World's big cities set to become even more crowded

THE world's big cities are already bursting at the seams but are set to grow even larger, with experts predicting that some 70 per cent of the world's population will be urban by 2050.

This will put great strains on infrastructure and the environment, and presents a major challenge to city planners, developers and mayors who gathered here this week at MIPIM, the world's leading annual real estate event, to look for the best way forward.

'The future of the world lies in cities,' London's mayor Boris Johnson told a packed auditorium at the opening day of MIPIM Monday. He was among leaders taking part in a 'mayor's think-tank' here, who say they are increasingly starting to work together in looking for urban development initiatives to improve the quality of life for their citizens.

'We have to keep putting the village back into the city because that is fundamentally what human beings want and aspire to,' Mr Johnson told the crowd, adapting a famous statement made by India's Mahatma Gandhi that the future of India lay in its 70,000 villages. 'Cities are where people live longer, have better education outcomes, are more productive,' Johnson noted, adding that cities are also where people emit less polluting carbon dioxide per capita.

In 1900, around 14 per cent of the world's population lived in cities, by 1950 this had risen to 30 per cent and today is 50 per cent. Currently, there are more than 400 cities with a population over a million, 19 of which have over 10 million inhabitants, Robert Peto, president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), told a conference here.

Much of this surge in the next 40 years will occur in cities in emerging countries such as China, India, Asia, Latin America and Africa, all of which are growing very fast, Mr Tony Lloyd-Jones, Reader in International Planning and Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster in London, told AFP.

Pace of polar ice melt 'accelerating rapidly.

THE pace at which the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting is 'accelerating rapidly' and raising the global sea level, according to findings of a study financed by Nasa and published on Tuesday.

The findings suggest that the ice sheets - more so than ice loss from Earth's mountain glaciers and ice caps - have become 'the dominant contributor to global sea level rise, much sooner than model forecasts have predicted.'

This study, the longest to date examining changes to polar ice sheet mass, combined two decades of monthly satellite measurements with regional atmospheric climate model data to study changes in mass.

'That ice sheets will dominate future sea level rise is not surprising - they hold a lot more ice .mass than mountain glaciers,' said lead author Eric Rignot, jointly of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine. 'What is surprising is this increased contribution by the ice sheets is already happening,' he said.

Under the current trends, he said, sea level is likely to be 'significantly higher' than levels projected by the United Nations climate change panel in 2007. Isabella Velicogna, co-author of the study, told AFP that the ice sheets lose mass by melting or by breaking apart in blocks of ice, which float into the ocean.

'It's related to the warming of the planet but that was not the point of the paper. We just observed the changes,' said Velicogna, a professor at UC Irvine. 'It's losing mass - much more than was expected many years ago.'

Exercise cuts risk of developing bowel cancer polyps

People who lead an active lifestyle are up to a third less likely to develop polyps which can develop into bowel cancer, according to a study.

The report pulls together 20 previous studies looking at the link between exercise and the development of large polyps.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK.

More than 38,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year.

The work was done by scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis in the US.

Publishing their findings in the British Journal of Cancer, they say they have produced the most accurate figures yet that show low exercise levels are linked to bowel polyps.

They found that people who take regular exercise were 16% less likely to develop bowel polyps and 35% less likely to develop large or advanced polyps.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

The reality is that exercise is acting through more than one mechanism. The upside is there are so many benefits all over the body, it is hard to pinpoint”

End Quote Professor Kathleen Wolin Washington University School of Medicine

Polyps - also known as adenomas - are growths in the bowel and while they are not cancerous in themselves they can develop into cancer over a long period of time.

Cancer Research UK says most bowel cancers develop from a polyp and about 1 in 4 of us have one or more by the age of 50, while about half of us have them by the time we are 70.

But only a small fraction of polyps develop into cancer and it takes years for that to happen.

Exercise link

Professor Kathleen Wolin, one of the lead authors of the research, says the evidence now shows a clear link between exercise and a reduced risk of bowel cancer but it is not yet clear exactly why that link exists.

"There are a number of likely pathways but we don't know exactly. So for example exercise reduces inflammation in the bowel, which has been linked to bowel cancer.

"But exercise also reduces insulin levels and improves the body's response to hyperinsulinaemia (excess levels of insulin circulating in the blood), which again increases polyp risk.

"It also enhances the immune system and because people who exercise often do so outside, they get vitamin D, which is also important for bowel cancer.

