...Distribution of world population and location of mega-cities In 1800 only 3 percent of the worlds total population lived in cities, this figure now stands at 47 percent an increase of 44 percent over 200 years. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million; New York was recognised as becoming the world’s first megacity. By the year 2007 83 millionaire cities had risen to 468. If this trend continues however the worlds urban population will double every 38 years. This is due to the propelled high rates of natural increase and very high rates of rural to urban migration. A few of the largest cities have grown to merge with others to form city regions, or agglomerations, such as Tokyo whose region now includes the population of Yokohama. The term megacity is now used to describe these city regions. A few current megacities according to that of the world gazetteer are that of Cairo in Egypt with a population of 16,794,464, Beijing in China with a population of 13,294,474 and Buenos Aires in Argentina with a population of 14,723,625. A few countries that have the potential to become megacities within the next 5 years are that of Chicago in the USA with a population of 9,506,302, and Xianggang in China with a current population of 9,565,291. This image shows the urban population (millions). As the image clearly show there are around 6 mega-city areas in the western hemisphere. The more obvious one being that of the world cities such as New York....
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...A glimpse of the future can be seen in Monwa, the most majestic city in the world. Monwa is a lotus-like urban establishment located off the coast of Bel Air, Haiti, where our engineers have incorporated nature and technology together to create this thriving city. In 2010, Bel Air, Haiti suffered a terrible earthquake that devastated the entire population. After hundreds of years, engineers explored the wreckage and decided that they could create a prodigious city with it, and thus, the city of Monwa was born! In the year, 2254 and with a growing population of about 50,000 citizens each year, Monwa was ameliorating every single day. However, as the population grew, problems also began to grow and soon, Haiti was in grave danger. Jobs for farming were almost unbearable, and people were becoming quite miserable. Today, the problem with agriculture is growing like wildfire, never burning out, forever ruining the lives of cities throughout the world, and Haiti is one of the victims. There is less farmable land, more water pollution and scarcity, increased fuel costs, pesticide resistance, and in Haiti, recent hurricanes and earthquakes make our agriculture issues even worse than in other cities. Solutions to this problem were very limited. There were so many factors that we couldn’t control, such as a natural disaster and these are so unpredictable, making a solution to Haiti’s agricultural problem almost impossible to find. However, our mayor knew that we had to try. She...
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...Alistair Hall Discuss the causes of urbanisation around the world Urbanisation is the growth of in the proportion of a country’s population that lives in urban as opposed to the rural area. We can see how urbanisation is increasing globally by the switch over of the majority of the global population living in rural areas to urban areas in 2007, and how the percentage of the global population living in urban areas is now 53% as well as their being 28 megacities around the world as of 2015. The primary reason for the increase in urbanisation around the world is the process of rural-urban migration (mainly in developing countries/NICs). This can be seen in the mega city of Delhi, where its total population is over 17million and has since increased by 285,000 due to migration alone. The reasons for these migrants to move from the rural to urban areas can be due to centrifugal or centripetal forces. A Centrifugal force is something that pushes people away from the rural areas and into the urban areas for example rural poverty and environmental degradation, while Centripetal forces is something that attracts people into cities which are usually the perceived benefits and opportunities of education, employment, shelter, electricity, food and water. These forces are demonstrated by migration of people into the city of Delhi. The Centrifugal forces include the pressure on the land in rural areas, such as parts of the state of Uttah Pradesh, and the farms being fragmented making farming...
