The bar chart illustrates the changes in the proportion of urban citizens in the world and five continents between 1950 to 2030.
Overall, all the categories showed an upward trends over the period. It is noticeable that urban population in North America remained the highest proportion, while that in Africa accounted for the lowest, despite experiencing a significant growth from 1950 to 2030.
Compared to the population of cities in North America, which increased by 15%, the percentage of urban residents in Latin America nearly doubled, from 42% in 1950 to 76% in 2007. In 2030, the proportion of population in urban areas in Europe is projected to reach 78%, whereas in Latin America and North America the people living in cities are both expected to make up over 80%, with 84% and 87%, respectively.
Unlike there was a significant growth in the percentage of urban citizens in Africa and Asia, which about 3 times, that in the world increased moderately from 29% to 49% between 1950 and 2007. However, the proportion of urban residents in the world is going to reach 60% in 2030, while populations in cities in Africa and Asia are less than that, with respective figures for 51% and 54%.