He who controls the sand: the mining ‘mafias’ killing each other to build cities Rapid urbanisation has made an ordinary commodity suddenly precious: sand. As cities continue to voraciously need concrete, glass and asphalt, illegal […]
Shifting sand: Why we’re running out of aggregate
With global demand for building sand tripling in the last 20 years, unregulated sand mining is decimating rivers and coastlines in the developing world, enabled by political corruption and “sand mafias”. This article outlines the […]