World urbanisation: trends, causes and rural impacts

Global and regional trends

UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018:

• 55% of the world's population lived in urban areas in 2018, projected to reach 68% by 2050.
• The urban population grew from 751 million (30% of the world) in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018.
• About 2.5 billion more urban dwellers are expected by 2050; India (416 million), China (255 million) and Nigeria (189 million) account for 35% of this growth.
• The most urbanised regions in 2018 were Northern America (82%), Latin America and the Caribbean (81%), Europe (74%) and Oceania (68%); Asia (about 50%) and Africa (43%) are less urbanised but urbanising fastest, with close to 90% of the growth to 2050.
• Regional trends contrast: the speed of urbanisation has fallen in recent decades in Northern Africa, Western Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (UN DESA, 2018).

When describing an urbanisation map, describe the pattern (regions, high and low areas, anomalies) rather than listing country values; the June 2025 examiners noted that picking out individual countries did not describe the pattern.

Causes

• Rural-urban migration: push factors (poverty, lack of services, land shortage, drought) and pull factors (jobs in manufacturing and services, schools, hospitals).
• Natural increase: migrants are often young adults, so birth rates in cities are high.
• Economic growth: FDI and industrialisation concentrate jobs in cities (as in China's SEZs).

Effects on rural areas

Cities depend on rural areas for:

• Human resources: young migrants, leaving an ageing population, sometimes more women and children, and labour shortages on farms.
• Physical resources: food, water, energy, building materials and land on the urban fringe.

Rural areas gain remittances and new ideas, but can suffer depopulation, abandoned farmland and pressure on water and land as cities expand.

Worked example

Calculate how many times larger the world's urban population was in 2018 (4.2 billion) than in 1950 (751 million).

1. Convert to the same units: 4,200 million / 751 million

Answer: About 5.6 times larger.

Check yourself

1. The world's urban population grew from 751 million (1950) to 4.2 billion (2018). By what factor, to 2 decimal places?
   Show answer

   5.59. 4,200 / 751 = 5.59.

2. Of 2.5 billion extra urban dwellers by 2050, India adds 416 million, China 255 million and Nigeria 189 million. What percentage is this together, to 1 decimal place?
   Show answer

   34.4 %. 860 / 2,500 x 100 = 34.4% (the UN rounds this to 35%).

3. The urban share is projected to rise from 55% (2018) to 68% (2050). By how many percentage points?
   Show answer

   13 percentage points. 68 - 55 = 13 percentage points.

4. Which region was the most urbanised in 2018?
   • Africa
   • Asia
   • Northern America
   • Oceania
   Show answer

   Northern America. Northern America was 82% urban.

5. Why does natural increase contribute to urban growth in many developing cities?
   • Migrants are mostly young adults, so births in the city are high
   • Cities have higher death rates
   • Older people move to cities to retire
   • Cities have no hospitals
   Show answer

   Migrants are mostly young adults, so births in the city are high. Young populations have many births.

6. Which is an effect of rural-urban migration on rural source areas?
   • Rapid growth of slums in the village
   • More young people in the village
   • An ageing population and labour shortages on farms
   • Higher urban air pollution in the village
   Show answer

   An ageing population and labour shortages on farms. Young adults leave first.

7. Suggest one reason for rapid urbanisation in some African countries.
   Show answer

   Rural-urban migration, as people are pushed by poverty and drought in rural areas and pulled by jobs and services in cities; migrants are young, so natural increase in cities is high too.. Rural-urban migration (push and pull) or natural increase, extended.

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Sources

• Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in Geography specification (Issue 3, September 2025)
• UN DESA: World Urbanization Prospects 2018 press release (16 May 2018)
• UN DESA Population Facts: The speed of urbanization around the world (December 2018)
• Pearson principal examiner report, WGE01 Global Challenges, June 2025
• Pearson WGE01 mark scheme, June 2025 (copy hosted by Physics and Maths Tutor)

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.