The 36 cities
expected to have more than 8 million inhabitants in 2015
Number of mega-cities
(more than 8 million inhabitants)
Population living in urban areas
The increasing number of
mega-cities of more than eight million inhabitants illustrates in itself the major
demographic and geographical trends of the past century. In 1950, only two cities,
London and New York, were that size. In 1900 they were the world’s most populous
cities, followed by Paris. In 1975, there were 11 mega-cities, including six in the
industrialized countries. In 1995, there were 23, most of them (17) in the developing
countries. In 2015, the projected number of mega-cities is 36, 30 of them in the
developing world and most (22) in Asia.
Urbanization is taking place at different speeds on different continents. In North
America, the number of city-dwellers overtook the rural population before the Second
World War. In Europe, this happened after the war and in Latin America at the beginning
of the 1960s. Today, these three continents are almost equally urbanized (75% of
Europeans and Latin Americans are city-dwellers and 77% of North Americans, according
to UN estimates for the year 2000).
A similar process is occurring in Africa and Asia, which are still mainly rural.
Their proportion of city-dwellers rose from 25% in 1975, to 35% in 1995 and a little
more than 37% today. The turning point, when the figure will top 50%, is predicted
for around 2025.
In terms of numbers, the world’s city-dwellers in 2025 should total 307 million in
North America, 566 million in Latin America, 572 million in Europe, 752 million in
Africa and 2,507 million (2.5 billion) in Asia. In 2015, the world’s six biggest
cities are expected to be Tokyo, Bombay, Lagos, São Paulo, Dhaka and Karachi.
Experts say the rate of population growth will eventually decline everywhere, but
once again at very different speeds. Between 2005 and 2010, annual population growth
rates are predicted to be 3.82% in Africa, 2.59% in Asia, 1.68% in Latin America,
1.06% in North America and 0.24% in Europe.