EMB
CITIES
ON THE MOVE
Source: Urban Age/LSE Cities
Forget the urban centers of North America and Europe,
most population growth in the coming decades will occur in
the cities and slums of Africa and Asia, with China, India and
Nigeria accounting for 40 percent of global growth over the
next 10 years.
Interestingly, the bulk of this future urbanization will not take
place in national capitals, but in small and medium-sized cities in
low-and middle-income locations. According to Robert Muggah,
Research Director at the Brazilian-based think tank, the Igarapé
Institute, the result is that “the future geography of security and
development will be marked by cities you’ve never heard of.”
3%
of the world’s population lived in cities in the
early 1800s as compared to over 50% today.
4,000
There are currently over
cities with more
than 100,000 inhabitants around the world, home to over
four billion people.
600
Just
cities account for more than two thirds of
global gross domestic product.
34 megacities
are home to one-fifth of
humanity.
The global slum population will expand from one billion
to
people by 2040.
two billion
The information used in this article was sourced from The World Economic Forum in an article
from Robert Muggah, Research Director, Igarapé Institute.
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