Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

by Annalee Newitz

The combination of climate change and political instability we face in many modern cities suggests that we’re heading for a period of global urban abandonment. As cities become more unlivable, people will die. The number of people who perish in floods, fires, and pandemics will swell beyond anything we’ve seen before, and scenes of broken cities littered with bodies will become commonplace. It’s only a matter of time before another hurricane-ravaged city falls prey to a plague that can’t be stopped because governments refused to spend money on rescue efforts.3 Civil unrest and widening class divisions will exacerbate these problems. If our political systems can’t address the twin problems of climate and poverty, there will be more food and water riots, as well as global wars over natural resources. The costs of city life will far outweigh the benefits, sparking mass migrations of people seeking new homes—and more international conflicts.