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...The name Minneapolis is a combination of mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, the Ancient Greek word for city. The name is fitting, considering water is the city's defining physical characteristic, which the history and economic growth of Minneapolis heavily relied on. During the last ice age, glaciers created the many bodies of water in Minneapolis, including the Mississippi riverbed and created the river's only waterfall, Saint Anthony Falls, a great source of power for its early industry, important to the settlers of Minneapolis. Now these bodies of water have shaped the very lifestyle the citizens who live here. The Minneapolis park system has repeatedly been named the best-designed, best-financed, and best-maintained in America within it’s thriving urban setting. Of it’s 180 park bodies, 22 are along lakes, others along creeks and rivers. Runner's World ranks the Twin Cities as America's sixth best city for runners, the American College of Sports Medicine ranked Minneapolis the "fittest city". Another study by Walk Score ranked Minneapolis the ninth most walkable city in the United States. Minneapolis ranked 27th in the nation for the highest percentage of commuters by bicycle, and was editorialized as the top bicycling city in the country. Citing the city's bicycle lanes and buses Forbes identified Minneapolis the world's fifth cleanest city. Minneapolis has also been cited as one of the most environmentally responsible cities in America, and the fourth easiest...
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...If you ask an outsider to describe a desert they would most likely paint a picture of a desolate field of sand dunes filled with life less, dried up, crinkled shrubs. If you ask me to describe a desert I would paint an entirely different picture. My desert is a lively active metropolis full of active people in the middle of one of the largest urban heat islands. With over two-hundred days of clear, bright, warm sunshine and an array of activities to explore, it is easy to immerse yourself in the lively ambiance. The near perfect weather, the great cities, and the array of activities make Arizona, undoubtedly, one of the best places to live. When you come to Arizona you will have options regarding climate. As you cruise the northern parts of the state, like Flagstaff or Sedona you will notice the collection of cooler, high elevation forests and gorgeous mountains often tipped with fluffy white snow. The northern cities can provide relief from the scorching heat of the summer months. During the fall and winter months Phoenix is the way to go. During this period of time Phoenix has the most beautiful, clean, fresh weather, free of snow and extreme bone chilling temperatures. Instead of shoveling feet of snow you can relax out on your porch and soak in the sunrays along with the refreshing silky smooth air. The city folks know very well how to take advantage of the great weather. The great weather allows for an array of activities. Arizona has various activities to choose from....
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...rebel or even initiate revolution. In Metropolis and Nineteen Eighty-Four we see depictions of dystopian societies that provoke rebellion or revolution, though as each text was produced during or shortly after significantly different periods of conflict and upheaval, we ultimately see two different attitudes presented, with very different expectations for the outcome of such actions. Throughout history, the most common social structure to provoke revolution is one with hierarchical social classes. Lang’s depiction of divided social classes in a film encouraging sympathy for the lower class, has parallels with its time, being produced shortly after the German revolution in which the imperial government was replaced by a form of democracy (the Weimar Republic). Lang uses expressionistic imagery, and the strong contrast of light and shade characteristic of German Expressionist Cinema to distinguish the two classes inhabiting the futuristic city. The workers are depicted in uniform black, trudging in synchronised columns into a dark tunnel to their work with the machines. Exiting, they walk at a slower pace suggesting work draws the life out of them, while montages of gears and heavy machinery construct them as part of the machine. This opening sequence is juxtaposed with the light shades and open spaces of the upper city, particularly the Eternal Garden. While workers trudge into dark tunnels, Freder, the protagonist and other sons of Metropolis’ elite run freely in leisure activities...
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...opolLondon – A Metropolis Module 1: Dilys Rose: Street of the Three Terraces (1993) Module 2: David Cameron: We are all in this together, August 15 2011 Tottenham Riots, London | 6th August 2011 | Sky News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnfdrUnFe8c England riots: 'The whites have become black' says David Starkey http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14513517 Definition of chavs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav Getting to the roots of the UK riots: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/08/09/f-uk-riots-faq.html Group work on David Cameron’s speech: We are all in this together * Rhetorical analysis of the speech * Use the model of rhetorical analysis pp. 14-19, to analyse and comment on the speech. 2 A | A | B | C | D | E | F | 1 | Andreas | Vivi | Maria | Mads | Nynne | | 2 | Mads K | Karen | Simone | Frederik | Christine | | 3 | Julia | Gülkiz | Julie | Derrick | Stina | | 4 | Magnus | Maja | Line | Mikkel | Laura | | 5 | | | | | | | I: START IN THE LETTER GROUPS (20 min.): In the letter group you are to discuss what the speech is about and how you may use the pentagon. Write down a disposition as to an analysis and comment on the speech to present in your number groups. II: IN THE NUMBER GROUP (20 min.): ...
