Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Ryan Geertsma.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Maria Pinak is a twenty year old woman. She recently moved to the large city of Lviv, Ukraine. Maria moved to Lviv because there were not many jobs in her small village.
Voice 2
After finishing school, Maria worked in her village for one year. She was a waitress - she served people food in a local bar. But Maria did not make very much money working as a waitress. And it was not very interesting.
Voice 1
Maria had taken classes to be an accountant. An accountant examines and reports financial records for a business. Maria was good with computers and knew she could make more money as an accountant. However, there were no accountant positions in Maria’s village.
Voice 2
Maria’s aunt lived in Lviv. She told Maria about an accountant job there. Maria was a little afraid of the big city. But she decided to move. Maria says,
Voice 3
“My aunt and a cousin live in Lviv, so I have been living with my cousin since I moved. Without them, I probably would not have gathered the courage to move. The family support is important.”
Voice 1
Today Maria enjoys her job and is happy. She enjoys having new friends and going for coffee. However, she also misses the village. Maria says,
Voice 3
“I could settle in Lviv long-term. But one needs to be able to visit the village as well - the fresh air, and fruits and vegetables from the farm. I miss my family... I imagine I will always go back there to see them.”
Voice 2
Maria’s story of moving to a big city is very positive. She found a good job. She was able to live with family in a good home. She enjoyed new things about the city and was also able to visit her village. Most people think Maria’s story represents the majority of people who move to a big city. However, this is not true. Most people moving to cities today face great difficulty.
Voice 1
Today more people are moving to cities than ever before. Many people are leaving rural or country areas. This is especially happening in the developing world. In fact, the United Nations reports an amazing change in the world’s population. By the end of 2008 more people will live in cities than in rural areas.
Voice 2
The process of cities growing and expanding is called urbanization. Urbanization can create many good things. However, if urbanization happens too fast, it can create many problems. A city must be ready to take in all the new people. It must have jobs, new houses, good train and bus systems and many more things. All these things take time and planning.
Voice 1
In the recent past, most people moved to cities when technology replaced rural jobs. They also moved because the city provided many new jobs in industry and technology. Maria’s story is a good example of this kind of urbanization.
Voice 2
However, a growing number of people today move to cities because of natural disasters and conflicts. They flee to the cities. But the cities are not ready for them. People also continue to move to cities that do not have growing economies. This causes what is called pre-mature urbanization. Pre-mature urbanization is when people move into a city that does not have the money or resources to support them. The results of pre-mature urbanization are very bad.
Voice 1
Pre-mature urbanization is a major issue for the world today. Because of it, poverty in cities is growing quickly. A major result is growing slums. In these areas, many people live close together in poverty and bad conditions. Homes in slums usually lack security. They are not well built. They are often too small. And most do not have clean water or toilets.
Voice 2
Moizuddin Miah is forty seven years old. He is the father of four children. He moved two hundred fifty [250] kilometres from his village to the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Moizuddin moved to Dhaka to find work. He had sold his farm in order to pay the dowry for his daughter’s marriage costs. And then he needed a new job. His friends told him that there were many kinds of work in Dhaka.
Voice 1
Moizuddin’s friend helped him get a job in Dhaka as a rickshaw puller. A rickshaw is a vehicle with two wheels, made out of wood or metal. People pay money to ride in rickshaws. And workers like Moizuddin pull these rickshaws all around the cities. Moizuddin makes more money pulling a rickshaw than he did farming. However, it costs much more to live in the city than in his village. So, Moizuddin’s family stays in their village and he sends money back to them. Moizuddin told the news group BBC about his living situation in Dhaka.
Voice 4
“I live in a slum at Sabujbagh in a very small room, one and a half by two meters. It has no kitchen or place to make food. Thirty three [33] other men live in the same compound and they all share two toilets. It is not a good place to live but it does not cost too much.”
Voice 2
Moizuddin does not like living in Dhaka. He wants to move back to his village and farm again. However, it will take a lot of time to save enough money to buy more land. Like Moizuddin, many people want to leave the slums. But, for most of them, this is too difficult.
Voice 1
Like Moizuddin, over one thousand million [1,000,000,000] people live in city slums. That is one third of the people who live in the world’s cities. And poverty in the world’s cities is a growing problem - especially in the developing world. The United Nations reported that in Sub-Sahara Africa, over seventy [70] percent of all people in cities live in slums. The UN also estimates that two thousand million [2,000,000,000] people will live in slums by two thousand thirty [2030].
Voice 2
Growing city slums is a horrible problem. However, there are things that governments, companies and individuals can do to help this problem. There are ways people can stop the increase of slums. There are even ways people can make slums better places to live. The important thing is that people must start helping now.
Voice 1
To learn more about answers to the problems of pre-mature urbanization and growing slums, listen for the next program in our series on Growing Cities. We will explore the issue and also learn from the stories of other people like Maria and Moizuddin. We would also love to hear from you if you have a story about moving to a big city. You can e-mail us at radio @ english . net.
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