Half the world will go urban in five years.

• Position: World Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision

Virtually all the population growth expected at the world level during the next thirty years will be concentrated in urban areas. Also, for the first time, the number of urban dwellers will equal that of rural dwellers in 2007.

These findings are from official estimates and projections of urban, rural and city populations prepared by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The "World Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision" presents estimates and projections of urban and rural populations for major areas, regions and countries for the period 1950-2030. It also provides population estimates and projections of urban agglomerations with 750,000 or more inhabitants in 2000 for 1950-2015, and the population of all capitals in 2001. Major findings of the study, are:

* Half the world population is expected to live in urban areas in 2007. The urban population reached 2.9 billion in 2000 and is expected to rise to 5 billion by 2030, whereas 30 per cent of the world population lived in urban areas in 1950 and the proportion of urban dwellers rose to 47 per cent by 2000 and is projected to attain 60 per cent by 2030.

* Almost all of the population increase expected during 2000-2030 will be absorbed by the urban areas of the less developed regions. During that period, the urban population of these regions is expected to increase by 2 billion persons, nearly as much as will be added to the world population, 2.2 billion.

* In 1995-2000, the world's urban population grew at a rate of 2.2 per cent per year. During 2000-2030, it is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.8 per cent; at that rate, the world's urban population will double in 38 years.

* The urban growth rate of less developed regions reached 3.0 per cent per year in 1995-2000, compared to 0.5 percent in more developed regions. This rate will continue to be particularly rapid in the urban areas of less developed regions, averaging 2.4 per cent per year during 2000-2030, consistent with a doubling time of 29 years.

* In contrast, the rural population of the less developed regions is expected to grow very slowly at just 0.2 percent per year during 2000-2030. The world rural population will remain nearly stable during 2000-2030, varying between 3.2 billion and 3.3 billion.

* The process of urbanization is already very advanced in the more developed regions, where 75 per cent of the population lived in urban areas in 2000. Nevertheless, the...