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...been continued in time since we first imagined the life of the coming future in light of our curiosity and eagerness. A host of science fiction films depict the unborn world, which always have skyscrapers, great technology, and consist of abundant robots in the forthcoming life. Once we talk about science fiction films we can’t help mentioning Metropolis and Blade Runner. Made over 50 years apart from each other, both films address the problems that people living in the present foresaw in the future and the other of which is concerned with machines’ effect on human beings. Both films are quite visually stunning and attention grabbing and they are good examples of how science fiction movies have changed over time with the evolution of technology. Undoubtedly, these two films exhibit a gorgeous technological world and tell us a myth of future similarly and differently. In Metropolis, the workers depicted in the film have to live in poverty and work under very dangerous situations underground. The background blending of the two environments demonstrates a surrealistic environment and two contrasting atmospheres in the movies. The film Metropolis is set in the year 2026, in the extraordinary Gothic skyscrapers of a corporate city-state. In spite of it being a black and white old movie the director describes a magnificent vision of future world filled with high-rise buildings. It is a simple world, consisting of two classes--the pampered citizens of the surface and the workers who belong...
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...Enter an era in Hollywood’s most imaginative and speculative science, both classic and modern periods known as the science fiction genre that cinematically altered the conventional based narratives of filmmaking and character definition with elements of fantasy and horror. When French filmmaker Georges Méliès made Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip To The Moon) in 1902 it was considered to be the first science fiction film ever created. The next tremendously influential and landmark film came from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis in 1927, an impressive and visually stunning motion picture full of German Expressionism. Born from the pages of novels and pulp magazines, intrepid filmmakers and screenwriters of the 1930s and 1940s would venture into the...
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...Metropolis also shows the destruction of the barrier between man and machine through the machines that power the city. The machines represent the evil in the city, and the lack of communication between the upper and lower classes. The machinery that powers the city almost forms a character in and of itself. It consumes the workers as a predator, but it also forms the heart of the city. Metropolis’ machines are almost living and breathing, but only through its destruction is rebuilding able to start. The machines consume the workers and almost forms a gaping maw swallowing up the workers whole in order to fuel the city. In contrast to Tomorrow’s Eve, Metropolis portrays the machine being evil in and of itself, albeit a necessary one. The boundary...
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...Liberal Studies 386-01 Mid Term Essay February 18th, 2010 The Meaning of Pentagram in Metropolis The Pentagram is a five pointed star that is symmetrical with one point on the top and two points at the bottom. It is a symbol that has been used in many eras, cultures and religions. Groups such as by ancient Israelites, Christians, Magicians, Pagans and Wiccans have used this symbol. An inverted pentagram has two points on top and one point at the bottom. This symbol is used by groups such as Satanist and some rock bands in the Black Metal scene. In the film Metropolis, the director places the pentagram both upright and inverted in a few scenes. The symbol can be seen on Rotwang’s front door, a few doors inside his home and one in his laboratory. Some possible reasons why the director uses the pentagram include symbolizing protection, the carnal desires of man and also as a sign of evil. Metropolis is dystopia. It is a futuristic society under authoritarian control. The leader and thinkers of the city rule from the giant skyscrapers while the laborers work under harsh conditions for long hours beneath the ground. In Metropolis, technology is portrayed to be evil and invasive. Technology has affected every part of the city. Every building seems to be modern except for the home of Rotwang, the inventor. His house is described as a “strange house, overlooked by the centuries.” On his front door is an upward pentagram. One meaning the Pentagram is believed to have is that it’s...
