The Anthropocene is a recent and informal geologic chronological term that serves to mark the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems
Within a human lifetime, the face of Earth has been transformed. Cities now dominate the landscape, and even if people disappeared tomorrow, cities would remain one of the Anthropocene’s most visible and enduring legacies.
In 1950, only 29% of people lived in cities. Today more than half do, and that proportion is expected to reach 70% by 2050. In 2008, the global urban population exceeded the number of people dwelling in the country for the first time in history. By 2025, there will be about 600 cities of a million people or more.
Recently, urban growth has shifted from Europe and South America to Asia and Africa. Asia’s urban population is growing faster than that anywhere else. It passed the billion mark in 1990, and is expected to reach 3.4 billion by 2025. In the next couple of decades, more than 275 million people are projected to move into India’s enormous city centres. In Africa, meanwhile, only 40% live in cities, but this is changing fast.
Historically, cities had to be sited near water and fertile land. Today, global distribution networks mean they can spring up all over the world, even where there are few natural resources.
This frenetic urban growth is a big cause of environmental change. It drives loss of agricultural land, changes in temperature and the loss of biodiversity. Cities consume two-thirds of the world’s total energy and account for more than 70% of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. But people living in cities often have low carbon emissions because of efficient public transport systems and the fact that people often live closer to their work.
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