Sustainable Population Growth in Urban Cities

The rapidly increasing process of urbanization brings a large number of population to the urban areas. Over the past 40years, Australia’s population has growth at an average annual rate of 1.4 per cent per annum, taking Australia’s total population to approximately 22.4 million in 2010 (Sustainable Australia-Sustainable Communities).

Figure 1 Components of Population Change

The figure 1 shows the different components of population change from 1989 to 2010. In this figure, the population of migration increases quickly. It is the main factor leads to the sharply population increasing in Australia.

Figure 2 Population of Australia’s Major Cities

For the major cities in Australia, the population in Sydney and Melbourne is about 50% of total population in Australia. And the largest number of population is Sydney, which is 4.5 million. And it is a considerable issue that how to be a sustainable city with this number of population like Sydney. The picture below shows the main changes of population in NSW in 2011 and 2031.

The population in 2031 will be 9.2 million. With this large number of population, it may cause many problems in environment and other aspects. For example, how to manage residents and the footprint generation becomes an important issue. In addition, transportation, food supply and energy system will be in press. Because of these problems, the sustainable design for Sydney is an important topic which the government cannot ignore.

There are several methods which may solve these problems. Firstly, the public transportation needs to be faster and more convenient. Secondly, several shopping centers should be set in different regions which can avoid the crowds. Moreover, it is easier for food supply. Thirdly, different components should be combined such as CBD, market and gardens. Thus, people can live in a comfortable environment. Finally, it is necessary for government to build a system to monitor the problems will happen with the growth population.

In conclusion, the process of urbanization is unstoppable. Only thing we can do is to manage and design the city to be more sustainable. With the help of residents and government, to build a sustainable city is not a dream. 

Reference:
1.White Paper for the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, The Sigma Xi Center, Research Triangle Park, NC, November 6.
2. Moore, W.E. 1972. Introduction. in Technology and Social Change, ed. W.E. Moore. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, pp. 3-25.