What makes a city? At least 2,000 inhabitants in France, 10,000 in Spain, 50,000 in Japan, and 20,000 according to the United Nations.
Since 2008, more than half of the humain beings live in cities. Every second, 2 people add up to the urban dwellers.
What is fuelling this growth? Both natural causes (births, deaths) and international migration (arrivals, departures).
There are more births than deaths in heavily populated cities: their growth is very strong. In Western countries, urbanised for a long time, the negative migration balance offsets the phenomenon (more departures than arrivals). Conversely, the urbanization rate in Asia and Africa is soaring. In 2050, India will be the most populated country in the world, Nigeria will compete with China...
Follow the current evolution of the urban population in each continent, on this population clock.
The web animation Urban population is adapted from a digital animation featured in “Urban mutations, the city is ours!”, a temporary exhibition of the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie (June 14th 2016 - March 5th 2017).
Exhibition Commissioner: Marie-Christine Hergault
Cité des sciences et de l’industrie, Paris, France
President: Bruno Maquart
Deputy Chief Executive Officer: Mélanie Joder
Publishing and innovative media content Director: Claude Farge
Exhibition Director: Michèle Antoine
Animation about urban population
Project Coordination: Héléna Ragot
Graphic Design: Elsa Tharel
Technical Execution: Wilfried Jumelle
Web accessibility: Stéphanie Giacchi
© EPPDCSI 2016
