Premium #159 – Urbanization and the Case for the VLA

The Economist has a marvelous interactive chart on population that has significant implications for commercial aviation, and is fun to interact with.  By 2030, nearly 9% of the world’s population will be living in just 41 megacities (those with more than 10m residents), according to the UN.

Looking at the charts, in 1950 there were, perhaps, three megacities.  By 1960 there are about ten.  By 1970 there were 17 and 1.5% of the global population was urbanized in these cities.  In 1980 there were 23 megacities with 1.9% of the population.  In 1990 there was a sharp growth, 28 megacities accounting for 2.9% of the population.  In 2000, 35 mega-cities housed 4.2% of the population, growing to 5.3% in 2010, and projected to grow to 7.6% by 2020.  The urbanization rate has been spectacular.