UN-HABITAT twenty first session of the Governing Council, 16-20 April 2007, Nairobi, Kenya: urbanization, a turning point in history

The year 2007 marks a turning point in history. One out of every two people will be living in a city. This should be a cause for celebration. After all, since time immemorial, cities have been centres of economic growth and cultural creativity. However, with one out of three city dwellers -nearly one billion people- currently living in slums, the new UN-HABITAT State of the World’ Cities Report 2006/7 questions the whole notion of urban sustainability.