MAJOR shift: Nine out of ten biggest cities in the world are in Asia, no big city from America or Europe in the UN's list

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

NewsBits.in

The United Nations (UN) list of most populous cities suggests that Jakarta is now the world's most populous city. Dhaka is at the second spot and Tokyo is now at the third place. These are followed by New Delhi, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Cairo, Manila, Kolkata and Seoul.

The cities are located in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Japan, India, China, Philippines, Korea and Egypt. Nine out of these Urban Agglomerations (UAs) or Mega Cities are located in Asia and the tenth is in Africa but is considered part of Arab World or Middle East.

Now, no city from North America, Europe or South America figures in this list. Jakarta has a population of 41.9 million. Dhaka has a population of 36.6 million, Tokyo 33.4 million, Delhi 30.2 million, Shanghai 29.6 million, Guangzhou 27.6 million, Cairo 25.6 million, Manila 24.7 million, Kolkata 22.5 million and Seoul 22.5 million.

Population is one of the important parameters that determines the significance of a city, region, state or country. There are many other paremeters that are important but big cities become hubs of economic activity. As the cities turn into metropolitan cities or subsequently mega-cities, they turn into powerhouses of the economy in the country or region.

This change is important in the sense that for a long period, cities in the Western World had been the biggest urban centres in the world. A century ago, London, New York, Paris and Berlin figured in the list of biggest urban areas. Even half-a-century ago, it was the the same situation.

At the turn of century, the signs of change were visible. China and India were growing and so were other countries in Asia. Paris and New York are still mega-cities and if they are out of the top ten, they remain huge. But mega cities in Asia are growing at a faster pace and the change would be even more discernible in the years to come.

African cities are also growing and in the near future, the cities like Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos and Dar es Salam would be among the biggest urban centres in the world. Luanda, Accra, Khartoum, Abidjan, Nairobi, Johannesberg, Alexandria are among the rapidly growing urban areas that are drawing people from rural areas, cities and other countries.

UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs has released the report titled 'The World's Cities in 2025' that focuses on urbanization and informs that there are 12,000 cities worldwide have at least 50,000 people each and they collectively form 45% of the world's 8.2 billion population. It tells that urbanization has been going on at a rapid pace.

There are also projections for the year 2050 when Dhaka is likely to have an estimated population of 52.1 million followed by Jakarta 51.8 million, Shanghai 34.9 million, New Delhi 33.9 million, Karachi 32.6 million, Cairo 32.4 million, Tokyo 30.7 million, Guangzhou 29.2 million, Manila 27.1 million and Kolkata 23.1 million. These cities are located in Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Japan and Philippines.

With cities in Middle East too growing at a rapid pace, big companies setting up offices and businesses in the region, the signs are clear. The transformation is happening and though it may not be too apparent but a period like a decade [or two decades] is nothing but just blink in the eye of history and human civilization.