Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
24 October 2008
London — A new report on the state of the world's cities by UN-Habitat shows that the total urban populations of the developing world will be more than double by the middle of the 21st century.
The State of the World's Cities 2008/9 report which was launched by Executive Director of UN-Habitat Anna Tibaijuka demonstrates that the major demographic shift will take place mainly in Africa and Asia.
The report has been released ahead of the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum which will take place in Nanjing, China, from the 3 to 6 November.
The theme of the forum is Harmonious Urbanization: The challenge of balanced territorial development.
In the report
Nairobi, Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire and the US cities of Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington DC and Miami are criticised for being above an internationally recognised "alert" line used to warn governments of the consequences of a growing rich-poor divide.
"High levels of inequality can lead to negative social, economic and political consequences. They create social and political fractures that can develop into social unrest."
Only a dozen sub-Saharan African cities are predicted to be among the largest 120 cities in the world by 2025 with the biggest being Kinshasa expected to have 17 million people.
Nairobi is predicted to be the third largest of all the East African and Horn of Africa states with a population of 5.68 million behind Khartoum with 7.4 million and Addis Ababa with 5.72 million.
At least 30 cities will have more than 10 million people.
The report notes the increasing movement from rural areas to towns and says that 2008 is the year that urban dwellers finally surpassed the number of rural dwellers worldwide.
The report also analyses how climate change and the rise of sea levels will affect cities around the world. Most critically the report also consolidates and analyses data about the contribution of emissions by cities and urban areas to climate change.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Catholic Information Service for Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
