United Nations Radio

Although worldwide urban growth is expected to slow, a new report by UN-HABITAT is projecting the reverse in Africa with the continent's urban population being projected to more than double by 2030.

According to the State of African Cities report 2008, Africa's urban population stood at 373 million. However, the report says the figure is expected to rise.

It says "projections show that by 2030 there will be 759 million African urban dwellers, more than today's total number of city dwellers in the entire Western hemisphere."

Among the report's highlights is that Africa is in a historic period of demographic change. Around 2030, Africa will enter its urban age with 759 million people - half of its total population- living in cities. It is projected that by 2050, there will be more than 1.2 billion African city dwellers. That means that by 2050, there will be more people living in African cities than the combined urban and rural populations of the Western hemisphere.

The report which was launched at the just concluded Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum held in Nanjing, China adds that the world's shortest urban population doubling time, less than nine years, is found in the East Africa region from 50 million in 2007 to a projected 106 million by 2017.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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