A UN report, State of the World Population 2007 titled “Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth”, released on Wednesday, says the population of towns and cities in developing countries like India is set to double in the space of a generation, while the urban population in the developed world is expected to grow relatively lower. Even though by next year more than half the world population will be living in urban areas, the urban growth is actually showing a decline in most regions, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said:

• Major cities in the world, including Mumbai and Kolkata, witnessing a rare phenomenon: The number of people moving out of these metros is on the increase. In Kolkata, more moving out than in

• By 2030, nearly 40 per cent of India’s population (590 million people) to move to towns and cities

• Mumbai, Kolkata nowhere close to the size that doomsayers predicted for them in the 1970s

• 29 per cent of the Indian population live in urban areas, 55 per cent in slums. Much below global average of 48 per cent and lower than the average for developing countries, which was 40 per cent

• 40 per cent of India’s urban residents have no access to safe water

• Mumbai the most densely populated city in the world, with 29,650 people per sq km. To be the second-most populous city in the world by 2020, with over 25 million inhabitants

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