The following are highlights from the World Urbanization Prospects 2014 report published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Globally, 54% of the world population lives in an urban area with at least 500k people. (note: urban in purple, rural in grey) The world has become more urban over time and is projected to continue.

Urbanization differs across regions, with North American and Europe being the most urbanized — Africa and Asia least urbanized.

High-income countries tend to be more urban (80%) than low-income countries (30%) — implying that urbanization and development are related

Urbanized areas are displayed below in various groups (ranging from small cities to megacities) for the years 1990, 2014, and projected 2030.

Urbanized areas (500k+ population) in 2014 are displayed on the map below

Other interesting notes:

Africa and Asia are home to 90% of the worlds rural population and have the lowest rate of urbanization by content 40% and 48%.

China, India, and Nigeria will account for 37% of urban pop growth between now and 2050.

One in eight people live in one of the world’s 28 megacities (10m+ pop)

Link to the full report here: https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/publications/files/wup2014-highlights.pdf