Urbanisation is clearly underway in the Global South, and
human settlement patterns are becoming more complex
and more interconnected. According to the United Nations
Population Fund, 3.3 billion people currently live in cities and this number
is expected to rise to 4.9 billion by 2030 (UNFPA, 2007). This expansion will
be concentrated in Africa and Asia, where the urban population will double
between 2000 and 2030. Latin America and the Caribbean, in turn, will be
more than 80 percent urbanised. By 2050, 70 percent of the global population
is expected to live in urban areas (UN-Habitat, 2009).