Urbanization

The world is becoming increasingly urbanized. Today, more than half of the global population lives in urban areas, up from around one-third in 1950 and projected to increase to around two-thirds in 2050. Sustainable development depends critically on the successful management of urban growth to create sustainable cities in both developed and developing countries. The Population Division produces the dataset World Urbanization Prospects on a regular basis. It prepares estimates and projections of the size of the urban population at the global, regional and national levels. It also tracks the current and future size of the world’s largest cities. 

The 2018 revision of the World Urbanization Prospects also provides estimates and projections of the population of urban agglomerations with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018 for the period 1950-2035.