1. By RoniRepp

2. URBANIZATION AT FULL SPEED The world's urban population now surpasses the world's rural population. What does this mean for the condition and state of our cities? Considering the strain this worldwide demographic transfer is placing on today’s urban framework. The ever growing Los Angeles metropolitan area is an example of uncontrolled urbanization. Hong Kong

3. United Nations Human Settlements Programme In 2003, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) published a historic report about the predominance of slums called “The Challenge of Slums”. It’s an examination about urban poverty where more than a hundred researches incorporate three different sources of analysis and data. Case-studies of poverty, slum conditions and housing policies in 34 metropolises Utilizing a comparable database for 237 cities worldwide Gather global household survey data that breaks new ground By 2050, over 6 billion people, two thirds of humanity, will be living in towns and cities.

4. Population in Urban Areas Below is a chart showing urban info per UN-HABITAT Population in Urban Areas (% of Total Population) Total Population in %

6. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, 80 % of the global population will live in the developing world in 2030.

7. UNFPA reports that the slum population of sub-Saharan Africa nearly doubled in 15 years to nearly 200 million in 2005.

8. Slums in Mumbai, India have risen dramatically since 1950. Most of this is due to the fact that Mumbai's tripled since India's independence in 1947. Slum dwellers make up 60% of Mumbai's population, that is approximately 7 million people.Mumbai Urban Slums

9. Slums: Often, slums. a thickly populated, run-down, squalid part of a city, inhabited by poor people. Urban: of, pertaining to, or designating a city or town. Squatters: a person who settles on land or occupies property without title, right, or payment of rent. RESOURCES: Planet of Slums, by Mike Davis http://www.unhabitat.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=urban+slums+pics&FORM=IGRE&qpvt=urban+slums+pics# http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72956