Urbanization. Peepoople, Peepoo Kibera. Solution to Kenyan slum's 'flying toilets' Nairobi - The usually straightforward act of going to the toilet is far from simple in Kibera, the sprawling slum on the edge of Kenya's capital. Hundreds of thousands of people, whose homes are little more than makeshift shacks, are crammed into an area that lacks the most basic water and sanitation facilities, and where just one public toilet is available to every 300 people. The result is two-fold: First, people become adept at holding it in, often spending hours in discomfort. And second, they eventually find relief by doing the necessary in a plastic bag, and then tossing it out onto the street or path outside. Hence "flying toilets", one of the many scourges of life in Kibera.
"Sanitation is one of the world's biggest problems. Forty percent of the world's population don't have toilets. The Peepoo is a slim bag with a larger liner tucked inside, both made of biodegradable plastic and designed to fit over a small pot. "It's also a social problem: women hold all day. " Urbanization. 8 Redevelopment of Wakefield. 2. Living Space Resources. British sinkhole spike prompts warning. 18 February 2014Last updated at 11:14 ET David Shukman examines how and why sinkholes form Britain is likely to face the strange and disturbing threat of more sinkholes opening up in the weeks and months ahead.
The warning comes from the British Geological Survey (BGS), which has been studying a recent spate of collapses across the country. In a typical year, geologists would expect to see one or two sinkholes appearing, but this month's tally has reached six so far. Dr Tony Cooper of the British Geological Survey told me that some areas of the country are more susceptible than others, depending on the type of rock involved. Gypsum is vulnerable to being rapidly eroded by water - and this is what underlies Ripon where a house collapsed when a sinkhole appeared this morning. “Start Quote One of life's greatest certainties is that the ground is solid beneath one's feet so the sudden appearance of chasms, however small, is unsettling.” End Quote Concrete solution. Megacities - Sustaining the City. 8 The Growth of Wakefield. Urbanisation & small towns. The global population is increasingly gravitating towards urban areas.
This shift has already taken place in many small countries, not to mention China, which now has more people living in cities and towns than villages. But even in India – where nearly 70% of the populace is rural, and more than half of all citizens are still reliant upon agriculture – the urban population has grown faster than the rural population over the past decade. This geographical shift is taking place much more rapidly in the developing world than elsewhere. Changes that used to take centuries are now occurring in a few decades, which generates huge challenges.
Most of the policy discussion concerning global urbanisation has focused on megacities. For example, in India the latest census (pdf) shows that, over the past decade, there has been a huge increase in the number of urban conurbations, from 5,161 in 2001 to 7,935 in 2011, an increase of 54% that dwarfs the 32% growth in urban population. Home - Newcastle Great Park.