KENTLERİN ÇEVRE SORUNLARI ve HABİTAT KONFERANSLARI (Environmental Problems of Cities and Habitat Conferenees)

The earth is witnessing an urban revolution, as people worldwide crowd into towns and cities. In 1800 only some 50 million people lived in urban areas: by 1985the number of urban dwellers had risen to 2 billion. In 1800only 5 per cent of the world's population were urban dwellers, now the proportion has risen to more than 40 per cent, and by 2010more people will live in towns and cities than in the countryside. Humanity will, for the first time, have 'become a predominantly urban species. Everywhere, it seems, surface waters are being polhıted with a frightening assortment of municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes. Even in industrialized countries, where water quality legislation has taken hoId, pollution is still nagging problem. In many of the world's big cities, air pollution is becoming a constant problem, affecting human health, buildings, natural and cultural monuments and green beits. Urban air contains a frightening mix of pollutants, including sulphur and nitrogen dioxide (from power plants, industries), hydrocarbons (from petrochemical plants and refineries and vehicles), carbon mononde (mostly from vehicles), heavy metals (from vehicles, industries) and organic compounds (generated mostly from the ehemical industry). Coğrafya Bölümü, Yrd.Doç.Dr, 14 HAKAN YİGİTBAŞIOGLU Natural disasters are also very important for cities. Especial1y, earthquakes are very destructive for urban areas like Kobe in Japan and Erzincan in Turkey. The main aim of this paper is to point out to environmental problems of cities and to give knowledge ab out Habitat Conferenees.