trabalho de ingles

THE LABORATORY
OF URBANISM
1 For the first time in human history, early in the next millenium, there will be more people living in cities than on the rest of the planet. until the late 19th century, the word's urban population did not surpass 10% of the human total. in the 20 th century, that percentage has more than quadrupled, and at the very beginning of the new era, almost one-half of all humanity will live in an urban area. the biggest problems and challenges of the next millennium will certainly be urban. the solutions will need to be urban too.
2 if the story will be that of the city and its discontents, latin america will be its paramount laboratory. latin america and the carabbean have exceeded the global trend in the past half-century. entering the next millenium, nearly 75% of the region's population is urban, a level rapidly approaching those of europe and north america, up from less than 50% in 1950. two of the five largest agglomerations in the word - sao paulo and mexico city, with populations in excess of 16 million and 15 million, respecitively - are in latin america, as well as three other megacities, metropolitan areas with more than 8 million residents each: buenos aures, rio de janeiro and lima. by 2015, latin america will be the most urbanized region in the word, with an estimated 364 milion city dwellers, four metropolitan areas of more than 10 milion people, and 28% of the total population living in cities of a milion or more inhabitants.
3 the consequences of this astounding demographic shift, one that is almost unprecedented in its magnitude and compressed time frame, will dominate the region indefinitely. rural latin america is becoming little more than the womb of urban latim america. it will be increasingly so in the decades ahead.
4the reasons people migrate to cities are clear: economic opportunity born of greater economic productivity in the cities; and a better life than in the country as a result of access to health care