UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme [to 24 October 2015]
http://unhabitat.org/media-centre/news/

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World leaders deliberate on Africa Urban Agenda
New York, 19 October 2015—On the sidelines of the United General Assembly in New York last month, a High Level Dialogue was held with the aim of offering an opportunity for leaders to articulate their common understanding of its relevance to the post 2015 Development agenda, the Africa Agenda 2063, and to agree on the key processes leading both to the Heads of State Summits in 2016 and Habitat III.
The African Urban Agenda, an initiative launched by UN-Habitat, aims at raising the profile of sustainable urbanization as an imperative for development in Africa.
Posted October 19, 2015

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United Nations report calls for urgent response to harness Asia-Pacific’s urban transformation
Jakarta, 19 October 2015 – The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) today launched their much-anticipated report, The State of Asian and Pacific Cities 2015 at the Sixth Asian Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-6) taking place in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to the report, in 2018 the region will mark a historic transition as more than half of its population is expected to then be living in urban agglomerations. The region’s urbanization involves unprecedented shifts in population. By 2040 a further one billion people will be added to the region’s cities. It is expected that by 2050 the urban population in Asia and the Pacific will reach 3.2 billion.

Asia and the Pacific is now home to 17 megacities – exceeding 10 million inhabitants each – a figure that will rise to 22 by 2030. In spite of the rising significance of megacities however, the vast majority of the region’s urban population still live in its rapidly transforming small and medium-sized cities, which deserve much greater attention and resources.
Posted October 19, 2015