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Urbanization

Mapped: The World’s Next Megacities by 2030

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map of projected megacities by 2030

What is a Megacity?

In 1800, less than 10% of people lived in urban areas. Today, more than 4.3 billion people or 55% of the worldโ€™s population live in urban settings. Mass migration from rural areas to urban centers gives rise to megacitiesโ€”cities housing more than 10 million people, which are often the centers of economic activity in a given country. New York and Tokyo were the first to be recognized as megacities in the 1950s. Today, there are 32 megacities across the globe, and this number is set to grow. The above graphic uses data from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018) to map cities that are projected to turn into megacities by 2030.

The Worldโ€™s Next Megacities

In most high-income countries including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and those in the Middle East, over 80% of the population live in urban areas. By contrast, in many low-income countries, the majority still live in rural settings, and the potential for urbanization remains high. Therefore, many of the up-and-coming megacities are in developing countries.
CityCountry2022 Population2030P Population% Increase From 2022
SeoulSouth Korea ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท9,975,70910,163,0001.90%
LondonUK ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง9,540,57610,228,0007.20%
ChengduChina ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ9,478,52110,728,00013.20%
NanjingChina ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ9,429,38111,011,00016.80%
TehranIran ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท9,381,54610,240,0009.20%
Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ9,077,15811,054,00021.80%
LuandaAngola ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด8,952,49612,129,00035.50%
AhmedabadIndia ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ8,450,22810,148,00020.10%
Dar es SalaamTanzania ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ7,404,68910,789,00045.70%
The fastest-growing citiesโ€”Dar es Salaam and Luandaโ€”are both in Sub-Saharan Africa. Luanda is the capital city of Angola and among the 10 wealthiest cities in Africa. Dar es Salaam is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania, and by 2100, itโ€™s projected to be the third-most populous city globally. Furthermore, five of the nine projected megacities are located in Asia. Chengdu, located in Southwestern China, has been an attractive destination for foreign investment. As of 2020, 305 of the worldโ€™s 500 largest companies had operations in the city. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is the fastest-growing Asian city on the list. In 2019, HCMC accounted for roughly 23% of Vietnamโ€™s gross domestic product (GDP), highlighting its position as the main commercial hub. Upon comparing the per capita GDPs of the countries listed above, London and Seoul are the two outliers, located in the wealthiest countries.
CountryGDP per capita (2020, current US$)
UK ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง$41,059.2
South Korea ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท$31,631.5
China ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ$10,434.8
Vietnam ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ$2,785.7
Iran ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท$2,422.5
India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ$1,927.7
Angola ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด$1,776.2
Tanzania ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ$1,076.5

Source: World Bank

Both South Korea and the UK have a higher GDP per capita than the rest of the countries combined, and more than 80% of their population live in urban areas. Therefore, itโ€™s unsurprising that Seoul and London have the lowest growth rates among projected megacities. By contrast, cities in Angola and Tanzaniaโ€”the two lowest-income countriesโ€”are projected to grow by over 35% from 2022 to 2030.

The Urbanization Megatrend

The global urban population has been climbing for decades, while the rural population has started stagnating. In 2007, the number of people living in urban areas eclipsed that of rural areas, and the gap is expected to widen. The UN projects that by 2050, 68% of the world will live in urban areas. Only a few countries are expected to have more people living in rural areas than urban settings, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Where will the new megacities beyond 2030 be?
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Urbanization

Ranked: The 20 Most Air-Polluted Cities on Earth

Using 2022 average PM2.5 concentrations, we rank the most polluted cities in the world.

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Ranked: The 20 Most Air-Polluted Cities on Earth

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost the entire global population (99%) breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits.

In the above map, we use 2022 average PM2.5 concentrations from IQAirโ€™s World Air Quality Report to visualize the most air-polluted major cities in the world.

Worldโ€™s Air Pollution Hot Spots

As one of the standard air quality indicators used by the WHO, the PM2.5 concentration refers to the quantity of fine particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less in a given volume of air.

Fine particulate matter that is this small can penetrate the lungs when inhaled and enter the bloodstream, affecting all major organs.

Based on annual average PM2.5 concentrations (ฮผg/mยณ) in 2022, here are the most polluted cities in the world.

RankCity 2022 average PM2.5 concentration (ฮผg/mยณ)
1๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Lahore, Pakistan97.4
2๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Hotan, China94.3
3๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Bhiwadi, India92.7
4๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Delhi, India92.6
5๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Peshawar, Pakistan91.8
6๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Darbhanga, India90.3
7๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Asopur, India90.2
8๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ N'Djamena, Chad89.7
9๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ New Delhi, India89.1
10๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Patna, India88.9
11๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Ghaziabad, India88.6
12๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Dharuhera, India87.8
13๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Baghdad, Iraq86.7
14๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Chapra, India85.9
15๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Muzaffarnagar, India85.5
16๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Faisalabad, Pakistan84.5
17๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Greater Noida, India83.2
18๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Bahadurgarh, India82.2
19๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Faridabad, India79.7
20๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Muzaffarpur, India79.2

With numbers these high, the concentration of some or all of the following pollutants are at dangerous levels in these cities:

  • Ground-level ozone
  • Particulate matter
  • Carbon monoxide
  • Sulfur dioxide
  • Nitrogen dioxide

At the top of the list, Lahore in Pakistan has a combination of high vehicle and industrial emissions, as well as smoke from brick kilns, crop residue, general waste burning, and dust from construction sites.

