Venice Isn't Alone: 7 Sinking Cities Around the World

Urban areas worldwide are enduring a quiet crisis, subsidence, or settlement of land under them. Poured forward by human activities such as groundwater pumping and natural processes like crustal settling and erosion, this process threatens millions of citizens and billions of infrastructure. 

Coastal cities, in particular, are at risk not only of sinking but also of sea level rise induced by global warming, and their future hangs in the balance. Following is a listicle featuring seven sinking cities, their distinctive challenges, and the reasons why they are slowly sinking.

7 Sinking Cities and Their Major Causes

Jakarta, Indonesia

The city of Jakarta is commonly known to be one of the fastest-sinking cities in the world. This over extraction of ground water, used in homes and industry, and the sheer mass of the city infrastructure, has been stretching the city downwards. By 2030, the mass movement into the giant cities will render this city intolerable, and the authorities are making strategy preparations to move the capital out.

Venice, Italy

The beautiful canals of Venice are major tourist attractions and are visited by millions of tourists every year, yet the city is gradually sinking up because of human, as well as natural factors. Human activities such as groundwater pumping and settling of the crust of the earth following the last ice age have also made Venice sink- this is enhanced by the frequent flooding and the effects of climate change.

New York City, United States

The large structures of New York City put enormous forces on the ground, and together with groundwater extraction, lead to gradual subsistence. The city is at risk of rising sea levels particularly in the low-lying and coastal areas.

Houston, United States

The aggressive mining of groundwater and minerals, oil and gas pumping contributes to the subsidence of Houston. Due to the displacing soil, sinkholes and cracks have begun to form in the infrastructures, which can have a long-term threat to the residents and businesses.

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Rotterdam is located at the outlet of a number of large rivers in the RhineMeuse delta. The city has geological settling and is always challenged by water management because of its low elevation. Although the Netherlands has been noted to have the best flood control mechanisms in the world, subsidence is still a major threat.

Virginia Beach, United States

Land subsidence in Virginia Beach is also associated with groundwater pumping as well as with natural tectonic processes, so its highly populated shore is exposed to hurricanes and to heightened exposure to flood risks as sea levels rise.

Bangkok, Thailand

The fast urbanization of Bangkok has overburdened the soils which are soft and heavy with clay. Together with the unregulated pumping of groundwater, this has caused the city to sink since, due to frequent flooding, the city is at risk of its safety and sustainability.

Subsidence in major cities is not just a curiosity of geology, but a crisis on the rise, crossing climate change, infrastructure planning, and the safety of the people. To deal with these threats, a mixture of enhanced urban planning, decreasing the rate of groundwater abstraction, technological advancement, and international collaboration is necessary to guarantee the future of these international centers.