Worldwide Urbanization Reflected by Growth of Mega-Cities

A new report by the United Nations projects the growth of the world's urban population, which is expected to surpass six billion by 2045.

1 minute read

July 21, 2014, 1:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Adam Pasick shares the findings of a new report by the United Nations, called the World Urbanization Prospectus, that paints a portrait of a rapidly urbanizing world. Pasick's take on the report is to detail the shifting rankings of the world's top-ten most populated cities between today and 2030:

"Some of the other mega-cities on the 2014 list won’t be quite as persistent—by 2030, New York, Osaka, and Sao Paulo will no longer make the top 10, and Mexico City will barely hang on as the sole representative outside of Asia and Africa. This reflects the major shift driven by the urbanization in Asia and Africa, particularly in India (404 million projected new city dwellers by 2030), China (292 million), and Nigeria (212 million)."

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