Flagship 4: Inclusive Cities: Enhancing the Positive Impacts of Urban Migration

Migration is at the core of urbanization, and while today cities are home to 54 percent of the world’s population, by 2050 this number is expected to rise to 66 percent. The total number of international migrants in 2020 was estimated at 280.6 million. A total of 82.4 million were forcibly displaced due to conflict and violence in several regions and countries. By May 2022 the conflict in Ukraine alone had pushed nearly 14 million people out of their places of origin both within Ukraine and beyond its borders. Climate change is driving displacement and increasing the vulnerability of those already forced to flee. While the movement of large populations poses a variety of challenges to towns and cities, migration and displacement can boost productivity, enhance local economic development and strengthen urban-rural economic and social linkages.