Air pollution levels can also be impacted by practices such as large-scale tree removal in order to build new roads and buildings.

As a result of its growing population and rapidly expanding industrial sector, India has 14 cities on the list, outpacing China, formerly considered the world’s number one air pollution source.

The only African country on the list, Chad, experienced severe dust storms in 2022 that resulted in an 18% increase in PM2.5 concentration in 2022 compared to the previous year.

The Cost of Poor Air Quality

Poor air quality is one of the leading causes of early deaths worldwide, just behind high blood pressure, tobacco use, and poor diet.

According to a 2020 study by the Health Effects Institute, 6.67 million people died as a result of air pollution in 2019.

In addition to the millions of premature deaths each year, the global cost of health damages associated with air pollution currently sits at $8.1 trillion.

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Urbanization

Visualizing the World’s Largest Steel-Producing Countries

China has dominated global steel production the past few decades, but how did the country get here, and is its production growth over?

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cropped infographic of global steel production by country in 2022

The Largest Steel-Producing Countries: Visualized

Steel is a critical component of modern industry and economy, essential for the construction of buildings, automobiles, and many other appliances and infrastructure used in our daily lives.

This graphic uses data from the World Steel Association to visualize the world’s top steel-producing countries, and highlights China’s ascent to the top, as it now makes up more than half of the world’s steel production.

The State of Global Steel Production

Global steel production in 2022 reached 1,878 million tonnes, barely surpassing the pre-pandemic production of 1,875 million tonnes in 2019.

Country2022 Production (in million tonnes)Annual Production ChangeGlobal Share
๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China1013.0-2.0%53.9%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India124.85.3%6.6%
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan89.2-7.9%4.8%
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States80.5-6.5%4.3%
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia71.5-5.8%3.8%
๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea65.9-6.9%3.5%
๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany36.8-8.8%2.0%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye35.1-15.0%1.9%
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil34.0-6.5%1.8%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran30.66.8%1.6%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy21.6-13.0%1.1%
๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Taiwan20.7-12.1%1.1%
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam20.0-15.0%1.1%
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico18.2-1.9%1.0%
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia15.68.3%0.8%
Rest of World201.0-11.2%10.7%
World Total1878.5-3.9%100.0%

2022’s steel production marked a significant reduction compared to the post-pandemic rebound of 1,960 million tonnes in 2021, with a year-over-year decline of 4.2%โ€“the largest drop since 2009, and prior to that, 1991.

This decline was spread across many of the world’s top steel producers, with only three of the top fifteen countries, India, Iran, and Indonesia, increasing their yearly production. Most of the other top steel-producing countries saw annual production declines of more than 5%, with Turkey, Italy, Taiwan, and Vietnam’s production all declining by double digits.

Even the world’s top steel-producing nation, China, experienced a modest 2% decline, which due to the country’s large production amounted to a decline of 19.8 million tonnes, more than many other nations produce in a year.

Despite India, the world’s second-largest steel producer, increasing its production by 5.3%, the country’s output still amounts to just over one-tenth of the steel produced by China.

China’s Meteoric Rise in Steel Production

Although China dominates the world’s steel production with more than a 54% share today, this hasn’t always been the case.

In 1967, the World Steel Association’s first recorded year of steel production figures, China only produced an estimated 14 million tonnes, making up barely 3% of global output. At that time, the U.S. and the USSR were competing as the world’s top steel producers at 115 and 102 million tonnes respectively, followed by Japan at 62 million tonnes.

Almost three decades later in 1996, China had successively overtaken Russia, the U.S., and Japan to become the top steel-producing nation with 101 million tonnes of steel produced that year.

The early 2000s marked a period of rapid growth for China, with consistent double-digit percentage increases in steel production each year.

The Recent Decline in China’s Steel Production

Since the early 2000s, China’s average annual growth in steel production has slowed to 3.4% over the last decade (2013-2022), a considerable decline compared to the previous decade’s (2003-2012) 15.2% average annual growth rate.

The past couple of years have seen China’s steel production decline, with 2021 and 2022 marking the first time the country’s production fell for two consecutive years in a row.

While it’s unlikely China will relinquish its position as the top steel-producing nation anytime soon, it remains to be seen whether this recent decline marks the beginning of a new trend or just a brief deviation from the country’s consistent production growth.

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