Global rates of urbanisation are growing rapidly. In 2000, 47% of the world population was urban. More than half of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2008. By 2030, it is expected that 60% of the world population will live in urban areas. Almost 180,000 people are added to the urban population each day. UN-HABITAT estimates indicate that in 2001, 924 million people, or 31.6% of the world's urban population, lived in slums. In developing regions, slum dwellers account for 43% of the urban population, compared to 6% of the urban population in developed regions. It is projected that in the next 30 years, the number of slum dwellers worldwide will increase to 2 billion if no firm or concrete action is taken to arrest the situation.

Good planning makes good places to live – wherever you live. In cities round the world where half the world’s population lives, whether the problem is precarious housing (slums, shanties, forced evictions), traffic congestion, managing economic development, curbing urban sprawl or mitigating the impact of climate change or natural disaster, planning is vital to improving people's lives.

Author:

Judith Eversley

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

12-Sep-07

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