Urbanisation and Implications for Health

Urbanisation is an increase in the population of urban areas with a concurrent decrease in the population in rural areas. Recent decades have witnessed a dramatic, rapid increase in urbanisation. It is predicted that 68% of individuals will live in urban areas by 2050. Urbanisation is occurring fastest in low resource settings, especially in the Asian and African continents. This chapter will discuss the evidence of and reasons for urbanisation in low resource countries and the advantages and disadvantages of urbanisation. The implications for health are explored.