What attracts people to move to a megacity? Find out by watching this clip, which focuses on Jakarta's rapid population growth and issues such as overcrowding and access to health and education services.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 Most megacities are in developed countries.
2 Yulia's third child was born in Jakarta.
3 Yulia isn't happy with her living conditions in Jakarta.
4 Barack Obama lived in Jakarta.
5 Flooding is a problem in Jakarta.
6 Yulia is happy she finished school as a child.
7 Charities are training people so that they have control over their lives.
8 The charity World Vision is planning to leave Jakarta.
More than half the world now lives in cities, and every year more and more people are migrating from rural to urban communities. Cities of more than eight million people are known as 'megacities', and most are in poor or developing countries. By 2015, there will be 33 megacities, 27 of them in developing countries. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is one of these megacities.
My name is Yulia and I live in Jakarta with my husband and three children. We moved from the country in 2007 when I had my third child. We used to work on my parents' farm. The family farm gave us food to eat, but we could not earn any regular income. Any money that we earned depended on the markets and the seasons. We decided to move to the city to earn some money, to work in jobs where we could earn a regular income. We came from the country and chose to move to Jakarta because we could live with my husband's family. Now we share my husband's parents' house with 11 other family members - nine children and seven adults altogether. It's very crowded.
In 1976, the population of Jakarta was six million. By 1989 the city had grown to nine million. Today, the greater area of urban Jakarta has a population of 27.9 million. Like most megacities, there is a great inequality of wealth in Jakarta. Barack Obama attended this school in Jakarta, while others attend schools with much poorer facilities. Government organisations like AusAID, and non-government organisations such as World Vision are working in Jakarta to address some of the issues facing people, especially the poor in this large Asian megacity.
My name is Jacqui de Lacy and I'm head of AusAID here in Indonesia, and my job is to make sure that Australia's aid program in Indonesia is working really well and achieving results. So, urbanisation places particular stresses on poor people. In cities like Jakarta, which are very big and have grown very rapidly, there's a range of problems. First of all - infrastructure. They're very crowded, people have really poor access to housing and clean water, they're often living in parts of the city that are subject to flooding. Secondly, we need to make sure that people have access to services. When the population is growing very rapidly, having enough schools and health clinics is important.
Now my husband works in a paint factory, and I work doing laundry. The income from my husband's work is not enough to buy food each week, and that is why I have to work too. I like living in Jakarta because it is close to family, and I can work here to help bring in some income. I don't like the overcrowding of living with 16 people in the one house. That brings conflict with other members of the family. It also means I don't have much independence. I really want my children to stay in school and not drop out, like I did. My parents couldn't keep me in school, and I had to get a job to help the family. I hope my children can finish their education and have a better life than me. I'm thankful that my children are all healthy, but I worry about what we're going to eat or where for the next month. I do worry for my family.
My name is Yacobus. I grew up in the Cilincing area of Jakarta, in the same area as Yulia and her family. World Vision has been working in the Cilincing area of Jakarta for 11 years. Over those years, we've changed the way we do our development work. It is not enough to give people aid, food, school uniforms or books. We now seek to empower communities and train the people to bring about change in their own community.
I have been working as a volunteer with World Vision for 11 years. I first started with a program for mothers, who cleaned up the local environment, part of a clean-and-green campaign to improve the environment. This was an important program that continues to affect the way people take better care of our area. I also work as an educator for pregnant mothers. I meet with about 100 mothers per month at the local community health centre. This involves weighing the children and helping to support the mothers with breastfeeding. We also work to increase their understanding of good nutrition for their children. These are poor mothers who would not learn about these things anywhere else. It really helps to improve the health of both the mothers and their children. My work with World Vision includes supporting Yulia and her family. I am also engaged with an economic development program. Along with other women, I learn how to prepare a snack food made from wheat, eggs, peanuts and coconut oil. I can produce 180 packs in a week, and this has been an important source of income for my family. At first, people expected direct materials from World Vision. But they now appreciate that the training and empowerment is more important and powerful to bring about long-term change.
After 11 years of working in the area, World Vision is now planning to phase out our work here. I'm confident that the work we have started here will be sustainable. Many of the people are now empowered, and will continue to bring about change in their community.
Key:
1F 2F 3T 4T 5T 6F 7T 8T
