Review on Urban Health and Appropriate Approaches to Address the Urban Poor

 Urbanization in Global and National Context

Urban areas have drastically being populated and transforming population health, especially for the urban poor. More than half of the total world population dwells in urban areas and expected to increase to 66% by 2050 (UN, 2014).  Nepal has 26.5 million populations with a growth rate of 1.35 per annum. Population density of Nepal is estimated at 181 per sq.kms. Kathmandu district has the highest density (4408 people per square kilometer) and Manang (3 people per square kilometer) has the least (Central Bureau of Statistics & GoN, 2012). One in three urban dwellers – 828 million people – lives in a slum, producing slum cities within cities, whereas, more than 90% of slums are found in developing countries (UN, 2015). 18.2% of the total population has been residing in urban areas, and 54.3% of urban population living in slums in Nepal was reported in 2014, according to World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources (WorldBank, 2014). Poverty is set to become an increasingly urban phenomenon. Rapid and often unplanned urban growth is associated with unfulfilled population demands that outstrip service capacity. Read More...