Mega Cities: The Nexus of Risk
Challenges for development assistance
The lure of economic opportunities continues to drive rural-to-urban migration, particularly in Asia and Africa. By concentrating vulnerable populations, rapid urbanization helps solve the problem of where to focus public and private sector assistance, but not how. The sheer size and complexity of megacities amplify many of the development challenges faced everywhere. Solutions will require new levels of cooperation across sectors, and new ways of measuring success.
Challenges for global health
The fluid evolution of informal settlements and markets can accommodate a dynamic workforce, but can also create urban ecosystems that incubate new, re-emerging, and drug-resistant diseases in the midst of densely crowded communities. These "international cities" are often trade and transit hubs for their countries - cross-roads for the movement of people, animals, and goods, and the international flow of risks.
The few case studies here - excerpted from a larger report prepared by the Stimson Global Health Security Program - highlight the challenges that national decision makers and their international partners face in an urbanizing world.
Case Studies
 |
Lagos, Nigeria |
 |
Sao Paulo, Brazil |
 |
Dhaka, Bangladesh |
 |
Karachi, Pakistan |