Half of the world's urban population growth over the next 25 years will be concentrated in just seven countries. India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia are projected to add more than 500 million new urban residents between 2025 and 2050. This figure accounts for more than half of the 986 million global urban population increase predicted for that period.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that this data was presented by Cheryl Sawyer, a representative of the UN Population Division, during a session titled "Future Urbanization: How Will Your City Change in the Coming Decades?" held as part of the World Urban Forum (WUF13). The findings were part of the UN's "World Urbanization Prospects" for 2025.
Conversely, more than 3,000 cities worldwide experienced population declines between 2015 and 2025. More than one-third of these cities are located in China, while 17 percent are in India. According to the report, the size of a city does not guarantee continued growth, as major metropolises like Mexico City and Chengdu have also faced population decreases.
The World Urban Forum (WUF), established by the United Nations in 2001, is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization. It addresses the challenges of rapid urban growth and its impact on communities, economies, and climate change. As global populations shift toward urban centers, international cooperation remains vital for developing infrastructure and housing that can accommodate the nearly 1 billion additional city dwellers expected by the mid-century mark.
