The trends, promises and challenges of urbanisation in the world

This paper examines the trends of global urbanisation and the magnificent scale and rapid pace of urbanisation in developing countries, and the different characteristics of urbanisation trends in developing and developed countries. It presents the economic powers and opportunities of urbanisation. On the other hands, rapid urbanisation is triggering huge problems and challenges, such as urban sprawl, urban poverty, higher urban unemployment rates, higher urban costs, housing affordability issues, lack of urban investment, weak urban financial and governance capacities, rising inequality and urban crimes, environmental degradation and etc. It argues that policies and strategies should aim to optimise both the urbanisation process and urban functions and infrastructure. Policy responses should link to local conditions, and choose different tools and instruments such as regulatory tools, market-based tools, and spatial tools to achieve sustainable urbanisation and maximise the benefits of agglomeration economies and minimise the negative externalities.