A/HRC/22/61 however, kept pace with the rate of urbanization.7 In 2001, approximately 78 per cent of urban residents in least developed countries lived in slums, compared with 6 per cent in the developed world.8 5. Developing countries have a disproportionate amount of urban poverty because urbanization today is spreading at a different speed and scale than that of the forces that shaped cities of the now-developed world. The current trend, which the United Nations Population Fund describes as the “second wave” of urbanization, is faster and larger in scale than the urban growth witnessed in Europe and North America. The first wave was relatively gradual, occurring over 200 years from around 1750 until 1950. Over two centuries, 15 million city dwellers, accounting for 10 per cent of the population, grew to 423 million, or 52 per cent of the total population. By contrast, the current wave of urbanization is relatively rapid and large. The urban population in the developing world will continue to grow from 309 million in 1950 (about 18 per cent of the total population) to a projected 3.9 billion by 2030 (about 56 per cent). Research indicates that much of the urban growth witnessed is centred in smaller cities and towns throughout the developing world.9 B. Globalization and dislocation of rural communities 6. The increasing economic integration of the world‟s economies has turned both large and small cities into the main beneficiaries of growth and opportunity;10 and since jobs grow where there is economic activity, people follow the promise of employment into cities. However, globalization has inflicted hardship on the urban poor, often exaggerating stark inequalities, challenging governance and undermining rule of law, particularly as the international flow of illicit drugs and goods becomes harder to control. 11 7. The conversion of small-scale farming to cash-crop plantations has further uprooted many community members from rural to urban areas. 12 Rural communities are also particularly vulnerable to the threats of climate change (including floods, tropical storms, droughts and other natural disasters), which are constantly threatening the livelihoods of the 1.3 billion people who currently depend on subsistence farming.13 This vulnerability can ultimately lead to dislocation of rural communities and forced migration to cities in search for opportunities. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 See Pietro Garau and others, A Home in the City: Task Force on Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers (London, Earthscan, 2005). The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) defines a slum household as one that faces any or all of five shelter deprivations: lack of access to improved water supply; lack of access to improved sanitation; overcrowding (three or more persons per room); dwellings made of non-durable material; and insecurity of tenure (lack of evidence of documentation to prove secure tenure status or de facto or perceived protection from evictions). UNFPA, State of World Population 2007, p. 7. See also Deniz Baharoglu and Christine Kessides, “Urban poverty” in A Sourcebook for Poverty Reduction Strategies, vol. 2, chap. 16 (Washington, D.C., World Bank, 2002), p. 127. UNFPA, State of World Population 2007, p. 8. See James Holston and Arjun Appadurai, “Cities and Citizenship”, Public Culture, vol. 8, No. 2, issue 19 (1996). State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (United Nations publication, Sales No. 09.VI.13), pp. 229– 230. See Economics of Climate Adaptation Working Group, Shaping Climate-Resilient Development: A Framework for Decision-Making (2009).