Human rights have a relatively long but limited list. Every year, some claims are added to them, but what we recognize as human rights are still those that are included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two Covenants – namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – with some additions that have been added later due to soft law documents – namely declarations, statements and other non-binding documents – to this category.

With this description, many desires and even essential needs of everyday life of humans are not included in the list of human rights. However, there are many positive and fundamental human rights that are still not implemented and enforced; let alone what governments are not obligated to do. Nevertheless, many of the needs of humans can be considered as basic necessities that are necessary for the fulfillment, respect, and protection of human rights in the present time.

Imagine a situation where a government wants to fulfill the right to education or the right to healthcare in a society. The existence of energy, especially in the form of electricity, public access to the internet, access to necessary supplies in each field, or access to trained individuals are all essential elements that without them, fulfilling these rights becomes practically impossible. Even if the best hospitals are built, if patients cannot travel to them with suitable transportation and the hospital lacks electricity, necessary electrical equipment, and temperature control, it becomes practically impossible to use that hospital.

What is now, more than half a century of the twentieth century – when the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were preparing its draft – can hinder the fulfillment of human rights, it is these very items that their number is much more than what we have listed. The population of the mega-cities that have emerged in these seventy-eighty years from within southern societies is not comparable to the population of New York, Tokyo and London at that time. Let’s leave Tokyo as an exception; the rest of the northern cities have been excluded from this list and have been replaced by southern cities. Cities that have often been formed without prior planning, only with the help of sudden population growth and the flood of migration from rural areas, have turned into swollen villages with sub-rural facilities. If people who migrated to cities had access to a minimum of water and traditional hygiene in villages, they may have been forced to build with unhygienic water mixed with sewage in cities.

Many of these people live in the outskirts of big and overcrowded cities. What has drawn them to the slums of Calcutta, Bombay, and Dhaka is work. Work, of course, is less available in the outskirts of cities and this dark-skinned population must inhale the fumes of cheap transportation and low-quality fuel in order to reach their jobs in the morning and evening rush hours. The pollution from this constant movement affects the entire society. The common issue in these cities is the lack or inadequacy of public transportation, otherwise Tokyo, with a larger population than these cities, experiences less pollution.

The lack of necessary infrastructure for transportation of this population causes their lifespan to be shortened in the cities: hours spent in traffic, air pollution, deadly accidents, old and worn-out vehicles that impose high costs on owners and society, and many other problems. Developed countries have partially addressed these issues through planning and providing infrastructure, but in underdeveloped and developing countries, these problems often become part of official policies to control the overflow of population into cities: “this is not a place to live, go back to the village and enjoy the clean air.” This even appears in official advertisements. Perhaps we can remember television and radio programs in the 1980s and 1990s that praised village life and highlighted the disadvantages of cities; the government’s inability to control the cities, the population moving to cities.

The increase in urbanization may be uncontrollable. This trend seems inevitable after the industrial revolution. In the past, six farmers had to work to provide food for ten people, but today one farmer with machinery and modern methods is enough for the same amount of food. Rural populations are moving to cities in pursuit of other opportunities, easier jobs for themselves or for future generations. Official advertisements are no longer enough, the urban and rural lifestyles can be seen through the lens of mobile phones. Every rural resident has someone in the city and can see the difference. If they desire, they can go to the city. Efforts must be made for the city.

Expanding, developing, and updating public transportation is not a human right. But it’s not too far off. Those who see their dreams in the metropolises still migrate anyway. Everyone is entitled and entitled to choose their place of residence. What deprives him of the right to health, hygiene, even family life and the highest level of living facilities is the poor quality and inadequacy of transportation. Someone who does not have access to a bus and cannot get to work properly or on time with a tram or metro is forced to use a motor vehicle; the cheaper, the better, and of course, the lower quality. He holds his life in his hands and chases after a piece of bread; until the day when breathing becomes difficult for him or he collides with another vehicle of the same kind. If public transportation is not a human right, we must recognize the need for it to fulfill other rights.