The population of the world's slums will double to two billion people within 30 years unless drastic measures are taken urgently, the United Nations has reported.
In
The Challenge of Slums,
a report to be published today in Rio de Janeiro, the Nairobi-based United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) calls on governments around the world to recognise the scale and gravity of the looming crisis.
From the kampungs of Indonesia to the townships of Africa and the favelas of Brazil one-third of the world's three billion urban dwellers are already crammed into slums.
UN-HABITAT said that in developing regions, slum dwellers now account for 43 per cent of the population in contrast toabout 6 per cent in more developed regions.
In sub-Saharan Africa the proportion of urban residents inslums is highest at 71.9 per cent, according to the report.Although the concentration of slum dwellers is highest inAfrican cities, in numbers alone Asia accounts for some 60per cent of the world's urban slum residents.
The world's population is estimated at around six billionpeople.