Urbanisation's different strokes

The waves of urbanisation have been uneven around the world and are intrinsically tied to the level of development and industrialisation in a country

The world is rapidly urbanising. Given the projected population growth rates for the next few decades, urbanisation is only going to accelerate. In the 1960s, around 33 per cent of the global population lived in urban areas, which grew to 55 per cent by 2020. However, the global figures tend not to reveal the distinctive regional trajectories of urbanisation. North America is the most urbanised region with 82 per cent of its population living in urban areas. In contrast, by 2020, Asia had an urbanisation rate of 50 per cent, meaning half of its population resided in cities, while it