"The reality is that exercise is acting through more than one mechanism. The upside is there are so many benefits all over the body, it is hard to pinpoint."

Keeping active

Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, says the evidence shows that keeping active could help prevent thousands of cases of cancer every year.

"We'd recommend doing at least half an hour's moderate exercise a day - such as brisk walking or anything that leaves you slightly out of breath. Getting enough physical activity will also help you keep a healthy weight, which is one of the most important ways of reducing the risk of cancer."

Mark Flannagan, Chief Executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, backed the study and said it was clear that lifestyle was an important factor in protecting yourself from cancer.

"Although the majority of polyps are not cancerous, it is thought that almost all bowel cancers develop from polyps. Therefore we recommend taking 30 minutes of physical activity each day, along with a healthy diet and lifestyle, to reduce your risk of developing bowel cancer."

Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said the report was good news.

"Evidence also shows that the combination of taking more exercise and having a healthy diet may protect against bowel cancer, as well as weight gain and obesity, so we encourage people to do both.

"It is also important that people take part in the screening programme, if eligible, as screening is an effective means of detecting polyps at an early stage. These polyps can easily be removed, reducing the risk of bowel cancer developing."

China and India to rank as the world's most influential economies

Most people in the world believe that China will be the world's most influential economy in ten years, except for a majority of Indians.

The first Harris Poll conducted in Asia showed that in fact 80 percent of Indians believe that the top position will be claimed by their own country.

In contrast almost half of the respondents, or 49 per cent in the US, 85 per cent in China, 87 per cent in Hong Kong and 75 per cent in Singapore believed China will take the top spot.

India ranks openness of trade as being less important to the success of the economy than China does.

About 16 percent of respondents from India saw this as being important compared to 39 percent of those from the mainland.

The survey, conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive, aims to detail the economic views of more than 4,000 respondents across the six countries.

Asha Choksi, Senior Vice President, Harris Interactive Asia, said: "But in India they were focused on things like their infrastructure and their feeling was that if things moved in the right direction their economy could be one of the largest as well."

Respondents in China showed the most optimistic outlook of their economy.

Ninety percent of Chinese believed that their economy will grow over 25 years compared with 66 percent of Indians who said the same about India, and 54 percent of Americans about the US.

Alvin Liew, Economist, Standard Chartered Bank, said: "Going forward, I think this optimism is likely to persist. In this decade itself, China will still be in there together with India and some of the selected countries such as Vietnam and possibly also Indonesia."

Singapore respondents also showed a healthy sense of optimism - 46 percent saw the Republic as the next big player in the global economy.

This was a higher figure compared to Hong Kong at 40 percent.

Mr Liew said: "I think if you look at Singapore's growth, the 14.5 percent growth certainly that is a big confidence booster for the economy, the citizens and for the government going forward".

Respondents from India, Hong Kong, China and US also viewed Singapore as having more prospective growth compared to other countries in the Southeast Asia region.

Better than a BMI? New obesity scale proposed

SCIENTISTS have developed a new way to measure whether a person is too fat without having people step on the scale.

The new measure, called the Body Adiposity Index, or BAI, relies on height and hip measurements, and it is meant to offer a more flexible alternative to body mass index, or BMI, a ratio of height and weight, US researchers said on Thursday.

BMI has been used to measure body fat for the past 200 years, but it is not without flaws, Richard Bergerman of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and colleagues wrote in the journal Obesity.

While there are other, more complex ways to measure body fat beyond simply stepping on a scale, BMI is widely used both by researchers and doctors.

It is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared. A person who is 165cm is classified as overweight at 68kg and obese at 82kg.

The top 10 richest in Malaysia are

1. Robert Kuok, US$12.5 billion
2. Ananda Krishnan, US$9.5 billion
3. Lee Kim Hua, US$6.6 billion
4. Lee Shin Cheng, US$5 billion
5. Quek Leng Chan, US$4.8 billion
6. Teh Hong Piow, US$4.7 billion
7. Yeoh Tiong Lay, US$2.7 billion
8. Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary, US$2.5 billion
9. Vincent Tan, US$1.25 billion
10. Tiong Hew King, US$1.2 billion

Diabetes heightens risk of cancer death

DOCTORS know that diabetics have a higher than normal risk of dying of heart attacks or strokes, but new research on Wednesday showed that having diabetes also raises the risk of dying from many cancers and other diseases.

