Around 62.5% of Armenians will live in cities in 2025: UN report

PanARMENIAN.Net - By 2030 two-thirds of the world's population will be living in cities, the urban population in developing countries will double, and the area covered by cities could triple, the Associated Press said citing a UN report launched Wednesday, May 18.

According to the report by Nairobi-based UN-Habitat, Armenia’s level of urbanization will stand at 62.6% - 1,872.000 people - down by the 62.7% (1,874.000 people), registered in 2015, which is contrary to the trend of rising level of urbanization worldwide.

In Turkey, 77.7% of the population will be living in urban areas in 2025, up from the 73.4% registered in 2015. 56.1% of Georgians will be dwelling in cities in 2025 against the 53.6% in 2015. The level of urbanization in Azerbaijan and Iran will stand at 57.8% and 77.8%, respectively.

Since the last UN conference on cities — Habitat II — in Istanbul in 1996, the center of gravity for "megacities" has shifted to developing regions, the report said.

In 1995, there were 22 large cities with between 5 and 10 million inhabitants and 14 megacities with more than 10 million around the world, the report said. By 2015, the numbers had doubled to 44 large cities and 29 megacities, most located in the developing world.

"This trend will continue as several large cities in Asia, Latin America and Africa are projected to become megacities by 2030," it said, according to AP.

But the report said that although these mega-million cities are the leading edge of urbanization, they are not the fastest growing.

"The fastest growing urban centers are the small and medium cities with less than one million inhabitants, which account for 59 percent of the world's urban population and 62 percent of the urban population in Africa," it said, according to AP.

The report calls for a "New Urban Agenda" to be adopted at the upcoming UN conference — Habitat III — to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in October.