Signal New urban definition puts 76.5% of people in cities in 2015, against 54% previously

Summary

The chapter's opening statistic turns on a definitional change: under a recently adopted definition of urban areas, 76.5 per cent of the world's population already lived in them in 2015, against earlier estimates of 54 per cent.

Classification

Main topicCities & Housing

Secondary topicsDemographics & Migration

Region menusGlobal

Occurrencescope:global

Impactscope:global

Time horizon0-3 years (2026-07-26)

Last updated2026-07-29 04:49:52

Evidence 1

Megatrends 2040: Volatility, Uncertainty, Resourcefulness Hellenic Republic, Presidency of the Government — Working Group on Strategic Foresight and Futures Research (표지·판권면 로고로만 확인) page=12;section=Megatrend 4 Urbanisation 2022-07 (문헌 본문에 발행일 표기 없음 — PDF 메타데이터 생성일 2022-07-25 기준) accessed 2026-07-26

Part of trends 1

TrendMegatrend 4: urbanisation5 signals

Directly linked issues 1

IssueCities struggling with overcrowding, inequality, heat, pollution and congestion1 trends · 1 signals

Relation types: direct_urgent · supports

Public id: fm-d38bda629a7c