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| Kolkota India |
We had an amazing lecture about urbanization. To just say the lecture was amazing is a bit of an understatement. I found the lecture stimulating, challenging, overwhelming, engaging—still processing ALL the notes I took! (While nursing the ache in my hand from how quickly I was writing!) Though I am not typically one for statistics, I actually have a few to share with you:
Did you know the world’s population officially is now 7 billion?
In 2011 over 52% of the world’s population lived in cities?
As the population of the world increases so too will the percentage of those living (moving, migrating) to cities! This is an average of over 80 million people per year moving to cities as urban populations are increasing?
Rural populations are simultaneously decreasing as cities expand upwards and swell outwards. We are exploring what an urban worldview would look like (values, beliefs, anxieties, values, ways of relaxing, needs, perspectives). Cities are centers of influence as well, so exploring what is happening in cities and the way they are impacting the places around them.
We talked about the upcoming potential crises due to that rapid rate of urbanization if creative methods of solving problems are not implemented for housing, employment, infrastructure, and social justice in those cities… So much to process! We’re moving into learning more urban theology, and I am excited to dig in and see how God is at the center this world movement.