Insights
More than half of us now live in cities
The world is now majority-urban: about 57.8% of people live in cities, and the share rises roughly half a point a year. By mid-century, close to seven in ten people are projected to be urban.
Urbanisation tracks development: high-income countries are typically 80%+ urban (Japan ~92%, United States ~83%), while the fastest urban growth now happens in lower-income countries, where cities expand faster than services.
Why it matters
Cities concentrate demand for housing, water, transit and power, but they also concentrate opportunity and deliver services more efficiently per person. How the next billion urban residents are housed is arguably the defining infrastructure question of the century.