Editorial: Global growth crisis

Sunday, July 1, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.

Next year, for the first time in history, more than half of the world's population will live in urban areas, according to a United Nations Population Fund report issued last week. The report notes that the developing world's urban population will soon double, and that is a cause for concern considering the horrific slums in many developing cities.

"The poor settle in the worst living space, on steep hillsides or river banks that will be flooded, where nobody else wants to live and speculators haven't taken control of the land," the report's lead author, George Martine, told The New York Times. "They have no water and sanitation and the housing is terrible. And this situation threatens the environmental quality of the city."

The bulk of urban growth, the report says, will be in smaller cities and towns where the "capabilities for planning and implementation can be exceedingly weak."

The U.N. is urging government officials - from mayors to international leaders - to work together to properly plan sustainable cities. The report says that the inevitable urban growth presents an opportunity to fight poverty and challenges governments to do so. As well, the report says environmental protection must be a priority.

The bottom line is so-called smart growth, which, as Southern Nevadans know, is much easier said than done. But the United States and other developed nations should do all they can to help burgeoning cities in developing nations do the right thing.