make demands on the environment and natural resources.
2050, the world’s urban population is expected to almost double, from 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.3 billion. Sub-Saharan Africa will experience a drastic increase in its urban population, from 298 million to more than a billion over the next four decades.
Among developing regions, urbanization has gone farthest in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 79 percent of the people now live in urban areas; this number is expected to increase to 89 percent by 2050. By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas, in some countries placing tremendous pressure on the capacity of the natural and human-made environment to support them. The consequences are deteriorating living conditions, the growth of slums, the destruction of habitat, and air and water pollution.
Cities, now home to almost half of the world’s people, are growing rapidly in size and number, especially in developing countries.
People flock to cities for work, access to public services, and a higher standard of living. By
T he urban environment
data.worldbank.org/atlas-global/urban See pp. 6–7 for more information100
Cities house half the world's population, but basic services are often lacking in poor areas
0 20 40 60 80 100
Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia have the lowest access to improved sanitation in urban areas
Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation facilties (%)
East Asia &
Pacific
Latin America &
Caribbean
Middle East &
North Africa
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
High-income
Source: WHO; World Bank estimates 1990
2008
1990 2008
1990 2008
1990 2008
1990 2008
1990 2008
1990 2008 Europe &
Central Asia
The proportion of people living in slums is falling, but remains high in Sub-Saharan Africa
Proportion of urban population living in slum areas (% of urban population)
Source: United Nations Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects: 2007 Revision
Eastern
Asia Western
Latin Asia America &
Caribbean Northern
Africa South Eastern
Asia Saharan
Sub-Africa 0
25 50 75 100
1990 2010 1990 2010 1990 2010 1990 2010 1990 2010 1990 2010
UN Habitat defines a slum dwelling as a household that lacks one or more of the following:
•
Durable housing of a permanent nature•
Sufficient living space•
Easy access to safe water•
Access to adequate sanitation•
Security of tenure that prevents forced evictions.By this definition more than 900 million people in developing regions live in slums—about one in three people living in urban areas or one of every six people worldwide. To achieve significant improvements in the lives of slum dwellers, public and private investment in durable, affordable housing is required.
Urbanization and the environment
The cost of urbanization to human health comes from a variety of sources. Diarrheal diseases from inadequate sanitation account for an estimated 4 percent of the global burden of disease. The proximity to industrial works and roadways and the use of inefficient and polluting sources of energy can result in exposure to high levels of soot and small, airborne particles (PM10—fine, suspended particles less than 10 microns in diameter) that contribute to lung cancer, other respiratory diseases, and heart disease.
Air and water pollution in many of the world’s major cities cause moderate to severe sickness and death, and cost billions of dollars in lost productivity and damages. Although all the world’s large cities share these problems, water pollution tends to be most serious in South, Southeast, and Central Asia. Air
pollution has the biggest impact in China, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. Not only are the human and financial costs of pollution high, they tend to fall disproportionately on poor people. So addressing pollution is justified on equity, economic, and environmental grounds.
101 Environment
Country 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Urban population living in slum areas (% of urban population)
Highest urban populations in slums (2005–2007) Mumbai, India, is one of the fastest growing cities
in the developing world
Rank
Sierra Leone Central African Republic Sudan
Chad Angola Guinea-Bissau Niger Mozambique Ethiopia Madagascar
97i 95i 94 90 87i 83i 82 80 79 78 i indicates data are for 2005
Former Spanish Sahara
The Gambia St. Vincent and the Grenadines St. Lucia
St. Kitts and Nevis
São Tomé and Príncipe Monaco
Luxembourg Liechtenstein
Kiribati
Grenada Dominica
Cape Verde
Barbados The Bahamas
Antigua and Barbuda
Andorra
Martinique (Fr)
Uruguay
U n i t e d S t a t e s
United Kingdom
Trinidad and Tobago
Togo Suriname
Spain
Sierra Leone Senegal
R.B. de Venezuela
Portugal
Peru
Paraguay Panama
Nicaragua
The Netherlands
Morocco
Mexico
Mauritania Mali
Liberia Jamaica
Ireland Iceland
Faeroe Islands (Den)
Honduras Haiti
Guyana
Guinea-Bissau Guinea Guatemala
Ghana Fra
El Salvador
Ecuador Cuba
d'IvoireCôte Costa Rica
Colombia
Chile
C a n a d a
Burkina Faso
B r a z i l
Bolivia
Benin Belize
Argentina
Alg Dominican
Republic US Virgin Islands (US)
Puerto Rico (US)
Netherlands Antilles (Neth)
Isle of Man (UK)
Guadeloupe (Fr)
Greenland (Den)
Gibraltar (UK)
French Polynesia (Fr)
French Guiana (Fr)
Channel Islands (UK)
Cayman Islands (UK)
Bermuda (UK)
Aruba (Neth) Turks and Caicos
Islands (UK)
Latin America & Caribbean 79%
Middle East & North Africa 58%
35–49%
50–64%
65–79%
80% or more less than 35%
no data
urban population as a share of total population, 2009
Urbanization
102
Population Reference Bureau United Nations Population Information Network
www.un.org/popin
www.prb.org
United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects, 2007 Revision
esa.un.org/unup World Bank Urban Development www.worldbank.org/urban Latin America and the Caribbean has the highest share of people
living in urban areas.
The urban population of Sub-Saharan Africa is growing at 3.8 percent, faster than any other region.
Urban areas cover only 3 percent of the world’s land area.
In 1800, 3 percent of the world’s people lived in urban areas;
by 1900 14 percent did; and today more than 50 percent do.
Almost 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from cities.
Facts Internet links
West Bank and Gaza
Vanuatu
Tonga Timor-Leste
Solomon Islands Singapore Federated States of Micronesia
Marshall Islands Cyprus
Comoros
Brunei Darussalam Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Arab Rep.
Switzerland Sweden
Swaziland Sudan
Sri Lanka
South Africa
Somalia Slovenia
Slovak Republic Serbia
Saudi Arabia
Rwanda
Papua New Guinea
Kyrgyz Republic
Kenya
Kazakhstan
Jordan
Japan Italy
Islamic Republic of Iran Iraq
FYR Macedonia nce
Finland
Ethiopia Estonia
Eritrea
Equatorial Guinea
Djibouti Denmark
Dem. Rep.
of Congo
Dem. People's Rep. of Korea Czech Republic
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bhutan
New Zealand Armenia
Arab Rep.
of Egypt
Angola eria
Montenegro
Afghanistan Albania
Réunion (Fr) New
Caledonia (Fr) N. Mariana Islands (US)
Mayotte (Fr)
Guam (US)
American Samoa (US)
Sub-Saharan Africa 37%
Europe & Central Asia 64%
South Asia 30%
East Asia & Pacific 45%
103 Environment
Food Price Index 2002–2004 base prices
Source: FAO * June 2010
World food prices rose sharply from 2006 to 2008
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
* Food Price Index
Meat Dairy Cereal
50 100 150 200 250 300
Food production per capita in Southeast Asia and South America has risen steadily
Food production per capita index, 1999–2001=100
Source: FAO1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 20082009 70
80 90 100 110 120 130
World Africa South America Southeast Asia