Cities

Urban Growth 2020-2050

An Urban World

The world is now majority urban. Asia and Africa are driving global urbanization. Asian rates of urbanization will slow in coming decades and African rates will accelerate. Latin America became a largely urban region by the end of the 20th century. North America and Europe urbanized in the first half of the 20th century.

Urban and Middle Class

Global urbanization and middle-class growth have developed hand-in-hand. Rural-to-urban migration typically involves growing wealth and movement from lower to middle-class. However, while the poor have typically been concentrated in rural contexts, the coming decades will witness an expansion of urban poverty.

% Urban Population

Income Status of Urban Growth