Conflicts in Measuring Progress - Megacity in Asia (Seoul) Essay

Conflicts in Measuring Progress - Megacity in Asia (Seoul) - Essay Example The city’s rapid expansion and transformation comes with challenges in addition to the positive impacts. It is therefore worthwhile to explore impacts of urbanization in the city of Seoul considering issues of sustainability, effects to the environment, housing, transport systems and the overall quality of life. Though it was originally a phenomenon of cities from the west, urbanization has invaded even cities in Asia. According to (Clark, 2003), the world society is fast become urban in characteristic and this can now be applied to Seoul. As a result of an explosion in population, Seoul’s urbanization impacts are unique as compared to has been observed elsewhere such as in America and Europe. The periods from 1960 through the 1970s have seen South Korea grow at a rate of 10% economically. Per capita income was $76 in the year 1970 and has grown to more than $19,000 in just forty years; overall GDP is close to $ one trillion. Being the country’s biggest city and trade hub, the population of Seoul has increased by more than 500% since the year 1960; rural urban migration especially to Seoul has been on the rise. Though it sits on just 0.61% of South Korea’s total area, 84% of institutions and agencies of government, 88% of the country’s biggest companies and 75% o f major universities are hosted by Seoul. An excess of 65% in terms of financial/bank transactions are done in this city (Jeon, 2005 P.5). There is no other city across the globe taking an economic burden matching that of Seoul. Only 20sq.m of residential space is available per individual at the moment, this is extremely low as compared to other developed cities like New York, London and Paris. Tokyo has 55sq.m per person even though is considered highly populated. Basing on square kilometers, Seoul’s is 23,908 which is denser than Tokyo’s 7,099 persons. On the Gini index of income inequality Seoul scores 0.36,

The Darwinian controversy of the nineteenth century Essay

The Darwinian controversy of the nineteenth century - Essay Example The transmutation of species was accepted by many scientists before 1859, but the publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection provided the first cogent theory for a mechanism by which evolutionary change could occur: natural selection. (Mayr, 2002) Darwins theory nearly shattered the traditional Christian notion that humanity, poised between beast and angel, was literally formed in Gods image. Darwin pointed out, long before we knew that we share 98.5 percent of our genetic material with chimpanzees, that what looks back at us in the mirror is not the face of God but is kin to the earthbound apes. As the Edinburgh Review warned at the time, "a revolution in thought is imminent, which will shake society to its very foundations by destroying the sanctity of the conscience and the religious sense." (Zimmer, 2002) All the statements of Darwinian Theory were in strong contradiction with the religious views. Darwin was sure that life on Earth is directly connected with the fight for living. In addition the strongest survives and the weakest loses their right for living. According to Darwin’s theory there is always a great resistance and contradiction in nature. More over Darwin supposed that this theory reflected the life of humans also. This, of course, was totally opposite to religious views, where everything should exist in harmony with each other. Religion considers that life is given to everyone and we should co-exist in the world peacefully. It is interesting that Indian anthropologist Lalita Vidyardi, who devoted many years of her life to the learning of Darwinism, states that Darwinian theory of evolution, caused the ideas of racism in social sciences. She said that many scientists believed that the civilization and progress in the world were achieved thanks to the white race and in the second part of the XIX-the century the phenomenon of racism was accepted as a fact by a greatest part of