Over Half the World Lives in Cities

By the end of this year, for the first time ever, over half of the world’s population will be living in urban areas, according to the United Nation’s State of World Population report. Last century the global urban population grew from 220m to 2.8 billion, mainly in rich countries. The big increases in this century will be in the developing world, where levels of urbanisation are much lower than in other regions.

The urbanization of humanity is good news for the environment, as urbanization leads to lower birth rates and energy usage.

And what's up with the color selection by The Economist? North America and Oceania look the same to me, as do Europe and Asia. This must be what color blind people have to put up with everyday. Someone needs to clue The Economist in about such novel colors as yellow, purple, orange, and brown.

via The Economist