NFPA Journal - Winter 2021 - 10

Urban Planet
Editor's Note by Scott Sutherland
F
or a little over a decade now,
more people have lived in
cities around the world than
in rural areas, the first time in
human history that the population
has skewed urban. Opinions differ
over the precise moment of this shift-one
estimate pegged it to May 23, 2007-but
what's certain is that the growth of cities will
be a defining feature of human experience
for the rest of this century and well beyond.
As our cover story ( " Ultra Urban, " page
30) points out, the lion's share of this urban
expansion is taking place in developing countries,
especially in Africa and Asia. According
to one estimate, by the year 2100 Africa will
claim the three largest cities in the world,
with the biggest, Lagos, Nigeria, numbering as
many as 100 million inhabitants-nearly three
times the size of modern-day Tokyo, now the
world's most populous city. Other cities that
until recently were little more than provincial
backwaters are morphing into urban powerhouses
of tens of millions of people.
In " Ultra Urban, " Journal staffers Jesse
Roman and Angelo Verzoni explore the
ramifications of this aggressive growth, and
how organizations like NFPA can contribute
to efforts to improve safety in the built
environment in developing nations. By one
estimate, 13,000 buildings would need to be
constructed each day, from 2018 to 2050, to
keep pace with urban growth worldwide-
and that doesn't even include single-family
Executive Editor, NFPA Journal
homes. How can cities with mushrooming
populations ensure that those buildings are
constructed safely, and that regulatory tools
exist for effective inspection and enforcement?
How can the world's safety community
advocate for vulnerable populations that have
little influence in the processes of legislation
or the creation and adoption of regulations?
A reality of this urban expansion is that
much of it will be fueled by impoverished populations
facing growing societal inequalities,
including where they live and work. Billions
of additional people will reside in so-called
" informal settlements, " including slums and
shantytowns, in the coming decades. The
astounding resilience of these communities-
the social cohesion, technological ingenuity,
and thriving micro-economies-is widely
documented, but so are the accompanying
problems of human exploitation, pollution,
and the absence of any kind of regulatory
framework. For millions of people around the
world, though, the choice between eating and
safety is no choice at all. How nations address
these challenges will be a critical aspect of
governing in the 21st century.
Twenty years ago, the novelist Don DeLillo
wrote that " the future belongs to crowds, " by
which he meant that crowds were already a
defining feature of the global landscape. What
kind of life those crowds will have in the
future, though, is another matter-and one
the safety community is in an ideal position
to shape.
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10 | NFPA JOURNAL * WINTER 2021
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Scott Sutherland
ssutherland@nfpa.org
ART DIRECTOR
Doug Sternberg
dsternberg@nfpa.org
SENIOR EDITOR
Jesse Roman
jroman@nfpa.org
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Angelo Verzoni
averzoni@nfpa.org
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Adrienne M. Albrecht
PROOFREADER
Ellen M. Cosgrove
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Bill Mello
wmello@nfpa.org
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Lorraine Carli
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NFPA Journal - Winter 2021

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