Based on UN statistics, according to which by 2010 urbanites will make up 51.1% of the Earth's population, researchers pinpointed 23 May 2007 as the transition date when the number of urban residents would reach 3,303,992,253 compared to 3,303,866,404 rural residents. At the same time, according to scientists, these data cannot and should not indicate that the urban population is more important than the rural one: both groups are closely interdependent.
Dr. Ron Wimberly from North Carolina State University believes that cities cannot exist separately from rural areas, which are a source of clean air, water, food, timber, and minerals. 'Cities must depend on the countryside,' he added. Despite this, the standard of living of rural residents, according to researchers, is lower than that of urbanites. Maps showing living standards in various regions of the United States indicate that poverty and poor education are concentrated mainly in rural areas in the south, where the country's main forest, water, and food resources are located.
Outside the United States, the picture looks even more bleak. According to data from the International Fund for Agricultural Development, 1.2 billion people worldwide live on less than one dollar a day. Moreover, three-quarters of them are rural residents. In addition to the disparity in the distribution of wealth, rural areas serve as dumps for urban waste. Overall, as Ron Wimberly noted, the main question of the future is not what rural residents can do for urbanites, but rather how urbanites can help poor rural residents, on whom their own existence largely depends.
Based on materials from Lenta.ru