FIGURE2 Satellite image of the Earth at night
Germany
The Netherlands
France
Portugal
Spain
China
Italy
India
SkillBuilder discussion Geographical inquiry 1. Study the satellite image of the Earth. Which continent do you think is the most urbanised? 2. Describe the spatial distribution of cities in Australia. 3. As the world’s population continues to increase, cities will spread into the darker regions shown in FIGURE2 . State whether you agree or disagree with this statement, providing reasons for your decision. What is a megacity? Over the next century, urbanisation is predicted to increase at an even greater rate than it has in the past. Around the year 1900, only 15 per cent of the world’s population lived in cities. At some time in 2007, this reached 50 per cent. In 2022, this figure was 57 per cent, with projections expecting that two-thirds of the population will live in cities by 2050. People are attracted to cities with huge populations, and increasingly these cities are becoming megacities. 15.10.2 A megacity is a city with more than 10 million inhabitants. When you consider that Australia’s population was almost 27 million in 2023 — with over 5 million living in Sydney and 5 million in Melbourne — it is hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a megacity. The number of megacities has grown over time. In 1950, only two cities in the world — Tokyo and New York — had a population above 10 million. By 1975 there were four; by 2000 there were 17, and in 2024 there were 34. By 2030, it is predicted that there will be 43 megacities in the world. Nineteen of these cities have a population greater than 15 million.
TOPIC15 Changing nations – urbanisation and migration 465
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