>> welcome to "global 3000." today, we're going to take a look at life in cities. urban centers are booming -- particularly those in asia and africa. half the world's population now lives in cities -- a f figure that's forecast to hit two-thirds by 2050. and already there's a serious lack of decent, affordable living space. one impressive example of affordable living is the fuggerei in augsburg -- the world's first social housing estate. it was built way back in 1521 by one of the city's wealthy

citizens, to provide homes for those in need. since then, state-run organisations and charitable institutions worldwide have invested in countless affordable housing projects. increasingly, though, governments are distancing themselves from this social responsibility, and relying on private enterprise to meet the need. >> this is my flat. welcome to my heaven -- or should i say, to my hell? >> jailson rochas' ten square metres cost around 1000 euros per month. not much room in here. >> a small kitchen, with a sink. >> and what about washing your feet in the shower? it is pretty tricky. >> i'm supposed to do this. there's no space. i'm supposed to actually put my leg somewhere high and then be

able to. >> jailson doesn't have much alternative right now. it all started when he fell into a depression after his divorce. he was too ill to continue working as a catering manager. soon, he couldn't pay his rent. at first, he camped out on friends' sofas, then he was homeless for a while.before bebeing offered this room by social services. he shares the run-down house in south london with five other men. the state pays all their rents. >> they must be getting about five and a half thouousand poun, coming close to 6000 pounds a month. what used to be a two-bedroom house -- this is only 300 pounds less than what i was paying for a two-bedroom house in peckham. this cannot be value for money. >> the british government pours around 25 billion euros a year

into rent subsidies. a world record. much of it goes on exorbitant rents like jailson's.some landlords hike their prices if they know the state is paying. free-market britain has long neglected social housing. hard to imagine it was once the nation's pride -- with around 250,000 homes built per year. in 2017 there were just 3,000 left. and that, despite a rise in need. the government has just announced a new initiative -- but experts are sceptical. demand, they say, is simply too high. christine: the biggest improvement is the fact that people are moving out of london. if we could make things better in the r rest of the country o that people felt that they were getting what they wanted, then that would be the better way of dealing with it. >> but in reality, lonondon's popupulation increases by aroud 120,000 people each year.

landlords can rent out flats fast, regardless of how rundndn or chic they are. but if y you want three rooms, u will have splash out up to 8000 euros per week. and those who cannot afford that have to be flexiblble. like emily and ben. they are both employed and work in marketing. but they stillll can't afford o rent a flat in the capital. for a year, they've lived on a boat -- and change moorings every two weeks, to avoid paying fees. despite this, it's a huge improvement on how things used to be: emily we shared accommodation : with four other people. and we paid around 1100 for that. >> yes, for a double room per month.h. emily: and then shared obviously a bathroom, and the toilets. and there wasn't even a living room in it? >> the living room was a bedroom. you get a lot of landlords wanting to make as much money as they can on a property. >> and that's what the london renters union is fighting. the newly-founded association campaigns for unlimited rental

contracts, a cap on rents and more social housing. they hand the landlords union a symbolic check for 22 billion pounds, which is roughly what the capital's tenants will spend on their accommodation over the coming year. >> they have the worst rates -- rights in europe. landlords have all the power so a landlord can evict a tenant at any moment, we don't have any security. if we've got poor conditions like mold, damp, p poor conditions, even dangerous housing, it's very difficult to dodo anything about it. so we're paying all this money for bad temporary housing. >> accommodation is a human right. >> it may be a human right, yet, in reality, in britain, tenants are second-class citizens. owning your own four walls has long been seen as the norm here. and that means no home, all of your own, -- no caps off -- no

castle of your own -- and you have no rights. that's still the case today. tenants are often confronted with vermin, water damage and landlords who simply don't care. and that's something jailson knows well. in england, tenants can be given two months' notice, no reason necessary. jailson is supposed to move out next week. but he's still hoping that his appeal will be accepted and he won't have to leave. >> i struggle every single day in different ways, because i'm devoting my time to sorting this out. but the other aspects of my life are being compromised. >> emily and ben want to stay in london for work reasons. they have transformed a desperate situation into a lifestylyle choice. they don't have a castle, but they do have a boat. the mortgage costs them 350 euros a month. it's romantic here and of course mobile. usually, anyway. emily: last t winter, the canl was frozen. you could not move. we ran out of water, we ran out of gas. beben: the toilet was full. you have summer to sleep but

