EMB | 25
CONNECTIVITY QUANTIFIED
1 million
The surface of our planet is home to one million kilometers of internet cables
7.4 billion
The global population is 7.4 billion yet our infrastructure is designed for 3 billion
50 megacities
By 2030 , 50 megacities will have emerged , housing more than 2 / 3 of the world ' s population
$ 9 trillion
500,000
By contrast , the world has less than 500,000 kilometers of borders
$ 1 trillion
We should spend $ 1 trillion on the basic infrastructure needs of every billion people
$ 2 trillion
Annual defense and military spending totals
$ 2tn . Infrastructure spending totals $ 2.7tn
Global infrastructure spending is projected to rise to $ 9 trillion per year within the coming decade
AT A GLANCE
It is time to re-think how life on Earth is organized . Today , connectivity is propelling the mobility of people , goods and information to unprecedented heights ; cities — and even businesses — are becoming more powerful than countries ; and large companies are breaking free of
2 . Infrastructure their national roots and morphing into “ stateless ” giants . In the The world ’ s population stands at around context of such fundamental 7.4 billion people , yet our current change , a reality is dawning : the infrastructure is designed for just three world demands a new map — a map billion . Developing new infrastructure that places connectivity at its core and operating in locations where and focuses not on how the world infrastructure is already strong , are is divided , but how we use it . important to corporate success .
Global connectivity has not emerged by chance , we are building it . Combined , the world ’ s annual defense budgets and military spending total just under US $ 2 trillion . By comparison , global infrastructure spending is estimated at around US $ 2.7 trillion and is projected to rise to US $ 9 trillion per year within the coming decade . Looking further ahead , it is incredible to think that we will likely build more infrastructure ( and spend more on it ) in the next 40 years , than we have in the past four thousand . 3 . Urbanization
This investment is not before time . As a general rule , we should spend Increasingly , countries can be suburbs approximately US $ 1 trillion on the basic of cities . Within the next fifteen years , infrastructure needs of every billion two thirds of the global population will people , yet in a world where the population live in megacities and it is here that stands at around 7.4 billion , we have been companies should focus their attentions . living off infrastructure designed for a It is almost impossible to look population of just three billion . at connectivity in isolation from
But progress is being made . In the urbanization . In fact , you could say that infrastructure spending stakes , Asia is planetary urbanization is connectivity ’ s in the lead . China announced the creation twin megatrend . Connectivity is how of the Asian Infrastructure Investment we optimize the distribution of people Bank in 2015 and in collaboration with and resources , and that distribution a number of other organizations , the rests heavily on the sprawling urban bank aims to construct a network of metropolises that are shaping our iron and silk roads , stretching from world . By 2030 , a total of 50 megacities Shanghai to Lisbon . Here , clear business are expected to have emerged , and they opportunities , including in the form of will house more than two thirds of the public-private partnerships , emerge for world ’ s population . companies across the globe operating in Once again , Asia is where megacities fields such as engineering , construction are most evident . In Japan , the strip and technology . encompassing Tokyo , Nagoya and Osaka
The fact that infrastructure has just is currently the world ’ s largest megacity , been included in the United Nations containing more than 80 million people Sustainable Development Goals , further and most of the Japanese economy . reinforces its importance . Our political Meanwhile , with populations reaching and economic leaders are learning 100 million , China ’ s megacity clusters that connectivity is not charity , it is are taking form : The Bohai Rim around opportunity . And that ’ s why our financial Beijing ; The Yangtze River Delta community needs to understand that around Shanghai ; the Pearl River Delta , connectivity is the most important asset stretching from Hong Kong to Guangzhou ; class of the 21st century . and the Chongqing-Chengdu megacity »
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