Megacities - The world turns urban
Since 2007, the world's population has been evenly divided between cities and the countryside. But, urban areas are absorbing their surroundings and growing into megacities, where poverty and wealth are often neighbors.
Tokyo
Tokyo has nine million residents; its metropolitan area 35 million. That makes it the world's largest megacity. Population figures vary from source to source, depending on the geographical boundaries chosen. We rely on numbers from UNDESA, which has calculated population growth up to 2015. On Tuesday (14.05.13), an international conference on megacities begins in Hamburg.
Mumbai
The former Bombay is a financial hub for booming India. It also has plenty to offer on the cultural front as well, with universities, theaters, museums - and Bollywood, the world's largest film industry. But, at the same time, more than 40 percent of Mumbai's residents live in slums. The region's population is expected to rise from 18 million today to more than 20 million in 2015.
Mexico City
The Mexican capital is located 2,300 meters above sea level. Today, more than 19 million people live there. In two years there will be 22 million. More than half the residents are considered poor; many live in huts built by the side of the road. Traffic causes constant smog. The city also faces problems providing drinking water and maintaining its sewage system.
São Paulo
The megacity is Brazil's economic and cultural capital. Around 18 million people live in the metropolitan area today. Soon, there will be roughly 22 million. Many multinational corporations have come to the city. Most of Brazil's economic performance is generated here, where wealth and luxury contrast with slums at opposite ends of the city.
New York
"Only" eight million people live in New York City, but the metropolitan area has 20 million residents - and counting. The area on the US East Coast is one of the world's most important economic and trade hubs. International corporations and the United Nations are located here. With cultural draws, like Broadway and the Metropolitan Museum, the city attracts 50 million visitors a year.
Delhi
The Delhi metropolitan region is India's political center and consists of the cities Delhi and New Delhi. 16 million people live here. By 2015, there will be three million more. Delhi has a growing middle class, but at the same time, around three million people live in slums and 60 percent of the population make their living outside the official job market.
Shanghai
The metropolis in eastern China is the most populous community in the country with almost 15 million residents. Depending on the source, the metropolitan region has a population of up to 25 million people. Shanghai definitely has been expanding on a large scale since it opened up to the free market economy. Skyscrapers are built with record speed, but public parks are a rarity.
Dhaka
The capital of Bangladesh is by far the country's largest city, at 13 million residents, and the financial and administrative center. In 2015, there will be almost 17 million people in the Dhaka metropolitan area. But as the recent collapse of a garment factory shows, infrastructure can't keep up with the growth. Up to 40 percent of Dhaka's residents live in slums.
Jakarta
The fast-growing Indonesian capital has around 13 million inhabitants. In two years, this figure is expected to top 17 million. The political, financial and cultural center of the country lies only eight meters above sea level, so flooding is common. In 2007, almost 70 percent of the city was under water for days.
Cairo
Egypt's capital is the biggest and most significant metropolis in the Arab world. It has 12 million inhabitants today. By 2015, there will be 13 million. Historic parts of town lie right next to commercial quarters. Cairo's historic city center is a world cultural heritage site, but many of the buildings are decaying. The city's main problems are a housing shortage, poverty and pollution.
Lagos
Nigeria's biggest city is growing quickly. Today, 11 million people live in the West African megacity. In two years there will be 16 million. Accordingly, Lagos has a high-density population. Some parts of town have eight times more residents in one square kilometer than Berlin. Garbage collection and drinking water provision hardly work and half of the population is poor.