World urban populations
Posted on July 15, 2007
Jiminy! Seoul's got 23,200,000 inhabitants! Urban populations infographic (PDF) accompanying a Guardian article.
In 2008, half of the world's population will be in urban areas. The shift from rural to urban changes a balance that has lasted for millennia. Within one generation, five billion people, or 60% of humanity, will live in cities. The urban population of Africa and Asia is set to double in this time.
According to the "State of the World Population Report", more than one billion people are living in slums.
The basic features of slum life have not changed: The difference today is one of scale. Slum dwellers of the new millennium are no longer a few thousand in a few cities of a rapidly industrializing continent. They include one out of every three city dwellers, a billion people, a sixth of the world’s population.
Urbanization increases girls’ access to education and promotes cultural acceptance of their right to education. Primary, and especially secondary, education for girls has crucial multiplier effects that increase women’s social and economic status and expand their freedom of choice. Educated women tend to marry later and have fewer and healthier children. In adulthood, they have greater employment potential, income-earning capacity and decision-making authority within the household. Other benefits include knowledge and capacities to maintain and protect their health, including preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. All of these are helpful in the fight against poverty.
July 15, 2007 . 05:09 PM
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