In 2025, the degree of urbanization worldwide was at 58 percent. North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean were the regions with the highest level of urbanization, with over four-fifths of the population residing in urban areas. The degree of urbanization defines the share of the population living in areas defined as "cities". On the other hand, less than half of Africa's population lives in urban settlements. Globally, China accounts for over one-quarter of the built-up areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The definition of a city differs across various world regions - some countries count settlements with 100 houses or more as urban, while others only include the capital of a country or provincial capitals in their count. Largest agglomerations worldwideThough North America is the most urbanized continent, no U.S. city was among the top ten urban agglomerations worldwide in 2023. Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest urban area in the world that year, with 37.7 million inhabitants. New York ranked 13th, with 21.4 million inhabitants. Eight of the 10 most populous cities are located in Asia. ConnectivityIt may be hard to imagine how the reality will look in 2050, with 70 percent of the global population living in cities, but some statistics illustrate the ways urban living differs from suburban and rural living. American urbanites may lead more “connected” (i.e., internet-connected) lives than their rural and/or suburban counterparts. As of 2021, around 89 percent of people living in urban areas owned a smartphone. Internet usage was also higher in cities than in rural areas. On the other hand, rural areas always have, and always will, attract those who want to escape the rush of the city.

The Community Health Resources and Needs Assessment (CHRNA) project is a large-scale health needs assessment in diverse, low-income Asian American communities in New York City. The project uses a community-engaged and community venue-based approach to assess existing health issues, available resources, and best approaches to meet community health needs. Questions asked in the CHRNAs assess various determinants of health, including length of residence in the United States, English language proficiency, educational attainment, employment and income, perceived health, health insurance and access to care, nutrition and physical activity, mental health, screening for cancer and other chronic diseases, sleep deprivation, and connections to social and religious environments.

The second round of CHRNAs, conducted in 2013-2016, examined population changes, population health improvements, and changes in risk and protective factors in the last decade. Approximately 100 individuals were surveyed from each of the following Asian subgroups: Arab, Asian Indian, Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Himalayan, Indo-Caribbean, Japanese, Korean, Pakistani, Ski Lankan, and Vietnamese (n=1,803).