IF THERE is anything that now poses strategic threat to us and our planet, it is urban development and rapid conversion of rural areas to become adjuncts to urban centers.
Urban development, which was supposed to improve our quality of life, access to resources, mobility, connectivity, and ease in our way of life in general, has brought the opposite.
So much of our land, water, trees, and other resources have been siphoned off or destroyed - to build buildings, malls, leisure hubs, big roads, gated plush subdivisions, exclusive parks, lanes, and esplanades.
Those who can't afford it are simply sidelined.
Endless flooding of our urban areas with mostly private automobiles has been choking mobility of people, resulting in less productivity and more production losses.
Worse, massive automobiles restrict the physical exercise of people and, coupled with toxic fast foods, are causing more deadly health problems.
Rates of basic amenities like food, water, power, shelter, education, transportation, communication, and services have been soaring, making urban life a hell for the poor.
The worst scenarios are still unfolding, and the prevailing paradigm of urban development planning, i.e., automobile-oriented economies driven by market signals and organized greed, is hastening their doom.
It's not too late to rethink urban development away from environmentally destructive economic paradigms guided by market signals and insatiable human greed - towards restoring our basic ecosystems, priority in food security, and human not automobiles oriented urban life.
Urban development planning should not treat environment as part of human economy, but human economy as integral component of our ecosystems.
I challenge urban leaders, urban development planners, and CSOs to set an urban development paradigm, policies, and programs that will control the madness of humans for insatiable desire for self satisfaction and glorification and restore integrity of creation.*