Where Urbanisation Is Happening — and Why the Pattern Matters

🗺️ Where Urbanisation Is Happening — and Why the Pattern Matters

Urbanisation is not happening everywhere at the same pace. The global pattern tells a story about where in the world development is currently occurring most rapidly — and that pattern has shifted dramatically in recent decades.

High-Income Countries (HICs) — Urbanisation Already Complete

In the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany and other HICs, urbanisation largely happened during the 18th and 19th centuries, driven by the industrial revolution. In the UK, the proportion of the population living in cities went from around 20% in 1800 to over 70% by 1900. Today, 83% of the UK population is urban — this proportion is growing only very slowly. The same is true across Western Europe, North America, Japan and Australia. Urban growth in HICs is mostly a thing of the past.

Low-Income Countries and NEEs — Where Growth Is Happening Now

The fastest urbanisation in the world today is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are experiencing the same transformation that Britain went through in the industrial revolution — but compressed into a far shorter timeframe, with far larger populations, and often without the equivalent infrastructure investment.

This difference in pace matters. Britain's urbanisation took over a century. Nigeria's is happening in decades. The result is that cities cannot build roads, sewers, schools and hospitals fast enough to keep up with incoming populations — which is why informal settlements grow so rapidly.

The Rise of Megacities

A megacity is defined as an urban area with a population exceeding 10 million people. In 1950, only two cities on Earth met this threshold: New York City and Tokyo. By 2020, there were over 30 megacities worldwide. And crucially, the geography of megacities has completely shifted. In 1950, the dominant megacities were in North America and Europe — the rich world. Today, the majority are in Asia, South America and Africa.

City	Population ~1950	Population ~2020	World Region
Tokyo	11.3 million	37.4 million	East Asia (HIC)
New York	12.3 million	18.8 million	North America (HIC)
Delhi	1.4 million	30.3 million	South Asia (NEE)
Shanghai	6.1 million	27.1 million	East Asia (NEE)
São Paulo	2.3 million	22.0 million	South America (NEE)
Lagos	0.3 million	~15–21 million	West Africa (NEE)
Kinshasa	0.2 million	14.0 million	Central Africa (LIC)
London	8.4 million	9.0 million	Western Europe (HIC)

The table tells the whole story: Delhi grew by 2,000%, Lagos by over 6,000%. London barely moved.

This shift — from European/North American megacities to Asian and African megacities — is not just a demographic curiosity. It reflects the entire arc of global development. As economic growth and industrialisation spread to South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the same urbanisation forces that built New York and London in the 19th century are now building Delhi and Lagos in the 21st.