By 2050, 70% Of The World's Population Will Be Urban. Is That A Good Thing?

Cities have intense problems associated with them. But those same problems make them into engines of innovation.

Last year, the world’s population reached 7 billion people. Because of our continually accelerating population growth, we keep hearing that more and more people will end up living in cities (and mega cities). But what’s that really look like? How will the world change?

Unicef, with the help of design studio Periscopic, released "An Urban World" to answer these questions. It’s an interactive, HTML5 visualization of the world from the years 1950-2050. But rather than showing our geographic boundaries, every country* is depicted only by their population living in urban environments.

As urban populations grow, the circles get bigger. And as urban populations get more dense, the circles shift from green to blue to yellow to some dark pink color (that I refuse to name with more specificity because it will only stir a debate**).