UN says countries must learn to cope with more urbanisation

Next year, for the first time in history, more than half of the world's people will be living in towns and cities. By 2030 the urban population is expected to reach almost five billion—60% of humanity—a new report says.⇓

Most of the growth will be in poor countries and among poor people, setting challenges for local authorities to provide adequate health, sanitation, and services ahead of the expected influx.

Speaking in London last week at the launch of the latest world population report, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, warned, “Within a single generation the urban population in …