Charts: The megacities of 2030 you haven’t heard of yet

Downtown Chicago. Chicago has been earmarked as the only megacity of the future that will be from a developed country. (Photo: Getty)

The trend of global urbanisation is showing no signs of slowing.

Since New York was dubbed the first ‘megacity’, several others have joined the list, many of which are in developing countries or regions such as Africa or Asia Pacific.

What’s a megacity?

Although definitions can vary, an urbanised city is considered a megacity when it has 10 million or more inhabitants. It’s also often where the country’s major business centre is located, as well as where many of the wealthiest residents of the nation live.

It goes without saying that megacities – with its social diversity, economic growth, and innovation – are attractive to people for its work and business opportunities and higher quality education.

But they’re not without problems: megacities also suffer from urban planning challenges such as overcrowding, congestion, pollution and wealth inequality.

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The first megacity in the world was designated New York in the 1950s, but this was overtaken by Tokyo in the 2000s.

These are the current megacities of the world:

(Source: Euromonitor International)

Developing megacities

With cities in developed countries already well on the map, the megacities of the coming decade will come from developing countries, according to Euromonitor International (EI).

The following six cities will join the megacity scene by 2030, housing a combined 9 per cent of the world’s population and contributing to 15 per cent of the world’s GDP:

Chicago, USA

The Windy City is the US’ third-most populated city and has been earmarked to be a megacity for quite some time. According to EI, Chicago’s GDP – estimated to hit nearly 600 billion by 2030 – will outcompete the other five cities’ GDP put together.

Bogota, Columbia

Bogota will be the latest newcomer to the growing list of Latin American megacities that include Lima, Mexico City, Rio di Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. By 2030, Bogota’s total GDP will reach 109 billion.

Chennai, India

Chennai is one of the most visited cities by foreign tourists and has been termed India’s health capital. In 2010, Forbes named Chennai among its fastest-growing cities of the coming decade, and the city is part of a ‘Smart City’ program that sees improvements to infrastructure sustainable living.

Luanda, Africa and Dar es Salaam, Africa

Africa continues to urbanise, with Luanda and Dar es Salaam set to be two of the fastest-growing cities by population between 2017-2030, with the former to see a 60 per cent increase in its population across that period.

But as overcrowding takes its toll, African megacities will be challenged by housing, public services, and sanitation.

Baghdad, Iraq

Iraq’s capital city has a population of more than 8 million, but this figure is forecast to reach double digits by 2030 with its GDP to reach 34 billion by then.

Here’s a snapshot of what GDP, population and disposable income will look like by 2030:

(Source: Euromonitor International)

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