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...Simmel, G, (1964) "The metropolis and mental life" from Wolff, Kurt H, The sociology of Georg Simmel pp.409-424, New York, Macmillan © THE DEEPEST PROBLEMS OF modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life. The fight with nature which primitive man has to wage for his bodily existence attains in this modern form its latest transformation. The eighteenth century called upon man to free himself of all the historical bonds in the state and in religion, in morals and in economics. Man’s nature, originally good and common to all, should develop unhampered. In addition to more liberty, the nineteenth century demanded the functional specialization of man and his work; this specialization makes one individual incomparable to another, and each of them indispensable to the highest possible extent. However, this specialization makes each man the more directly dependent upon the supplementary activities of all others. Nietzsche sees the full development of the individual conditioned by the most ruthless struggle of individuals; socialism believes in the suppression of all competition for the same reason. Be that as it may, in all these positions the same basic motive is at work: the person resists to being leveled down and worn out by a social-technological mechanism. An inquiry into the inner meaning of specifically...
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...WS is going to provide the best of the best state of art surgeries within Houston-Galveston metropolis. It is well positioned to accomplish that mission, however, the hospital is suffering from six major problems that are responsible for the declining in admissions and caseloads. The marketing department is not conducting patients’ satisfaction survey to see if the hospital is meeting the expectation of the patients. And also, there is no physicians’ satisfaction survey. Physicians are the suppliers of the patients for admission. The department doing the credentialing to great the physicians’ admission privileges is not doing a quality job. The hospital is using outdated technology for the operating rooms, and inpatient department. The research and development will have to get to work. There is no communication between the service operations (production) and marketing departments. The human resources do engage in hiring of temporary workers. The finance department account receivable process is not acceptable standard of practice....
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...The Occult Symbolism of Movie “Metropolis” and its Importance in Pop Culture Fritz Lang’s 1927 movie “Metropolis” is one of those timeless classics that withstand the test of time. Rather than becoming forgotten and obsolete, “Metropolis” is increasingly relevant as many of its predictions are becoming reality. We will look at the underlying occult message of the film and the usage of its imagery in the acts of pop stars such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and others. Metropolis is a silent science-fiction movie released in 1927 by Fritz Lang, a master of German Expressionism. Set in a futuristic dystopia divided into two distinct and separate classes—the thinkers and the workers—Metropolis describes the struggles between the two opposite entities. Knowing that it was produced in 1927, viewing this movie today is quite an experience as many “sci-fi” aspects of the plot are eerily close to reality. Metropolis describes a society where the “New World Order” has already taken been implemented and a select elite live in luxury while a dehumanized mass work and live in a highly monitored hell. As we have seen in previous articles on The Vigilant Citizen, Metropolis is excessively echoed in popular culture, especially in the music business. Whether it be in music videos or photo shoots, pop stars are often portrayed as the character Maria, an android programmed to corrupt the morals of the workers and to incite a revolt, giving the elite an excuse to use...
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...Through the texts ‘Metropolis’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, Fritz Lang and George Orwell the composers both reflect as well as challenge the values within the times which they lived. The historical context of Metropolis challenges the values of the time in which Lang lived while the historical context of Nineteen Eight-Four reflects the values of the time Orwell lived. Values such as humanism, personal choice, liberty and family values are challenged through both Metropolis and Nineteen Eighty-Four. These are just some of the values of the time in which Lang and Orwell lived. Metropolis is a silent black-and-white film directed by Fritz Lang which challenged the values of humanity and personal choice through the historical context of the film. This film was made in a time which was ‘between the wars’, it was made in a time where German society was under the Weimar Republic, a system of parliamentary democracy formed after WWII. People residing in Germany would also go to the cinema to not only watch a film but to also escape from the hardships of their daily life. Within the era where Germany was under the Weimar Republic rule until Nazis rose to power, leading to the Treaty of Versailles where Germany agreed to be guilty of beginning the war and also to pay for all compensations. This agreement led to a Great Depression which hit the Republic hard and in the early 1930s allowed Hitler to rise up along with the Nazi party. Within Europe there was a period filled with uncertainty...
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