demographics

Quoted: For a growing number of the world's emigrants, China -- not the United States -- is the land where opportunities are endless, individual enterprise is rewarded and tolerance is universal.

These adoption numbers seem ridiculously high. Will look into them more closely later.

Quoted: Avenue A | Razorfish surveyed 475 consumers across "all demographics" in July. The findings show the usual divide between what the loud techno-elite minority cares about, as compared to the quiet mass-consumer majority:

Excellent article on urbanization in the developing world.

Quoted: ...urbanisation has stabilised in Europe and the Americas with about 75 percent of the population living in urban areas. By comparison, only 35 percent of Africa and Asia's current population is urban. But the developing world is projected to absorb 95 percent of the world's urban growth over the next 20 years...

Reminder to pick up some of Skeldon's books.

Quoted: His research is based around issues of population and development, primarily in East and Southeast Asia. Recent work has focused on the migrations of the Chinese peoples, particularly from Hong Kong, and on irregular movements of migrants in and through Southeast Asia. Other research has concentrated on population mobility and HIV/AIDS in Southeast Asia...

Even when working for the wealthy and powerful it's a challenge for architects and planners to make ends meet. I wonder if there's a way to leverage the creativity of slum residents who have been building their own dwellings for years. But the real question is, who will pay to make sure slum housing is safe, healthy, and sustainable?

Quoted: The world is racing to the city, and the one group of professionals capable of housing and sheltering the massive human influx to the urban centers - the architects and the planners - freely acknowledge that they are ill-equipped to cope.

Quoted: The UN and other international organisations collect large amounts of statistics each year from all over the world...With Globalis, we have made these statistics available in a simpler and more visual format. The tool contains a large database where we have explained and categorised new UN statistics...

Google Book Search is wonderful! :)

Quoted: The most authoritative and up-to-date review of the development of the world's cities and other human settlements. The first global assessment of urban slums, the challenges they present and the ways to improve the lives of slum dwellers. Statistical annexes provide essential information on demographic, spatial & economic, housing, and environmental / infrastructural indicators.

Quoted: Three percent of humanity was urban in 1800, 14 percent in 1900. Sometime in 2006 or 2007 the proportion of urban dwellers will pass 50 percent worldwide, which may represent an economic tipping point. United Nations projections put the world’s city dwellers at 61 percent in 2030...

The video of Stewart Brand's presentation on urbanization and innovation at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club is now online.

Quoted: Over the past four decades, Stewart Brand has spent time anticipating cultural revolutions and launching a medley of new ideas, movements, organizations, and communities. In the process, he has turned conventional thinking upside down. Today, Brand spends considerable time talking about the "city planet," a term used to describe the expeditious growth of cities.