20.1 Demography and Population
Given what we know about population growth, what do you think of China’s policy that limits the number of children a family can have? Do you agree with it? Why, or why not? What other ways might a country of over 1.3 billion people manage its population?
Describe the effect of immigration or emigration on your life or in a community you have seen. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
What responsibility does the United States have toward underage asylum-seekers?
20.2 Urbanization
What are the differences between the suburbs and the exurbs, and who is most likely to live in each?
How will the growth in urban populations affect the world over the next ten years?
Considering the concentric zone model, what type of zone were you raised in? Is this the same or different as that of earlier generations in your family? What type of zone do you reside in now? Do you find that people from one zone stereotype those from another? If so, how?
20.3 The Environment and Society
After reading this section, will you change the way you treat your household waste? Explain.
How do you think the issue of e-waste should be dealt with? Should the responsibility fall to the companies that make the products or the consumer who buys them? Would your buying habits be different if you had to pay to recycle old electronics?
Can you think of a modern example of the tragedy of the commons, where public use without accountability has created a negative outcome?
NIMBY protests occur when concerned citizens band together to speak up against something that will impact them negatively. Is this a positive or negative trend? Give an example of a NIMBY protest and whether you support it or not.