Seminar on Sustainable Cities: Issues and Challenges of Rapid Urbanization

The Faculty Development Office at Kardan University organized a seminar on “Sustainable Cities: Issues and Challenges of Rapid Urbanization in the Context of Kabul” on Saturday, September 26, 2020. Faculty members from Computer Science and Civil Engineering Departments participated in the session.

Mr. Amjad Khan, the Academic Administrator of the Computer Science Department, conducted the seminar and discussed the causes of rapid urbanization and the challenges posed to megacities.

“The world population has increased by one billion from 2000 to 2015. More than 50% of the total world population lives in cities occupying only 2% of the world’s land. Similarly, cities consume ¾ of the total world resources and also act as the social-economic hub of a country,” stated Mr. Khan

Due to massive rural-urban migration and shifting from smaller cities to bigger ones, about 37% of the world population lives in slums (UN Habitat 2011). Participants in the seminar agreed that migration from rural areas to urban centers is due to better health care, quality education, career opportunities, higher wages, entertainment facilities, and better security measures.

For a city to continue prospering, the following five essential services need to be provided daily. Without the provision of these services, a city would not thrive:

• Clean Water: Clean water is an essential commodity and a survival need for everyone. The day starts and ends with water, and it is required for washing, cleaning, cooking, and drinking.
• Electricity:  Electricity acts like oxygen for modern everyday life and is needed 24 hours a day.
• Public Transport: Transportation plays an essential role in a city, requiring efficient access to facilities in any part of the city. Therefore, an efficient city-wide public transport system must operate 24 hours a day.
• Solid Waste Management: Solid waste generated daily need to be disposed of systematically every day. It was observed during different sessions of the workshop that the main cause of the urban flood is improper waste management. Therefore, it is the government’s responsibility to make proper arrangements to deal with it in cooperation with individuals.
• Waste Water: Millions of people live in metropolitan cities like Kabul and Karachi. They use a lot of water on a daily basis and produce wastewater that needs to be drained out immediately 24 hours a day.

As the leading academic institution in Afghanistan, Kardan University deems it of paramount importance to conducts seminars and workshops on different topics to educate and mobilize its faculty members, students, and partners to contribute towards building sustainable cities.  Read more about sustainability at https://kardan.edu.af/sustainability/