Rising Urban Populations

Ten thousand people converged on Vancouver this week for the World Urban Forum, which finished today.  The conference discussed the world’s rapidly growing urban populations, particularly in developing countries, and the potential social and economic effects of rapid growth such as urban poverty, sanitation and housing issues.  According to this BBC News article, the United Nations estimates that more than half the world’s population will live in urban areas by the end of 2007.

This BBC interactive map is fascinating — it shows the growth of urban populations over the past 50 years, and projects growth into 2015.  (Make sure to use the cool slider on the bottom). Among U.S. cities, Los Angeles is expected to hit 13 million people, with Chicago at 9.4 million and Philadelphia, Dallas and Miami all between 5-6 million apiece.