Patrick Hayes, writing for Spiked Online, brings to my attention the fact that last month marked the first time when more than half the Chinese population lived in cities. An analogous milestone was reached a few years ago for the global population, so it’s gratifying to see that China isn’t too far behind the curve. This especially incredible to see, since as late as 1980, less than 20% of China’s people lived in cities. As is almost always the case with urbanization, this trend has been paired with the usual increases in longevity, prosperity, and security.

What’s not as often recognized is that such incredible urbanization is most likely to be better not only for the people who participate in it, but the environment as well. In an interview with The European, economist Edward Glaeser reiterates many of the benefits of cities, including their positive environmental impacts. In short, city dwellers use less energy and produce less pollution than do rural folks. They also tend to use land and other resources more efficiently.

But what I really like about Glaeser’s interview, and what I wish he’d spent more time on, are the less tangible human benefits to urbanization. He has a great line that cities are making us “more human”, a sentiment with which I whole-heartedly agree, and helping us foster greater creativity, closer relationships, and a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world.

So welcome, China, to the majority-urban world. Now let’s see about getting the other 50% to join us.