​ADDITIONAL FACTS FROM THE UNITED NATIONS

• Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today and 5 billion people are projected to live in cities by 2030.

• 95 per cent of urban expansion in the next decades will take place in developing world

• 883 million people live in slums today and most them are found in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.

• The world’s cities occupy just 3 per cent of the Earth’s land, but account for 60-80 per cent of energy consumption and 75 per cent of carbon emissions.

• Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure on fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment, and public health

• As of 2016, 90% of urban dwellers have been breathing unsafe air, resulting in 4.2 million deaths due to ambient air pollution. More than half of the global urban population were exposed to air pollution levels at least 2.5 times higher than the safety standard.