For decades, the world looked to Tokyo as the symbol of mega-city living, endless crowds, flashing lights, and a skyline that stretched forever. But that era has come to an end.
A new giant has emerged in the heart of Southeast Asia: Jakarta is now the world’s most populous city, according to new United Nations data.
The rise of Jakarta shows how quickly Asia’s urban centers are expanding and how fast the global map of megacities is being redrawn.
What happened to Tokyo?
Tokyo’s fall from the top spot for the first time in decades. Jakarta now has 42 million residents, while Dhaka in Bangladesh comes next with nearly 40 million.
Tokyo, once the unrivaled champion, now stands in third place with about 33 million. There is growing pressure on governments worldwide to rethink housing, infrastructure, transportation and climate plans.
The pace of this change is not slowing, especially in fast-growing regions like Asia and Africa.
United Nation’s report
The latest World Urbanisation Prospects 2025 report from the United Nations says 45 percent of the world’s 8.2 billion people now live in cities.
In 1950, that number was just 20 percent. Megacities, those with more than 10 million people, used to be rare. In 1975, there were only eight.
By 2025, there will be 33, and 19 of them are in Asia. By 2050, the number is expected to rise to 37. Cities such as Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Hajipur and Kuala Lumpur are all projected to hit megacity status before mid-century.
Growth of small cities
Even as megacities grab headlines, the UN report states that most growth is happening in small and medium urban areas cities with fewer than one million residents. These places, especially in Africa and Asia, are expanding faster and outnumber the big giants by a large margin. They are becoming the true engines of the world’s urban future.
The new top 10 cities
The world’s 10 largest cities are no longer a global mix, nine of them are now in Asia. Only Cairo stands as the lone representative from outside the region. And even among the top, some are shrinking. The report suggests that both Seoul and Tokyo could see noticeable population declines by 2050.
The top 10 cities in 2025 are:
Jakarta
Dhaka
Tokyo
New Delhi
Shanghai
Guangzhou
Cairo
Manila
Kolkata
Seoul