MINSK, 4 March (BelTA) – Belarus is among the top 50 most urbanized countries worldwide, however, analysts are not anxious about the growing number of city dwellers. Urbanization was in focus of another meeting of the Expert Community project “Population Census. Human Capital” in BelTA's press center on 4 March.
According to Nikolai Sukhotsky, an analyst with the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research, in 1991 around 3.3 million people lived in villages and small towns. Since then, this number has decreased to 2.1 million. “But I would say that the urbanization rate in Belarus is at the global average. For example, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Czechia have the same rate. High urbanization rate is reported in Scandinavian countries, the UK. This trend is in place in Belarus, and I do not think we should raise the alarm,” he said.
Nikolai Sukhotsky pointed out that urbanization and population ageing are two global trends. “Belarus is not an exception, it also displays these trends. A testimony to that are the findings of the recent population census,” the expert believes.
In turn, Chairwoman of the Belarusian Union of Women, Candidate of Sociological Sciences Marianna Shchetkina drew attention to the environmental aspect. According to her, in the context of active urbanization green economy should take center stage. “The public health depends on it,” she said. “The environmental component is very important for economic development. It is good that we have this component,” she added. For example, as many as 45 Belarusian cities joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy; Brest and Minsk are introducing the smart city concept, and the country is developing electric transport. Belarus also pays attention to such basic but at the same time important issues as separate waste collection and tree planting. “We should not lose this environmental component because then it will be too late. The fact that the government and local authorities place it high on their agenda plays a huge role for the population,” Marianna Shchetkina believes.
