SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

FIGURE 5.3:
Even countries with fewer people in cities are now urbanizing rapidly
Source: Based on UN DESA 2014a.
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66.6 percent cut-off points. Most high urbanization
countries are in East Asia, while countries
with low rates are in South Asia (Figure 5.3).
Pacific island countries cross the high, medium
and low urbanization groups. Even countries
with low and medium levels, however, are now
urbanizing rapidly, with large increases in city
populations expected by 2050.
Urbanization rates are projected to increase
in nearly all Asia-Pacific countries or areas
between 2015 and 2050. Bangladesh, China,
India, Indonesia and Pakistan will each have
at least 50 million additional urban dwellers
by 2050, together accounting for nearly half of
global urban population growth.
FROM MEGACITIES TO SMALL
AND MEDIUM CITIES
Cities in Asia-Pacific are remarkably diverse,
starting with their population size, which
stretches from less than 300,000 people to
more than 30 million. ‘Megacities’ with over 10
million residents have attracted much attention,
and will continue to grow in number and size.
In 1975, only three cities globally had more
than 10 million residents: Tokyo, New York
and Mexico City. There were 23 in 2010, with
a predicted 37 by 2025, 19 of which will be in
Asia-Pacific (Figure 5.4).
Several megacities, such as Manila, Jakarta
and Bangkok, have expanded into sprawling
mega-urban regions that stretch 50 kilometres
to 100 kilometres from the city centre,
engulfing small towns, cities and rural areas
on the urban periphery on a scale never seen
before. In 2025, 10 cities will likely have more
than 20 million people, of which six will be
in developing Asia-Pacific—Delhi, Shanghai,