Delighted to be here. My remarks this morning are very brief. 75 percent of total growth in world population is occurring in cities - more than half the developing world's population will be living in cities by 2020. Cities of the developing world will double in population every 17 years. About 30 to 40 percent of the urban population, or about 400 million people, in developing countries are living in poverty.
Urban poverty continues to grow, even if the majority of poor still live in rural areas.
Inequality is becoming a particularly urban phenomenon. Urban Opportunities and Challenges 5. Second, opportunities and challenges. Against the background of globalization and decentralization, urbanization presents unprecedented development opportunities and challenges. In Istanbul at Habitat, I was most impressed with the emerging network of mayors of large cities around the world and the innovation and creativity they exposed.