Global urbanisation

Map

This map and accompany table show the estimated and projected population change in 40 of 590 major urban centres across the planet, between 1950 and 2050. It is based on UN commissioned research published in 2007: 10 years old now, but still relevant for showing overall trends. Data were collected from national census surveys where available, so the picture is not quite complete. Patterns of global population growth and urbanisation are completely different compared with the 19th and early to mid-20th Century. Europe's once great centres of industry are no longer among the world's largest cities. Most of the future growth in urban areas globally will be in low and middle income countries. The major focus of change is now emphatically in parts of Asia, Africa and South America. People and Societies cohere into urban areas for many reasons, and there are huge social, cultural, educational, and technological advantages in so-doing. Focusing human population in one place can also be effective in conserving natural resources, and in efficient use of energy. But urbanisation also presents immense problems, as this chart describes.