The challenge remains to create conditions that will enable countries in all regions to adopt policies and strategies that foster equitable development. The world's urban population is now growing by 60 million persons per year, about three times the increase in the rural population. Increasing urbanization results about equally from births in urban areas and from the continued movement of people from the rural surround. These forces are also feeding the sprawl of urban areas as formerly rural peri-urban settlements become incorporated into nearby cities and as secondary cities, linked by commerce to larger urban centres, grow larger. There is a significant association between this population movement from rural to urban areas and declines in average family size.
Urbanization is projected to continue well into the next century.
The less-developed regions will be more than 57 per cent urban. Latin America and the Caribbean will actually have a greater percentage of inhabitants living in cities than Europe will. Cities and towns have become the engines of social change in all regions. Their rapid growth presents opportunities for future development but also serious challenges. Urban population growth has outpaced the development of employment, housing, services and the rest of the social and physical infrastructure.