• 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

• Most urban growth coming from natural increase rather than migration. Migration contributes to about 22 per cent of the increase, natural growth contributes to more than 60 per cent

• 52 per cent of world’s urban population live in smaller cities, with less than five lakh people. Small cities to continue to dominate

•Developing regions as a whole to account for 93 per cent of urban growth, Asia and Africa over 80 per cent. By 2030, 7 out of every 10 urban inhabitants in the world will be from Asia or Africa

• World’s rural population to decrease by 28 million by then