Introduction: Urban change
There are many problems within urban areas that require management. Problems can relate to any of the categories in the diagram below.
Traffic congestion, industrial decline and housing shortages are just some of the problems in developed and developing world cities.
Many of these problems are caused by population growth.
As you can see from the graph below, the world's population has grown dramatically since the mid-1950s. Most of this growth has been in developing countries.
Urban populations have also increased dramatically. Before 1950, most of the largest cities were found in the developed world 鈥 for example London and New York. This is because more jobs were available in the cities and many people moved for work.
As the graph below shows, since 1950 growth has been greatest in developing world cities 鈥 for example Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Mumbai.
This growth is expected to continue, with the urban population of the developing world predicted to rise by a further 2 billion over the next thirty years.