ABSTRACT
The world population is becoming predominantly urban. 1 While the population of industrialized countries is already largely urban, urbanization processes are still acute in developing countries. Today, 40 per cent of the population of developing countries already lives in cities. By 2020, that figure will have risen to 52 per cent. Latin America and the Caribbean already has 75 per cent city dwellers, while in contrast, only one-third of the population of Africa and Asia live in urban areas. The greatest challenge will present itself in Africa and Asia, where an explosive demographic change is expected in the next quarter century. By 2015, 153 of the world’s 358 cities with more than one million inhabitants will be in Asia. Of the 27 ‘megacities’ with more than 10 million inhabitants, 15 will be in Asia. There are even indications of forthcoming megacities with 20 or even 30 million inhabitants; urban agglomerations of a size never known before in human history, most of which will be in the developing countries.
