The Global Challenges

Take a walk in aisles of Old Delhi. Stroll along the roads of Chandni Chowk. Throw yourself at the gangways of Yamuna. Go and see how people in Orangi, Pakistan and Dharavi, Mumbai, are living their life in some square metres of space. All of the preceding activities will make you realise the importance of space. How a few metres can make a difference? On the other hand, the likes of Lutyen’s Delhi, South Mumbai are examples of complete contrast. They are planned yet use a lot of space. Both the accounts are hanging on the threads of extremes. Mutual inclusion has always been a scarce commodity. The problem now we face is, the privilege of space that the history has had, no longer exists. The population of world is increasing at a rapid pace of 7 billion and still counting.

Two entirely different world

Phil Williams, Vice President, Royal Town Planning Institute says, “We need to develop ‘Spatial Policy’ which takes space into account. Developing countries have fastest growing cities in the world. Poor quality of housing cost both, the state and the populace.” It is estimated that billions of people will migrate to urban spaces till 2025. Hence, the policy makers need to think on the same line of thoughts that space is scarce and people are increasing. They need to build a bridge between the two extremes.

Phil Williams, The world needs a plan

2014 was the hottest year on record. The world temperature is increasing continuously. Climate change is the elephant in the room. Everyone knows but no one really does anything. The icebergs at the South and the North poles are melting at an alarming pace. The glaciers of Himalayan Range are rapidly reducing. The rise in the sea level will have catastrophic effect for several cities in the world. Most of the major cities are located on the banks of the river. The marine life is at danger and the list could go on and on. In order to manage the climate change Carbon footprint of every country needs to be checked. The deforestation is another issue which should be corrected in order to check the rising temperature.

The agenda for the future

Public health is a critical issue and the loss of human resources due to lack of planning is another major concern. “It is estimated that a loss of $47 trillion over the past 2 decades has occurred due to loss of human lives due to various causes. The causes include road accidents, heart diseases, diabetes and other cardio-vascular diseases”, Phil Williams. Road accidents are the single biggest cause of death in the world. The planning of roads and general awareness regarding the prevention of diseases need to be put in place. A culture of exercise needs to be encouraged.

The populace

The demographic change is another challenge that is world is staring at. The number of people over the age of 60 would go from 600 million to 2 billion in the next decade. No country on earth is prepared for this. The infrastructure needed for the elderly is not in place. The certain kind of needs is not taken care off. Simple steps like elevators in the buildings, dedicated walking lanes and sitting benches in the parks, health care centres in residential area, could go a long way in resolving the plight of the elderly.

“I saw a great divide in Sao Paolo. On one hand you have great sky scrapers and on the other you have slums covering hundreds of hectares”, Phil William. Every challenge is interrelated. Agriculture serves the fundamental need of food. Loss of agrarian culture is creating a danger of food security and greater inequality. Government needs to prioritise the agriculture sector. Irrigation facility should be enhanced. Organic compost should be encouraged. Setting up of market which will give them a platform to sell their product are some of the steps that will help the agrarian society to cope up with the challenges.

Global economy is diversifying and the rules of the game have changed. Central challenge remains more equitable growth and distribution of resources. This will have ripple effects and will lead to greater stability in every sense. The climate change could be handled more rigorously as it affects world’s future directly. The privileged framework no longer exists and cautious and planned approach will go a long way in sorting out the challenges.