, you've got no amenities. >> that said, if their winter hardships are the worst they face, then emilie and ben are the lucky ones. >> africa's population is skyrocketing. by 2050, projections say there will be twice as many people liviving on the continent as the arare now. and more and more of them aree streaming into urban areas, looking for work and better living conditions. cities in africa are growing faster than in any other region in the world. the population boom means in the next 30 years, the continent will need around 85,000 new hospitals, 310,000 schools and 700 million new apartments. but who is going to build them? and how? >> millionons of africanans lin informrmal settlemenents -- le this one in kigali pulalationin afrfrics cities are e exploding anand the contt is strugglining to cope.

an architect from rwanda, christian benimana, wants africaca's booming c cities to flourish. christian when these setemements : ardone i in unplannnned way, itit's difficultlt to reverse e trends, eveven if the gogovernt of rwanda is doing a lot o effos toto prode basasic services f for the residents f su n neighbooooods tmake s sure pepeople are living in safe, c n neighborhoods.s. but most citities in africicae faced withth the same chchalles as welell. >> from gogos to kshasasa to naobi, govovnments are unable to m manage urbaninization. and thosose moving to o the cy ofoften can't afafford to ilild prproperousingng or pay expepee rents. so slumums grow. rwanda is s well aware o of the critical situation edwardrd we e tryiyi to : establblish different progra, runnnning away frorom the socl programs, but al movingg towawards also tryrying to pree the ground for them. currently the vevernments vevery ch committed to promoting access to housusing. >> but recent housing projects in kigali were more suited to the upper middle class. affordable solutions for the

masses a are still misissin. benimana i is trning a a fure generation of african degngners toind innovative, suststaible and affordrdable solutioions te enormous n need for infrastrtructure. not only houses,utut hospils and d schools. here, in the northeastst of rwrwanda, a new w primary schos bebeing built, u using as muchcl material a as possible.. christstian they arere very gd : quality y bricks. they are building them very nily.. there e islso thisisdea that the basic matealals we u foror construconon in rica c cannot be but in a an egant wawa-- and we want to pve t thawrong. >> the 3 37-year-old convincedhe govevernme that t buding witit bricks, volclcanic rock, a and lolocally made r roof tiles isis chper than iorting expensive materials. and that it's worthwhile insting in lal c craften. christian: e earlier modelels e people b bri in spececlized contntraors to build this s and leavhaven'n'been successful.

so b by investing g in these pe there a c chancthat t thi could be also replicated easyy agaiain he, and d ifhese peoeoe wewere to migratate to other distriricts in the c count, its much more efficient an g getng chinescocontraors ororurkish contractors. > beninima studieded in ina, where e saw megacacities grow along withth the challenges tht come witith them today,y, he's the director of e african desisign center, which openeded in kigali t two years. elelevenesign graduates frfrom eieight african n countries arae learnining here how w to take oe challelenge of africica's enors growowth. christian: we are trying to understand the reaeal problems ththat we are facing andotot jt brsing o ovestatistitil data and d saying we neneed x amounf hohousin but d dig down deep ad ununderstand what thatouousing means for reresides of africa. what does african city or africaurbaban living meaean? whwhat does african mean >> for most africans, urban vingng stilleansns euring slslum conditioions. benimana sayththere's a needed r

this new generation ofof africn designers toto come up with solutions. chriiaian: basicallyly, it's a strong belief in me thate hahave a very rare chanan in this country and onon this continineo do things s right at thihis particular moment. >> c can africa ririse to that challelenge? christian n benimanandnd othes are trying to make it happen. >> urban planning is a huge challenge. how many cities can the climate cope with? and what about human health? according the u.n.n. air , pollution now contributes to the deaths of 4 million people a year. so how canan we keep the air n major r population centers cle? cities have always had a strong appeal. i offer medical care, educational and job opportunities, infrastructure,

and cultural institutions and other attractions. is anything lacking at all? yes -- nature. but why do we need green spaces in cities? for food, for exexample. with s so many peoplple in cit, it makes sense to produce food there. urban gardening is popular -- lettuce, herbs and o other easy-to-grow greens are being cultivated on rooftops or in small plots. but not every part of the city is suitablble. plplants that grgrow alongsidey streets are overexposed to pollution. urban green n spaces can i imt the climatate. cities accountoror 70% oglobobal coco2 issions.s. bad for the planet and its residentnts. grgrn leafy plplants absorb b cn dioxide anand produce oxoxygen. and trees and other vegetation help regulate the urban temperature. they provide shade and cooling through evaporation. plants and unpaved soil absorb

