Topic: Impact of Urbanization
Country: Kazakhstan
Delegate Name: Nick Rhoa
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Kazakhstan position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Urbanization is becoming an increasingly larger issue in the world. This should come at no surprise because even though the population growth rate is down, the world is still struggling with overpopulation in some areas. With overpopulation, cities are bound to be created to accommodate more and more people. Urbanization has started to cause significant problems, such as pollution, increased crime rates, and the spread of disease.
Urbanization is not a large problem for Kazakhstan due to its incredibly low population per square mile of 15 people. Kazakhstan has only two major cities even though it is the 9th largest country in the world. The two cities, Almaty and Astana, respectively have approximately 1.5 million and 750,000 people in them. This makes up a significant portion of Kazakhstan’s urban population. The urban population in Kazakhstan is just over half, at 53.2%. Water sources and sanitation in urban settings is well managed in Kazakhstan, which leaves them with essentially no problems that arise from urbanization.
To combat the possibility of future urban sprawl in Kazakhstan, certain measures can be taken. One such measure would be to the implementation and creation of low-cost high-rise buildings that would reduce the use of land and resources. Furthermore, supplying cities and specifically the low-cost high-rise housing with alternative energy would create a sustainable and efficient solution to the growing problem of urbanization. In order to make such a solution effective, ways of achieving and affording this must be given to heavily populated countries that have little to no funding for such a major infrastructure project. Even though Kazakhstan is not heavily effected by urbanization, it is still a major issue around the world that must be solved.
