Cities

WHAT'S NEXT?: Smart cities are the talk of the town right now and so they should be to cope when over 60% of us will live in cities by 2030. E-bikes, Driverless- connected vehicles, buildings that talk to each other will help but many cities are susceptible to climate change and pandemics. Explore the issues faced by cities and the new ideas that will change the way urban dwellers live in the 21st century.

[New] The new Russian Power of Siberia pipeline is due to begin delivering 5 bcm of gas to Northern Chinese cities at the start of 2020 and will supply 38 bcm of natural gas a year from 2025, which potentially could encroach on LNG imports.
[New] China is the world's biggest importer of natural gas and thanks to growing urbanization, industrialization and environmental commitments, demand is expected to rise from 310 BCM to 510 BCM by 2030.
[New] Amazon recently announced plans to purchase 100,000 electric vans as part of its commitment to go carbon neutral by 2040, while cities such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Portland, Oregon, have pledged to 100 percent renewable-powered, community-wide transportation by 2035 and 2050, respectively.
[New] Driven by a continued urbanization that is giving people more money and more access to gas, China's gas demand could almost double to 550 billion cubic meters by 2030.
[New] Expect to hear more about social credit in the coming year as the deadline approaches and different local governments scramble to show that they are meeting their targets.
There is no doubt that the growth in metro in particular in making us a 30 minute city is going to be something that will enable us to reach our target of 70 per cent of people living in Sydney, being in a 30 minute city, by 2036.
More direct flights planned for 2020 between major cities in India and Vietnam's gateways should ensure the positive trend continues.
With the United Nations estimating two-thirds of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050, many cities are already looking at ways to increase greenery.
Major cities around the world - cities like Miami, New York City, London, Shanghai, and Hong Kong will likely be under water in the next 50 years.
West Africa has the highest per capita rice consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa, and per capita consumption is expected to continue to increase over the next decade, partly due to stronger income growth.
By 2050, the impacts of rising sea levels will be much more severe than previously thought, threatening to all but erase some of the world's great coastal cities in low-lying areas from Egypt's Nile Delta to southern and eastern China to Southeast Asia.
Edmonton and Calgary will post the weakest economic performance among 13 major Canadian cities this year.
The China electric bus market is anticipated to grow expressively, into coming years, due to the growing urbanization and growth of several newly made innovative public transport systems in its developed cities.
Adding another estimated 2 billion people over the next three decades to our existing 7.7 billion global population will put unimaginable stress on the planet's resources, especially drinking water, which is already drying up in cities throughout the world.
The increasing migration of flexible offices to the outskirts of major UK cities is creating a 'flex economy' that could contribute more than £12 billion to local economies in the next decade.
Growing rate of urbanization and hike in urban consumers spending on high-standard clothing will lead to profitability for textile sector in the coming years.
Australia's capital cities are expected to see property price falls end this year before experiencing modest price growth in 2020.
Major cities around the world - cities like Miami, New York City, London, Shanghai and Hong Kong will likely be underwater in the next 50 years.
With further urbanization, it is expected that energy consumption will increase due to the growing population and economy, as well as due to the energy demand for new buildings.
Cities, as well as counties, states, provinces, and Around 68% of the global population might live in urban areas by 2050.
The UK 'Core Cities' have estimated the first wave of deals will create 175,000 jobs over the next 20 years and 37,000 new apprenticeships.
With the world's population set to hit 11 billion by the end of the century, much of it in cities, collaboration will be necessary to make sure that smart cities can benefit all residents.
The markets forecast to open the greatest number of new hotels in 2020 are New York City with 61 new hotels / 8,283 rooms, Dallas with 35 new hotels / 3,852 rooms and Los Angeles with 24 new hotels / 3,370 rooms.

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Last updated: 07 December 2019