Trend Towards Urbanization of the World's Population

Yuwei Zhang
For the first time in history, more than half of the world's population will be living in towns and cities in 2008, states the State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth, published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Released on 27 June 2007, the report points out that more than half of the world's human population, or 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas and the number is expected to swell to almost 5 billion by 2030, with towns and cities of developing countries making up 81 per cent of urban humanity. Over the twentieth century, the urban population grew very rapidly, from 220 million to 2.84 billion, and the next few decades will see an unprecedented scale of urban growth, particularly in developing countries. Between 2000 and 2030, the urban population of Asia would grow from 1.36 billion to 2.64 billion, Africa from nearly 295 million to 742 million, and Latin American and the Caribbean from 394 million to almost 610 million, according to the report.
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