Asia is moving into an era of unprecedented urbanization, a change bringing prosperity and problems.

Here are 12 facts and figures about the rise of the city which are lifted directly and unashamedly from the Asian Development Bank website, because they are so interesting.

1.  Asian cities are growing rapidly. Another 1.1 billion people will live in the region’s cities in the next 20 years.
Source: ADB Managing Asian Cities

http://www.adb.org/publications/managing-asian-cities

2.  By 2030, more than 55% of the population of Asia will be urban.
Source: ADB Competitive Cities in the 21st Century

http://www.adb.org/publications/competitive-cities-21st-century-cluster-based-local-economic-development

3.  In many places, cities will merge together to create urban settlements on a scale never seen before. These new configurations will take the form of mega-regions, urban corridors and city-regions. For example, it is estimated that Japan’s Tokyo Nagoya-Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe mega-region will have a population of 60 million by 2015. The city region of Bangkok in Thailand will expand another 200 kilometers from its current centre by 2020.
Source: WHO UN HABITAT Hidden Cities: Unmasking and Overcoming Health Inequities In Urban Settings.

 http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=3049

4.  The prosperity of nations is intimately linked to the prosperity of their cities. No country has ever achieved sustained economic growth or rapid social development without urbanizing.
Sources: UN Habitat State of the World's Cities 2010/2011 – Cities for All: Bridging the Urban Divide

http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=2917 

5.  ADB’s Strategy 2020 states that “livable cities” will be fostered through support for infrastructure, with programs that focus on water supply, sanitation, waste management, and urban transport; and urban shelter programs of slum upgrading, land development, housing, and housing finance.
Source: ADB Strategy 2020: Working for an Asia and Pacific Free of Poverty.

http://www.adb.org/documents/strategy-2020-working-asia-and-pacific-free-poverty 

6.  Climate change may threaten the sustainability of water use in urban centers by reducing water availability and quality from surface and groundwater sources, while water demand for household and industrial use may simultaneously increase as temperatures rise.
Source: ADB Sector Briefing on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: Urban Development

http://www.adb.org/publications/sector-briefing-climate-change-impacts-and-adaptation-urban-development?ref=themes/urban-development/publications 

7.  Between the years 2000 and 2010, Asia showed the greatest gains in moving people out of slum conditions, with the PRC and India together lifting around 125 million people. However, the absolute number of slum dwellers has actually increased from about 777 to 827 million in 2010 due to rapid urbanization.
Source: UN Habitat State of the World's Cities 2010/2011 – Cities for All: Bridging the Urban Divide

http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=2917 

8.  Ha Noi’s population is expected to balloon from six to eight million people by 2025. The city's Urban Transport Master Plan aims to get half the city using public transport by 2020.
Source: ADB news release "ADB Metro Rail Loan to Ease Congestion in Ha Noi"

http://www.adb.org/news/adb-metro-rail-loan-ease-congestion-ha-noi 

9.  In the PRC, migration has created an urban sprawl and made it more difficult for people to rely on biking and walking for transport. As per capita incomes have risen, there has been a continuing shift toward using private vehicles for urban transport. The number of registered vehicles increased from about one million in the early 1990s to nearly 61 million in 2010.
Source: ADB Urban Transport Strategy to Combat Climate change in the People’s Republic of China.

http://www.adb.org/publications/urban-transport-strategy-combat-climate-change-peoples-republic-china?ref=themes/urban-development/publications 

10.  The Gaobei Dian Wastewater Treatment Plan in Beijing is one of the biggest sewage treatment plants in the PRC, taking care of about 40% of the city’s daily untreated wastewater.
Source: ADB feature "Country Water Action: Beijing Beefs Up Sewage treatment"

http://www.adb.org/features/country-water-action-beijing-beefs-sewage-treatment 

11.  There is an inequitable distribution of health threats within urban areas. Families with the lowest incomes are most at risk of their children being malnourished and dying early, have less access to health services such as skilled birth attendance, and are also disadvantaged in terms of their living conditions, such as access to piped water. Importantly, these inequities exist along a social gradient, also affecting middle-class city dwellers to at least some extent.
Source: WHO UN HABITAT Hidden Cities: Unmasking and Overcoming Health Inequities in Urban Settings

http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=3049

12.  Cities offer young people with higher levels of education greater opportunities to integrate into urban life than they do for the less educated.  Education, especially for females, is a key driver in accessing the opportunities that come with urban life.
Source: State of the Urban Youth 2010/1011: Leveling the Playing Field.

http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=2928

Reference:

Asian Development Bank.  12 Things to Know in 2012: Urbanization in Asia

http://www.adb.org/features/12-things-know-2012-urbanization-asia