Cities have become the centre of global population; 2008 marked the first time in history that the majority of the world’s population was found in cities. It is estimated that in 2050, 6.9 billion people in the world will call urban areas their home. UN projections suggest that almost 1.2 billion people will be living in the Commonwealth’s urban areas by 2025. Thirty‐two of the Commonwealth’s 76 ‘million‐plus cities’ are expected to more than double in size between 2000 and 2025 with Abuja, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Mombasa and Klang, all growing by more than 160%. Further, there are 400 million people living in slums in 2011 in the Commonwealth, already one person in
two is a slum dweller, which is a higher ratio than in the rest of the world.

The CBC’s policy paper is part of the Commonwealth Business Council’s (CBC) initiative to address the challenges cities are facing due to accelerated urbanization. The role of business is vital in developing a strategy and implementing action to address this issue. CBC is committed to work in partnerships with cities, governments and business to help create mechanisms and solutions to build cities of the future.