The cities that came.

The differences between the growth of cities in the last century and the growth of cities in developing countries today are discussed. In the 19th century cities grew in response to industrial opportunities. The proportion of the population living in cities over 20000 was smaller than that working in manufacturing. In Switzerland for example in 1888 45% of the labor force were in manufacturing and only 13% lived in towns. Today the percentage of the population in towns is much higher than the precentage working in industry. The cities lack the manufacturing jobs that gave cities a solid base of economics. The reason is the sudden fall in the death rate. There will more and more families in the 1970s who will need urban work and services. "So long as the cities are regarded as a byproduct of the total action of economic and social forces of a society and so long as these forces are essentially out of balance - too many people too few jobs too little capital too much unskilled labour stagnant farming high cost industry small markets big technologies - the cities are bound to beco me the areas where all the contradictions meet clash and finally explode.