What are the biggest needs for cities of the future?
This morning, we're talking about the infrastructure of China's cities and asking whether their urban planners can handle the population shift to urban centers that the McKinsey Global Institute calls "the most significant shift in the earth's economic center of gravity in history."
It's not just a challenge for China. McKinsey came out with a report this year about the needs of growing urban areas like Khartoum, Dhaka, Lusaka, Manila, Tianjin, and Dongguan.
1. They'll need more space. By 2025, McKinsey estimates that cities will have to construct buildings "equivalent of 85 percent of all of today's urban residential and commercial building stock."
2. They'll need more ports. Specifically, 2.5 times more capacity will be needed to bring cars, toothbrushes, clothes, dishwashers, and other consumer goods to emerging markets.
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3. They'll need water. Muncipal water demand, especially in China and India, will rise. Urban residents and businesses will need 40 percent more than today's supply.
Of course, McKinsey posits it as an opportunity for business. So if you want to start a construction company, try Ahmedabad.
(Residents fly kites from rooftops in the Walled City of Dariyapur area of Ahmedabad. SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)
--Stephanie Curtis, social media host