Urbanization in the Kurdistan Region Essay -- Sustainable Development

Introduction Urbanization: The process by which more and more people leave the countryside to live in cities (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary). Sustainable development: The ability of an activity or development to continue in the long term without undermining that part of the environment which sustains it (Scottish Natural Heritage, 1993). The process of urbanization and the population growth across the world has been increasing over the last 40 years, and it is expected to happen in the developing countries' urban areas. Kurdistan is a developing country; before Kurdistan region was not as developed as it is now, and it still needs more development. Kurdistan is considered as a 3rd world country, and that was because the central governments of Iraq did not give enough attention to this region like they did to Baghdad, Mosul and Basra. That is why; this region became less developed than the rest of Iraq. When the region became under the Kurdish authority they tried hard to develo p and give special attention to the region and especially Erbil since it is the capital of the region. Only in a few years the KRG region developed dramatically, before Erbil used to have one public university (Salahaddin University) and now it has many universities; institutions, private universities. This is considered as a great educational development for the Kurds. People now are more educated and have a better life in comparison to the past. As a developing country KRG region has many problems in general also problems concerning the urbanization, because the majority of the population is gathered in three main cities, and this causes lots of problems to the people in the cities. Also to the people who are living in the rural are... ... need a lot of time. Conclusion This essay clearly identified three problems of urbanization within the KRG region and to what extent each one of these problems can be solved by policies of sustainable development. However, not all the solutions can be applicable in the Kurdistan region consequently; while some can be very well applicable. All in all, most of the problems can be solved by the government since the budget of this region is in their hands. Kurdistan is an arable region, also has lots of many oil wells, all these are concerned with nature, so the government should make good use of these resources. Moreover, these problems can also be solved by appropriate planning, getting help from expert foreigners, and spending a great deal of time on such these issues. Even though the people's contribution is a must but that is just a part of the solution.