Washington, Sept 16 (ANI): A study has revealed that in the next 20 years, more than 590,000 square miles of land - more than twice the size of Texas or about the size of Mongolia - will globally be grabbed by cities.
A Texas A and M University geographer, who is part of a national team studying the problem, said it is a trend that shows no signs of stopping and one that could pose threats on several levels.
Burak Guneralp, a research assistant professor in the Department of Geography, said urban areas are growing faster than urban populations and by 2030, urbanized land worldwide will grow by 590,000 square miles.
He is part of a team that includes three other researchers from Yale, Stanford and Arizona State.
"This massive urbanization of land is happening worldwide, but India, China and Africa have experienced the highest rates of urban land expansion," Guneralp explained.
"Our study covered the 30 years from 1970 to 2000, and we found that urban growth is occurring at the highest rates in developing countries. However, it is the North America that experienced the largest increase in total urban land," he stated.
The United Nations predicts that by 2030 there will be an additional 1.47 billion people living in urban areas.
However, economic growth is also important, particularly in China. He notes that coastal areas are especially vulnerable to urban expansion.
He added that often urbanization occurs near lands that are environmentally sensitive and in some cases, protected by law.
"This will challenge conservation strategies because future urban expansion is expected to be significant in total area extent and also as likely to occur near protected areas as in other regions," he said.
The study has been published in the journal PloS ONE. (ANI)
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