Cities, people and environment

It is vital to ensure that cities are engines of inclusive and sustainable growth.

Urbanisation is a global mega trend, with over half of the global population now living in urban areas, and by 2050, it is projected to reach two-thirds . Cities are often called the engines of economic growth, generating over 80 percent of the global GDP . Cities are dynamic and offer multitudes of opportunities that attract people from all economic strata. In Nepal, 27 percent of the population lives in urban areas and 40 percent in peri-urban or urbanising areas, according to the Degree of Urbanisation report. Besides metro and sub-metropolitan cities, the agglomeration around them and emerging cities along the dominantly peri-urban areas of Tarai are shaping the urbanisation pattern and demographic shifts in Nepal.