"May I help you with another drink sir" - a polite young waiter in a Delhi hotel asked me in January 2011. That started a little conversation around the economy of India, his farmer parents, his analysis for the future. He said "Not so long ago, 85% of our populations lived in the villages. now it is only 60%. We are not yet a developed country, sir, but we are getting there".
What an intelligent, well informed mind of a young waiter. I thought: If this is the intelligence of a restaurant waiter in India, there is little wonder why the country is bound for great things in the future.
I have no doubts of the quality of the young people in India, but what he said again confirms the general view of the population: that to be perceived as "developed", as "progressive" - you need to have people flocking to the city, living and working in tall apartments and skycrapers. Of course, at the center of all these, is accumulation of wealth measured by Rupees and other currencies.
I was rushing to the airport and did not think it is wise to start a little conversation about my opinion. I wanted to tell him, that urbanization is not a sign of a more mature, wiser society. I also wanted to tell him that the diminishing number of farmers and villagers is a serious problem, not a sign of progress. Afterall, they are usually the first step of a long food value chain until the food arrives to the supermarket. Haven't we heard recently that food prices has gone skyrocketing in most part of the world?
Of course, there are the alternatives. The genetically engineered crops that grow at 3 times the rate of a normal one. The hormone injected fish that grow at double the speed. The soya fed cows that generate double the meat in shorter time. But before we accept those as an alternative, we should check if that really what most people would really want to eat, if they only knew the truth? And even if the consumers do not mind, these have obviously not solved any of our food problems. Instead of solving the 1 billion starving people on earth, we are now facing rising food prices for the rest of the 5 billion earth population!
I wanted to also tell him that the city is no more than a cramped place full of grumpy people trying to make sense of their day. Most of the people will wake up saying "I wish I can do something else". Most will get stuck in a traffic or crowded public transport, and looking forward for their next holiday to the pristine villages. Yet most city people will say that they need to earn the money so that they can pay the rent or buy that bigger house when my family grow. Very few people will consider that they will be able to buy that bigger house or pay a much cheaper rent if they were to live far from the city.
I am not saying that everyone should abandon the city. Just like everything else in the world, the city has its own role in the civilization. However it is not a solution for everyone, and it is certainly does not have any correlation with better quality of life. These thoughts may sound insane even only a couple years ago - but I am confident that the fragile economic, environmental and social conditions of our world will force us to change. Let me suggest a solution for many of us: let's reverse the trend of urbanization.
