New Delhi: Less than 20 years from now, Mumbai will be the world’s most densely populated city after Tokyo, with Delhi and Dhaka following right behind. By 2025, the world’s four biggest cities will be in Asia.
New Delhi 2050
This is forecast by UN Habitat in its State of the World’s cities 2008/09 report. The three south Asian cities breaking into the top four will replace Mexico City, New York and Sao Paulo in Brazil. Tokyo is already in the top four.
Kolkata, currently the 8th biggest city, will retain its ranking despite its population having risen 40%. Chennai will join the ranks of mega cities ie those with more than 10 million people. By 2025, that list will have 26 cities, up from 19.
Indian metros are expected to grow at a rapid pace despite Asian cities predicted to account for the bulk of what the report describes as shrinking cities – those whose populations are in decline. Globally, 143 cities lost 13 million people altogether from 1990 to 2000. More than half this population loss hapened in Chinese cities and roughly 16% (2.1 million people) was in other Asian countries. Asia, the report noted, accounts for 60% of all shrinking cities in the developing world.
While the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, are witnessing this phenomenon of shrinking cities, the patterns are not quite the same.
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