water when it rains heavily or rivers overflow. and parks are places for us to rest and relax. but we're not alone. lots of animals have adapted to city life. urban-dwelling animals o often have it better than their country cousins. but only if they have access to plenty of green areas and trees. many wild plants have also adjusted well to the urban jungle -- but they require unpaved areas in order to grow. so green spaces in a city are good for the quality of life of all its inhabitants. >> in 2010, there were already more than 1 billion cars on our planet -- and by 2040 there could be as many as 2 billion!

and that even though congestion , is already a huge problem. in fact, in some cities, drivers spend more than 200 hours a year stuck in traffic jams. many chinese cities have major problems. but alternatives are making a comeback. >> this is what beijing looked like 30 years ago. baback then, china wasas callee kingdom of bicycles. but then, urban n planners hada different idea. for decades, they did everything they could to make beijing more car-friendly. around six milli vehiclelenow clog its roaoads and highways. and the kingdom of bicycles has becocome the capital of traffc jams. then, two years ago, colorful rentalal bikes suddenly began appearing g everywhere. all you need t to use one briey is the app, and they cost less than 30 euro cents per hour.

so anyone with a smartphone can now find a bike practilly anywhere. i went to find out if the new technology is encouraging people to get out of their cars. moke was the first bikeharing cpany. it launched 2016, and now clmsms to ha 20000 milon usesers wowodwide. >>t first there was cut-throat compitioion. there were over a a hundred cocompanieon t the market. now there are just three or four left.. we'r're not makingng a profit , bubut we're getttting there biy bit. our resultlts in septembmber e extraoaordinarily gogood. i cacan tellou t that ch. >> one of my first questions -- homuch are the rental bikes rereally being u used?

when do you rent a bicycle? student: if i don't have to go more than 20 kilometers. reporter: that far? most beijing residents use the bikes for much shorter distances -- for the so-called last mile from the subway to their office or home. for the first time in quite a while, the number of bike journeysys is growing. sandra retzer adviseses the chininese miministry of transpon behalf of the german goverernme. sandra that wawas the positive : effect of all the various bike-sharing companies. officials started rethinking things in the cities, and in city governments. it's a big discussion in many urban areas today all over the world -- the question of how we can get people to enjoy riding bikes. reporter: most roads in beijing have bike lanes like this.

we are going to look at what condition they are. this one is nice and wide, and pretty comfortable to ride on. even if there are a couple of obstacles along the way. i just manage to squeeze past one car making a turn. and the is anoth issue.. o many vehicles stop o or park on the b bike path. then you h have to swerve into e car lane. so a less than perfect situation. and ere are otr negative aspects to bike sharing -- like the numberof rental bikes clutteng u up streets and sidewalks. authorities now often just pile them up onto what look like scrap heaps. the bikes the city administration has cleared are now w unloaded herere, on te fringes of the capital.

every major chinese city has bicycle cemeteries like this one.e. the e remaining rental companis have to take back some of them. nobody knonows what willll happo the rest. mobike is grappling with n new reregulations fofor bike sharin the city. 750,000 of its bikes can be found on the streetsts of beiji. but the government won't't allw them to deploy more. on peak days, their bikes nn rackck up o milllliotrips. > i think manany new busins momodels need a a phase of irrational competitition. but t in the future, this indusy will become extremy environmenlly friendly and sustaiainable. reporter: every ride is recorded by the system. mobike not only knows how many ofof its bikes are being used. it also has to be able to tell at a gen moment ere each i located.

