without water, sanitation, public services or legal security. The report from the UN human settlements programme, UN-Habitat, found that urban slums are growing faster than expected and that the balance of global poverty was shifting rapidly from the countryside to cities. Africa now has 20 per cent of the world's slum-dwellers and latin America 14 per cent, but the worst urban conditions are in Asia, where more than 550 million people live in unacceptable conditions.
Although the report emphasised that not all slum-dwellers are poor, the UN warned that unplanned, unsanitary settlements threaten political stability and are creating the environment for an explosion of social problems. In developing countries, more than half of the urban population lives in unplanned settlements where their quality of life is substandard and even inhuman. Urban infrastructure provisions are identified as a key area for planning intervention in order to integrate these settlements into sustainable residential developments. Besides such provisions, economic interventions are also necessary for slum households.
The total population divided over various levels of geographical areas is very important for the socioeconomic development of the entire country and the study of various components. When data regarding population is taken into account, better planning is possible for different facilities such as housing, education and healthcare facility.
Besides, a country’s population and how it is geographically distributed can influence access to basic services and infrastructure and employment opportunities, rural and urban environment and wealth of natural resources. The impact of human needs on available resources, in the context of the emerging economies, poses a strain on available public infrastructure, limited land and natural environment and biological resources, including direct habitat destruction and contribution to greenhouse gases.
Rapid urbanisation, the concentration of the urban population in large cities, the sprawl of cities into wider geographical areas and the rapid growth of mega-cities are among the most significant transformations of human settlements. This issue of uncontrolled population growth is giving birth to other major problems in the world. A few of the major consequences of the rapid growth of population in the current time are shortage of housing, social and physical infrastructure and services in different settlements.
The quality of life and the activities of all human beings within human settlements are closely interrelated with population change, demographic patterns, including growth, structure and distribution of population. The sustainability of the global environment and human life will not be achieved unless, among other things, human settlements in both urban and rural areas are made economically buoyant, socially vibrant and environmentally sound with full respect for cultural, religious and natural heritages and diversities.
Urban settlements hold a promise for human development and for protection of the world's natural resources through their ability to support large numbers of people while limiting their impact on the natural environment. Yet many cities are witnessing harmful patterns of growth, production and consumption, land use, mobility and degradation of their physical structure. Such problems are often synonymous with soil, air and water pollution, waste of resources and destruction of natural resources. Some human settlements are also subject to limited water supply, sanitation and drainage and depend upon nonrenewable energy sources which resulted irreversible loss of biodiversity.
Demographic factors combined with poverty and lack of access to resources and unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, particularly in industrialised countries can cause or exacerbate problems of environmental degradation and resource depletion and, thus, inhibit sustainable development. Therefore, a largely-urbanised world implies that sustainable development will depend very largely on the capacity of urban and metropolitan areas to manage the production and consumption patterns and the transport and that waste disposal systems need to preserve the environment.
The living and working conditions in all human settlements, including regional urban centres, rural service centres, rural hamlets, rural communities, market towns and villages must be improved with particular emphasis on shelter, social and physical infrastructure and services. The maintenance and development of rural settlements require sustainable agriculture and forestry activities, improved agricultural technologies, economic diversification and expanded employment opportunities created by encouraging appropriate and environmentally-sustainable investment in industry, related economic production and service activities.
To avoid unbalanced, unhealthy and unsustainable growth of human settlements, it is necessary to promote land-use patterns that minimise transport demands, save energy and protect open and green spaces. Appropriate urban density and mixed land-use guidelines are of prime importance for urban development. National and local policies and development plans must be carefully reexamined to ensure optimal land use and geographically better balanced economic development, including the protection of indispensable agricultural land, land that sustains biodiversity, including coastal areas and other sensitive areas in need of protection.
Green spaces and vegetation cover in urban and peri-urban areas are essential for biological and hydrological balance and economic development. Vegetation creates natural habitats and permits better absorption of rainwater by natural means. Green areas and vegetation also play an important part in reducing air pollution and creating more suitable climatic conditions, thereby improving the living environment in cities.
To promote human settlements, Governments and local authorities should formulate and implement human settlement development policies that ensure equal access to basic services, including the provision of food security, education, employment and livelihood, basic healthcare services, safe drinking water and sanitation, adequate shelter and access to open and green spaces.
All persons have the right and the duty to participate individually and collectively in the implementation of policies and programmes of their human settlements. A human settlement policy must seek harmonious integration or coordination of a wide variety of components including population growth and distribution, employment, shelter, land use, infrastructure and services.
There is a need for proper land management plan. Many cities use master plans, zoning, sub-division regulations, building codes and other policies to shape development. Urban land policy needs to be linked with a sustainable programme for infrastructure investment. Such a programme requires a basic spatial structure for each city and used to estimate the capital costs associated with providing the necessary infrastructure to support development for a sustainable human settlement planning.
Sustainable human settlements development requires cooperative and complementary actions amongst interested parties, planners and scientists. This would accommodate urban population growth and protect natural resources. (Dr Mayarani Praharaj works at the Department of Architecture, College of Engineering & Technology, Bhubaneswar)