The findings shed light on the potential burden of a disease that will build in the future, as the number of cases of diabetes is predicted to rise dramatically in coming decades.

'These findings highlight even more the need to prevent diabetes and to understand it better,' said Emanuele Di Angelantonio of Britain's Cambridge University, who worked on the study as part of an international collaboration.

'They show that diabetes is not only a cardiovascular risk factor, but is linked as well to other conditions.' The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), collated and analysed data from 97 previous studies involving more than 820,000 people worldwide.

It found that being a diabetic raised the odds of dying from cancer by 25 per cent, and also increased the risk of death from infection, kidney and liver disease. Among the biggest cancer risks for diabetics were liver and pancreatic cancer, colorectal or bowel cancer, and lung cancer.

Diabetes is reaching epidemic levels with an estimated 280 million people, 6.4 per cent of the world's population, suffering from it and numbers predicted to rise further as obesity rates also increase.

Don't worry, be happy and live longer.

TODAY'S lesson: be happy, live longer. Now science seems to back the glass half-full approach.

A review of more than 160 studies on the connection between a positive state of mind and overall health and longevity has found 'clear and compelling evidence' that happier people enjoy better health and longer lives.

In fact, evidence linking an upbeat outlook and enjoyment of life to better health and longer life was stronger even than that linking obesity to reduced longevity, according to the review published on Tuesday in the journal 'Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.'

'I was almost shocked, and certainly surprised, to see the consistency of the data,' said Ed Diener, the University of Illinois psychology professor emeritus, who lead the review.

While Mr Diener said a few studies he reviewed found the opposite, the 'overwhelming majority ... support the conclusion that happiness is associated with health and longevity.'

The review looked at eight different types of long-term studies and experimental trials of both human and animal populations.

Shanghai population may top 23 million

This city's population might have reached 23 million, far exceeding the earlier estimates of 20 million, a demographer said on Tuesday.

Experts encouraged Shanghai authorities to take more steps to manage the local population and to undertake scientific urban planning in response to a quick rise in the city's migrant population.

Shanghai has an officially registered population of 14 million but, according to estimates, is also home to 9 million migrants, said Ding Jinhong, director of East China Normal University's School of Social Development.

Ding, who is also the director of the university's population research institute, said the estimate was based on the most recent national census, which began in November. The official results will be announced in April.

Of the migrants included in the census estimate, about 2 million were only in Shanghai for a short stay, many coming for medical treatment or for travel. That left about 7 million who lived in the city for more than six months, he said.

During the past decade, the city's population density has risen from 2,588 people for each square kilometer in 2000 to 3,600 for each square kilometer in 2010, according to previous media reports.

Wang Zhixiong, head of the local statistics bureau, said Shanghai witnessed much faster population growth than did Beijing, another densely populated city.

Experts said Shanghai should make population management a top priority, or else risk losing its capacity for steady development.

Ren Yuan, professor of Fudan University's School of Social Development and Public Policy, encouraged the government to devise ways to manage mass concentrations of people in big cities like Shanghai.

"The influx of migrants made a great contribution to the city's development," he said. "But it also challenged the city's limited resources and space."

"The continual growing population overloads the city's public services. Housing, education, health and other public services will face even more pressure."

Ren stressed that the current system for registering households, in which permanent residence permits called hukou are issued, was an obstacle to the city's development. In many cases, he said, it prevented migrants from enjoying the benefits of the city's public services.

The government should adjust the hukou system and try to find rational ways to provide more quality services to migrants, he said.

Study links sugary drinks with high blood pressure

SCIENTISTS have linked drinking sugary drinks like fizzy cola and fruit drinks with high blood pressure and say their findings suggest that cutting both sugar and salt intake could help reduce the risk.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide.

In a study of more than 2,500 people in the United States and Britain, researchers found that for every extra can of sugary drink consumed per day, participants had higher systolic blood pressure by an average of 1.6 mmHg and a higher diastolic reading by an average of 0.8 mmHg.

This difference was significant even after adjusting for factors such as weight and height, the scientists wrote on Monday in a study in the journal Hypertension.

Blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. Between beats, when the heart is resting, the blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure.

In this study, the link between sugary drinks and higher blood pressure was especially strong in people who ate a lot of salt as well as sugar, the researchers said, supporting long-established findings that high salt intake can lead to high blood pressure.