What do our over populated cities look like in reality?
If you sit behind a neat desk and check out real estate development reports, the sheer amount of square footage already built and under construction will impress you. Our metros can handle much more real estate. Terms like sustainable development, rural-urban migration and average-interstellar-human-trickle-down-rate (okay, we made that one up) all point to just one thing. We simply need more real estate.
You can comfortably close that report now. There is nothing to worry about. More real estate means more opportunities. More money. And the demand is practically infinite.
But what does a lot of real estate in one place really look like?
Here are seven examples in ascending order of their ugliness;
#1. Naples, Italy - Population of Naples Metropolitan Area - 4 Million
#2. Venice, Italy - Population of Venice's Commune - Over 270 thousand
#3. Sao Paulo, Brazil - Population of Expanded Metropolitan Complex of Sao Paulo - 30 Million
#4. Shimla, India - Population of the ever expanding Shimla City - Over 1 Million
#5. Delhi NCR, India - Population of National Capital Region- 25 Million
#6. Mexico City, Mexico - Population of Greater Mexico City Area - 21 Million
#7. Kiberia, Nairobi, Kenya - Population of Kiberia - Over 2 Million
A caption cannot describe this low rise human colony, so we picked up some words from this mind numbing story;
"When night falls on Kibera, it is like a door slamming shut.
When the sun is up, things are hectic and loud, rough and fetid, but always safe and even welcoming: Bright colors abound and so do offers of nyama choma(roasted meat, usually goat) and bottles of Tusker, the local lager. Soon after the first stars appear in the sky, the streets of Nairobi, Kenya’s largest urban slum go silent, emptying out but for dogs, cats and rats, thieves and rapists. Life moves indoors, and because most people are too scared to leave their homes to use outhouses and public latrines, “flying toilets” (plastic bags holding human waste) are tossed out of doorways and over fences into the streets."
You can comfortably close that report now. There is nothing to worry about. More real estate means more opportunities. More money. And the demand is practically infinite.
But what does a lot of real estate in one place really look like?
Here are seven examples in ascending order of their ugliness;
#1. Naples, Italy - Population of Naples Metropolitan Area - 4 Million
 |
| The prettiest among the seven examples. We can't find any beauty in it though. Image Source |
#2. Venice, Italy - Population of Venice's Commune - Over 270 thousand
 |
| We have seen those mesmerizing Venice images too, but hey, this is reality. Image Source |
#3. Sao Paulo, Brazil - Population of Expanded Metropolitan Complex of Sao Paulo - 30 Million
 |
| Brazil's Sao Paulo is the 3rd most populated metropolitan area on Earth. Image Source (C) Scott Warren |
#4. Shimla, India - Population of the ever expanding Shimla City - Over 1 Million
 |
| Those hills (what hills?) would look way better without all that real estate. Image Credit - Annie Williams |
#5. Delhi NCR, India - Population of National Capital Region- 25 Million
 |
| From above, a lot of Delhi now looks like this. But we are sure there is space for more real estate. Image Source |
#6. Mexico City, Mexico - Population of Greater Mexico City Area - 21 Million
 |
| To be honest, that looks sick by any standard. More real estate being added to Mexico everyday btw. Image Source |
#7. Kiberia, Nairobi, Kenya - Population of Kiberia - Over 2 Million
 |
| Image Source |
A caption cannot describe this low rise human colony, so we picked up some words from this mind numbing story;
"When night falls on Kibera, it is like a door slamming shut.
When the sun is up, things are hectic and loud, rough and fetid, but always safe and even welcoming: Bright colors abound and so do offers of nyama choma(roasted meat, usually goat) and bottles of Tusker, the local lager. Soon after the first stars appear in the sky, the streets of Nairobi, Kenya’s largest urban slum go silent, emptying out but for dogs, cats and rats, thieves and rapists. Life moves indoors, and because most people are too scared to leave their homes to use outhouses and public latrines, “flying toilets” (plastic bags holding human waste) are tossed out of doorways and over fences into the streets."
But all our readers will agree that there is no real cause for alarm. Our over populated cities' real pictures can be brushed under the carpet easily.
There are always more forests to burn, more water bodies to fill up, more beaches to destroy, more hills to cover. We are planning colonization trips to Mars already. Yeah!
God help that rock in our solar system.
Cheers!
Follow @IREFD on Twitter for more real estate stories.
Post a Comment