The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad overview of the recent patterns and trends of urban growth in developing countries. Over the last 20 years many urban areas have experienced dramatic growth, as a result of rapid population growth and as the world’s economy has been transformed by a combination of rapid technological and political change. Around 3 billion people—virtually half of ...

In both developed and developing countries around the world, the health of significant numbers of people is adversely affected by a lack of adequate housing. Large-scale migrations into already crowded developing nation cities compound existing health problems associated with poor indoor air quality, contaminated drinking water, and limited sanitation infrastructure. In the developed world, lea...

Known for its ancient metropolises, China has recently amazed the world with its rapid urban development as it enters the new millennium. Although China is still a predominately agrarian society with only 36 percent of its population living in cities in 2000, it has more people living in cities (456 million) than the total population of any other nation in the world except India (National Burea...

Global Cities are characterised by their dominance in world affairs, linked to population size and political, economic, social and cultural infrastructure. As urban centres expand, particularly in the developing regions of the South, a new generation of Global Cities seems likely to emerge. Indeed, non-Western Global Cities have already emerged in some Asian (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore) and Lati...

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