Trendpills
Jakarta has emerged as the world's most populous urban area, displacing Tokyo from a long-held top position, according to the latest edition of the annual Demographia World Urban Areas report. This significant shift underscores a broader trend of rapid urbanization across the Global South. The report, which uniquely measures urbanization based on continuous, built-up land area rather than administrative or metropolitan boundaries, places the Indonesian capital at the forefront of global megacities.
The re-ranking is primarily a result of differing methodologies in measuring urban populations. While Demographia's analysis focuses on the physical urban footprint, other major international bodies provide conflicting data. For instance, United Nations statistics continue to list Tokyo as the largest metropolitan agglomeration, with a population of approximately 37 million. This is due to its reliance on data that often corresponds to broader metropolitan statistical areas, which include suburban and less densely populated zones connected to the urban core.
The Demographia report’s approach offers a distinct perspective on urban growth. It defines an urban area by its “urban footprint,” essentially mapping the continuous expanse of development on the ground. This method reveals that while Tokyo's population is stabilizing or slightly declining, megacities in developing nations are experiencing explosive growth. Jakarta's ascent is emblematic of this demographic transition, driven by high birth rates and sustained domestic migration to the urban center for economic opportunities.
Cities like Delhi, Shanghai, and Dhaka also feature prominently in top population rankings, signaling a definitive shift in the world's urban center of gravity from developed to developing countries. Current global city population data highlights this dynamic, with most of the fastest-growing urban centers located in Asia and Africa. The change at the top of the list reflects not just a numerical switch but a fundamental transformation in global economic and social landscapes, posing both immense challenges and opportunities for infrastructure, governance, and environmental sustainability in these rapidly expanding megacities.
