Ethics and Environment Case Study Thesis
Megacities are increasingly more abundant. These cities’ population growths skyrocket well into
the tens of millions. Mark Lewis writes, in a Forbes.com article, in 1900 London was the world’s largest
city with a population of approximately 6.5 million. Today London would not even qualify as a megacity.
Megacities have populations of at least 10 million people (Lewis, 2011). There are several unwanted and
unsafe conditions that result from the concentrated populous of these megacities. One such megacity is
Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jakarta is a megacity with a population of about 13 million (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl,2010).
As with many megacities, Jakarta is characterized by abject poverty and abhorrent living conditions. Air
and water pollution are of particular concern in Jakarta. City inhabitants and planners are both
stakeholders and major players contributing to the poor situation in Jakarta. “At least 95% of human
wastes produced in the city are not cleaned up at sewage treatment plants. Instead, human sewage and
garbage are dumped directly into nearby rivers” (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl,2010). Jakarta, because of a
lack of a public transportation system, is plagued by air pollution. Buses, Cars, and motorbikes sit on
congested streets spewing exhaust into the air.
A systematic and scientific approach should be utilized to examine the causes and prescribe the
corrective measures needed to make Jakarta a sustainable city. This same model, if successful in Jakarta,
may be utilized in other megacities around the world.
References
Lewis, M. (2011). Forbes.com. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/11/megacities-
population-urbanization-biz-cx_21cities_ml_0611megacities.html
Raven, P.H., Berg, L.R., & Hassenzahl, D.M. (2010). Environment (7th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.