>> all rentabicycle e companies now have t to installive monitoringng systems. the data from emem is also trtrsmitted in tandem to the gogovernme. reportrter: but pele like mr. ngng are en momore importantn. he collects scattered rental bikes, and drives around the streets of zhongguancun, where beijing's young i.t. industry is located loading themp. , dodong bris ththemack to places where they're n neede-- like subway atioions. zhonongguancun seeees many yog commmmuters, and t the subway ie hotspopot for bike sharing. the bikeke collector c came to beijing from his villa j just a yeyear a. hehe gets paid b by the day fos labor. in a a month, he c can earn at 60600 eus. that's around half the a averae wawage. > 9:00 in thehe mornings te busit timeme. by then, everyone is in eieir fices.s.

the bikes are all overhehe place. i fill up my truck every f minus. reporter: are rental bikes really the solution to beijing's traffic problelems? to find oumorere i take a a detr , into the historic district. as the city modernized, the old town became a symbol for backwardness. for the old and the poor who lived here, bicycles were a common means of transport. today, the charms of the old town are being rediscovered by young people. and what about bikes? this small shop wants to show the people of beijg that cyclining can be funun. customers can design their own bikes here. >> you can pick any color you want. see which one you like. some customers rediscover cycycling through riding rentl bikes. they use them, but they don't find them comfortable enough. they're too small, don't have

enough gears, or are only suitable for shortrt distance. and many rental bikes are in bad condition and are poorly maintained. after riding the rental bikeks however, people decide they want to buy one of their own. and slowly but surely, the bicycle culture is reemerging. reporter: so bike sharing has acted as a catalyst, helping beijing residents rediscover an important means of transport from the past. now all that's needed is a sustainable plan for the traffic of the future. >> in creating an environmentally friendly transport t system for the f fu, a lot will depend on the efficiency of local systems and how different types of transport interconnect. app developers around the globe are busy looking for solutions -- with particular success in lithuania. >> gediminas dilerertas lives n vilnlnius, the capital of

lithuania. he doesn't need a car of his own -- he just uses the trafi app. it pinpoints his location, and supplies him with information on the most convenient public transport services available nearby, complete with timetables and connections. he can also use the app for bicycle and carsharing schemes, and he can pay for all these services via the a app too. dilertas uses it every day. >> yeah, i think a lot of people are using trafi -- not just in vilnius but in lithuania in general. it's especially popular amongst the younger generation. >> the app was developed by a local startup. the team programmed a map that compiles and centrally coordinates data on all of vilnius' transport services, including taxis. it's free for users -- companies

like google maps also use the technology -- that's where the startup makes most of its money. it's now available in 30 cities worldwide, from istanbul to jakarta to sao paulo. >> the reason to go there was to solve their problems in those megacities, because we knew that transportation is unpredictable, unreliable, it's even hard for local people to understand how the system works, and we wanted to launch the product in those big megacities to make everyday life easier for them. the authorities in jakarta gave trafafi access to o all the gpsa gaththered by its s public trant systemems. home to o over 30 millllion pe, it's's one of the e most densy populated cities in e e world. ththere'no sububwasystem.. those wiwithout a car r take e bus. thehe approvidedes tailed information. >> the biggegest challengege io prproperly procecess the gps s s

and vevery nicely show on thmap hohow thtraffific moves and de eta, the expected time of arrival to the bus stop, and that takes quite a lot of effort. we've been doing this for 12 years and we still keep updating and improving the algorithms to do that. >> if taking the bus could be planned more efficiently, more people would ditch their cars. that's the theory. it remains to be seen if they really will. 20% of people in vilnius use the trafi app. but it only has a population of 550,000, and a realtively modest public transportrt system. >> in the future, cities will control that mobility, right, there will be a lot of autonomous vehicles. so the city will have a platfofm where it will be able to see all the movementnt in the city ande even able e to control it, contl

parking spots, control licences, who is driving in the cityty ad who is not, which hours, which not, logistic services. >> critics might worry about privacy issues, but the mayor of vilnius has no such qualms. he has a radical open data policy and has already incorporated trafi's data pool into the city's urban planning. >> starting with this data, we may draw conclusions to invest in, for example, pedestrian lanes, or to adapt some public transport routes or find some other solutions. i think this is still just an initial stage, we are going to the future, i think this kind of big data analysis is very important for any city, without it i think the planning of infrastructure is simply blind. >> although there is undeniable concern that it can be hijacked for ulterior motives, big data can help fine tune public transport to people's needs.

>> and that's all from "global 3000" this week. but do drop us a line -- global3000@dw.com or check us out on facebook: dw global society. see you soon -- take care! [captioning performed by the

narrrator: to o keep big cities afloat, great wawater demandnds require g greater watater solut. water protectors combat climate change and the illegal wetland development floodiding towns in argentina. in n mexico c city, citizens use innovative education models and techchnologies to address the city's water issues.