EON

Boston  – The State of the World Population 2007 report has shown that for the first time, more than half of the population of the world will be living in a city or town by 2008.

The report is being released on Wednesday in London. It does though raise some warning flags which must be paid a bit of attention to. It shows that by 2030 the urban population is expected to swell to almost 5 billion, almost 60% of the world population!

UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid stated that just about all of the population growth is going to be taking place in cities and developing countries.

He stated that between 2000 and 2030 the population growth in urban Asia is going to grow from 1.4 billion to 2.6 billion. Africa is going to grow from 300 million to 740 million, with Latin America and the Caribbean growing from 400 million to 600 million.

This is the biggest urban population growth in history.

Obaid stated “We have never seen urban growth like this in history in terms of its speed and scale. Yet, the impact of future growth has not captured public imagination and surprisingly little is being done to maximize the potential benefits of this transformation or to reduce its potentially negative consequences.”