Urban problems related to energy
Answers
Urban center use enormous quantities of energy. In the past, urban housing required relatively smaller amounts of energy than we use at present. Traditional housing in India required very little temperature adjustments as the material used, such as wood and bricks, handled temperature changes better than the current concrete, glass and steel of ultra-modern building.
Cities are the main centres of economic growth, trade, education, innovations and employment. Until recently a big majority of human population lived in rural areas and their economic activities cantered on agriculture, cattle, rearing, fishing, hunting or some cottage industry.
It was some two hundred years ago with the dawn of industrial era the cities showed rapid development. Now about 50% of the world population lives in urban areas and- there is increasing movement of rural folk to cities in search of employment.
The urban growth is so fast that it is becoming difficult to accommodate all the industrial, commercial and residential facilities within a limited municipal boundary. As a result there is spreading of the cities into the sub-urban or rural areas too, this phenomenon is known as “urban sprawl”.