Migration, urbanization and infrastructure

Both international and internal migration add to the demands on a city’s infrastructure. It is expensive to implement and properly maintain solid infrastructures, but it is also extremely time-consuming – not only in terms of construction but also in terms of getting approvals to carry out the work. These approvals may concern environmental impact, regulations regarding land use, controversies over actual ownership or rights, and assessments against existing plans for economic and social development. Infrastructure development requires planning years in advance and it normally takes into account population projections well into the future. Of course, population projections do not always come true. Cities may grow at different rates than expected; residents may come to prefer living in neighbourhoods different from what were expected; economic development expectations may prove to be inaccurate; and then there are the extreme conditions brought about by natural or human-made disasters, both of which could reduce the size of one city, while increasing the size of other cities to which people migrate seeking safety.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Reduced Inequalities

Sustainable Cities and Communities