Siemens, GlobeScan and MRC publish Megacity Report

Siemens, GlobeScan and MRC publish Megacity Report

Environmental issues play a central role in urban planning. However, in emerging megacities, infrastructure growth often takes precedence over the environment. This is just one of the key findings of a survey of 522 decision makers from 25 global metropolises. The research project, which is unique worldwide, was conducted by the two research institutes GlobeScan and MRC McLean Hazel and supported by Siemens. Experts presented the results of the research in a press conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos for the first time. Solving transportation issues has the highest priority in the cities surveyed, and air pollution is seen as the main environmental issue. Survey respondents believe that the private sector should play a major role in city infrastructures like energy, water, transportation and health care: more than 70 percent of them believe that public private partnerships are a promising approach.

Respondents see the enormous strain on the environment caused by the huge increase in the number of automobiles worldwide as a major urban issue. Air pollution and traffic are the most frequently named environmental challenges for megacities. In Shanghai alone, the number of cars and trucks is expected to quadruple by 2020. When push comes to shove, however, infrastructure growth takes precedence over the environment: 55 percent of the respondents from emerging countries said they would sacrifice environmental protection for growth, as opposed to only 14 percent of the respondents from industrialized countries. “If cities manage to harmonize economic attractiveness, clean environment and quality of life for their citizens, then they will drive growth in their region and be positioned for global competition,” said Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld, President and CEO of Siemens AG, in Davos.

Still, the environment weighs heavily in solving the traffic problem. According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills approximately 130,000 urbanites a year in industrializing countries. That’s why 71 percent of the traffic experts believe that cities will focus on building out mass transportation systems in the coming years. Only 29 percent believe that automobile traffic will be given priority. A well functioning transportation system also determines a city’s economic attractiveness. 27 percent of the respondents named transportation as the main driver of their city’s competitiveness, by far more than the second driver, safety and security, which was named by only nine percent of the respondents. “Solving the transportation problem will be the foremost challenge for decision makers and the primary focus of municipal investment over the next five to ten years,” said Doug Miller, President of GlobeScan.

Read the complete Press Release