THE FUTURE IS urban and that future has already arrived. Millennia after the first human settlements were established, the UN announced in 2007 that more than 50% of the world’s population lived in cities. The UN’s Global report on human settlements 2011 predicts that 59% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2030; cities’ headcounts are growing by 67 million every year. Fully 91% of this increase is in developing countries.
"It is estimated that it will take just 15 years for the global urban population to cross 4 billion," says Roland Chalons-Browne, chief executive of Siemens’ financial services division. "About 70% of the world’s population is expected to reside in cities by 2050 – as compared with only 1 billion in 1960. Megacities are growing at a scorching pace, with those in emerging markets growing the fastest."...
