World Population Becomes More Urban Than Rural

biohack writes "A major demographic shift took place on Wednesday, May 23, 2007: For the first time in human history, the earth's population is more urban than rural. According to scientists from North Carolina State University and the University of Georgia, on that day, a predicted global urban population of 3,303,992,253 exceeded that of 3,303,866,404 rural people. In the US, the tipping point from a majority rural to a majority urban population came early in the late 1910s."

Comments

Re:Condescending and Elitist

[Eli Gottlieb]

You mean those things that let flyover country force a right-wing government on the urban and coastal populations?

Re:Condescending and Elitist

[bit trollent]

Instead, why don't we consider systems that have worked successfully. Those of the Electorial College and US Senate, where rural states are represented and protected from exploitation, from the larger populations of urban states.

I would like to thank you, the undernumbered, overcounted rural voters for the last 6 years of a Republican President and a Republican Congress. We have clearly benefited greatly from it.

I don't know what I have liked more, the mindless tax cut mentality that will run up the national credit card for the sake of cutting taxes, or the bizarre combination of biblethumping and killing that has resulted in the deaths of over 3000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals. I'd really like to thank you for that, rural voters.

Re:Let's hear it for urbanism!

[achurch]

So stop playing in the mud and come to the city! We're open all night!

Which is exactly the problem. I like to, you know, sleep at night--not listen to cars zooming around, people getting stabbed, ambulance sirens blaring, that kind of thing.

Re:Dangerous?

[iminplaya]

How about I go do the donkey cart and beans thing when the "fragile infrastructure" actually crumbles on me?

I wouldn't know in your case. I see plenty of them. I can always hitch a ride out of town. No biggie. But you have just shown what I'm talking about. What is your plan? A bomb shelter with a cache of weaponry? Have fun. Haven't you already noticed how easy it is to completely shut down the entire air traffic control system? Or the post office? Did you notice how easy it is to knock out the power in almost 25% of the whole country? A little ice storm comes through and some places will go weeks without. Look what Katrina did. What more evidence do you need? Personally I find your energy situation quite humorous. I've been watching since 1973 how crazy that can get. Expect more of the same since you still have little alternative. No lessons learned there. 1979, same thing, different year. Again the message went unheeded. For me it was great back then. The streets of Los Angeles were finally made safe by the lack of traffic. So I was able to bicycle all around town without a care in the world. I could ride all the way from Inglewood to Malibu with out ever getting sideswiped. Man! it was nice! I hope you didn't get nailed by the E-coli in your spinach. Or your dog, if you have one, by the pet food poisoning. Your food situation is getting worse. I can see it from here. You should keep a more watchful eye. If you thought the gas lines were long...Well, let's just hope you don't need what's left of your national guard to airlift of few tons of rice. You won't have the luxury of tortillas, much less some good salsa. Now, I'm just talking about the states where at least you have sufficient space to grow food, but where getting it out can be a problem, but not an intractable one. The unfortunate part is now the family farm is almost extinct. So they will be at the mercy of Monsanto. Thing is they already are. Not good by any means. Where a nationwide crop can be wiped out by a single bug. Imagine what it will be like in a place like Malaysia, where everything must be shipped in. What's Japan going to do? I can guarantee it won't be pretty. Some of those things you consider "benefits", I don't. I have peace of mind. That overrules any desire for an iPod in a Humvee by a long shot. I don't need that stuff to get laid. I feel very secure and am living quite well. And the weather sure is nice.

Re:vast cities

[The One and Only]

I'm sure you enjoy living in a town with 5,000 people, one Wal-Mart, and a gas station. How does it feel to only have things like roads and electrical services because people who live in cities decided to subsidize your lifestyle?

hear us laugh?

[andr0meda]

I just love it how almost every world "news" (ahum) item is appended with..

"In the US, this happened a long long time ago.."

You have no idea how hard we are laughing at the other end of the pond, really.