Strained Resources in

East Asia: A Result of

Overpopulation

Food

Food

Feeding China

• Lack of quality control, production shortcuts, and rising consumer spending

• The world’s largest importer of agricultural products

• Urbanization: 260 million farmers have moved to cities since 1976… who is growing the food?

• Food-borne illness: numerous outbreaks of bird flu

• With higher number of imports, food prices will rise

Water

Water

Water

• 1/5 of Chinese rivers are toxic

• Comes from waste from both individuals

and factories who provide consumable

products

Energy

Energy

• 4/5th of China’s electricity comes from coal powered plants

• Much of South Korea’s energy is imported

• Japan, being an island nation, imports much of its energy

– 1st largest natural gas importer, 2nd largest coal importer, 3rd largest oil importer

Shelter

Shelter

Shelter

• Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Osaka

have over 20 million residents

• There are over 160 cities in China with a

population over 1 million

Space for Cities

• 250,000,000 people will move from farms

to cities in the next 12-15 years

• Rural farms are replaced by high rise

apartments

Transportation

Transportation

Goods

Goods

• As spending power increasing among those in East Asia, so does demand for consumable goods.

– Chinese buy more cars than any other country and is a growing luxury goods market

• Many goods are still manufactured in East Asia

– Many counterfeit goods are also manufactured in China

Jobs

• Urbanization has caused 160 million

migrants to move to cities to find work in

China

• Labor in factories is decreasing as

cheaper labor is found outside of China;

fewer jobs available

Spread of Disease

• Diseases spread when people are close

and crowded

• An outbreak of a highly contagious

disease could be a huge issue in

overpopulated areas