UN: Nigeria, US, three others to lead city growth

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, American Politics, Headlines Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia and the United States will lead the world’s growth in urban populations in the next four decades. This will lead to challenges in the provision of jobs, housing, energy and infrastructure, the United Nations said yesterday.

Ahead of its sustainability summit in Rio, Brazil, in June, the world body released new forecasts for urban populations in a bid to urge global leaders to come up with concrete plans at the conference in Brazil to produce sustainable cities.

Nigeria’s cities are expected to add 200 million people by 2050, more than doubling the country’s current population; India’s cities are to add 497 million, increasing the current total population by more than 40 per cent; and Indonesia’s cities are set to add 92 million people, about a 38 per cent increase in its total population, according to the UN’s 2011 Revision of the World Urbanization Prospects.

U.S. cities are forecast to add 103 million people, raising the country’s population by a third, while China is due to boost its total population by a quarter, with an increase of 341 million in its cities.

-The Nationwp_posts