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"In a rapidly changing world marked by strong demographic growth and rampant urbanization, Veolia Environnement has set its sights on serving people's day-to-day needs and playing an active role in the sustainable development of our planet, with its fragile equilibrium."
Henri Proglio, Chairman and CEO of Veolia Environnement.
By 2008, half of the world's people will be living in cities.
Every week, the urban population increases by 1 million.
In the next 30 years, almost all population growth will take place in metropolitan areas.
These figures raise some disturbing prospects for the environment and for people's living conditions.
They also highlight the serious risks from increasing urbanization: environmental upheavals, the deterioration and increasing scarcity of natural resources, greater urban density, longer travel times and unequal access to community services.
+1million
d'habitants chaque
semaine dans les villes
3 milliards
de citadins en 2003
6 milliards
en 2050
But there are alternatives to poorly managed urban development, with the attendant harm it can do to people and their environment.
In fact, certain cities are already committing resources and making a determined effort to find solutions for managing their growth.
By experimenting with new management methods, adapting to economic changes and encouraging citizen participation, they are coming up with innovative models that take into account the increasing technological complexity of infrastructure, budget constraints and legitimate demands for a good quality of life for their residents.
