The Good News on Squatter Cities

One billion people live in squatter cities.

Two billion more are expected.

This is good news.

Gotta love it when someone makes an audacious claim like that and then backs it up. Stewart Brand makes the argument in his TED Talk.

He believes cities are wealth creators and will help billions get out of poverty. As he puts their condition:

These are not really people oppressed by poverty, these are people getting out of poverty as fast as they can.

The one statistic I was unaware of and makes me extremely hopeful for humanities future was this one:

The birthrate of new urban dwellers drops immediately to replacement levels (2.1 children/woman) and keeps on dropping.

Only 3 minutes, but it is more like a 30 minute lecture in fast forward. They really need to have him back and give him a full 15 minutes. Worth the watch.