The World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report is the latest publication by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). It compiles data on populations living in urban, town, and rural areas worldwide from 1950 to 2025, with projections through 2050, covering 237 countries and territories. A key highlight of the report is that it does not rely solely on national definitions of “urbanization,” but also applies the Degree of Urbanization—a globally standardized urban classification system—to enable consistent cross-country comparisons of urbanization levels and to classify settlements based on population density. Urbanization continues to accelerate One of the report’s most important findings is that about 45% of the world’s roughly 8.2 billion people currently live in cities, more than double the share in 1950, when it stood at just 20%. When towns and semi-urban areas are included, the proportion of people living in densely populated settlements rises to 80.4%, leaving only 19.6% living in rural areas. The corresponding figures for Vietnam are 87.5% and 12.5%. This indicates that urbanization has become a dominant trend shaping the global population structure and living space. Cities concentrate economic activity, innovation, and employment opportunities, but they also pose […]
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