Visualizing The Material Impact Of Global Urbanization
Cities only cover 2% of the world’s land surface, but activities within their boundaries consume over 75% of the planet’s material resources. With the expansion of urban areas, the world’s material consumption is expected to grow from 41.1 billion tonnes in 2010 to about 89 billion tonnes by 2050. In today’s graphic, we use data from the UN International Resource Panel to visualize the material impact of global urbanization....