5. American society in the second half of the XX-th - the beginning of the XXI centuries.

The second half of the 20th century saw the world's population explode and become increasingly urban and mobile. Here's an inventory of the effects that urbanisation and transportation have had on mankind and its environment. The 20th century saw the number of cities with more than 10 million inhabitants increase from 2 to 50. After WW II the U.S. underwent a kind of golden age of economic growth. This growth was distributed evenly across the economic classes, which some attribute to the strength of labor unions in this period—labor union membership peaked historically in the U.S. during the 1950s, in the midst of this massive economic growth. Much of the growth came from the movement of low income farm workers into better paying jobs in the towns and cities—a process largely completed by 1960. Congress created the Council of Economic Advisors, to promote high employment, high profits and low inflation. The "Baby Boom" saw a dramatic increase in fertility in the period 1942–1957; it was caused by delayed marriages and childbearing during depression years. The boom crested about 1957, then slowly declined. In the late 1960s it was apparent to some that this juggernaut of economic growth was slowing down, and it began to become visibly apparent in the early 1970s. The United States grew increasingly dependent on oil importation. Productivity growth was small, when not negative. Unemployment dropped mostly steadily from 1975 to 1979, although it then began to rise sharply. This period also saw the increased rise of the environmental and consumer movements, and the government established new regulations and regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and others. From 1994 to 2000 real output increased, inflation was manageable and unemployment dropped to below 5%. The economy worsened in 2001 with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business failures rising substantially, and triggering a recession that is often blamed on the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks. An additional factor in the fall of the US markets and in investor confidence included numerous corporate scandals. Through 2001 to 2007, the red-hot housing market across the United States fueled a false sense of security regarding the strength of the U.S. economy. Urban life is the source of many forms of pollution: pollution of water, which is used, collected, treated and disposed of in the natural environment; pollution of air, by micro-particles, volatile organic compounds and greenhouse effect gases; noise, olfactory and visual pollution... Currently, cities are rarely models of economic prosperity, social integration and harmony with the environment. Yet, gradually making sustainable cities is one of today's major challenges: the rural population continues to decline, and limiting the environmental impact of our lifestyle depends on population densities that are high enough to share a maximum of infrastructures (transportation...). Sustainable management of global resources and the local environment, social fairness and cohesion between territories, efficiency of the economic fabric: these are the challenges facing the 21st century city. A goal that is still far from being achieved...