Delhi was the largest city in terms of number of inhabitants in India in 2023.The capital city was estimated to house nearly 33 million people, with Mumbai ranking second that year. India's population estimate was 1.4 billion, ahead of China that same year.

As of September 2024, Pune was the leading Indian city in local purchasing power among other Indian cities, with an index score of over ***. It was followed by Gurgaon and Hyderabad. The local purchasing power index depicts the relative purchasing power of goods and services in a city for the average net salary in that city.

As per a decadal analysis of forest cover change in megacities of India between 2011 and 2021, Hyderabad emerged as the city with a *** percent growth in forest area, followed by Chennai and Delhi. Ahmedabad lost ** percent of its forest cover in a period of ten years.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainableHalf of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today. By 2030, almost 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas.828 million people live in slums today and the number keeps rising.The world’s cities occupy just 2% of the Earth’s land, but account for 60 – 80% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions. Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure on fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment, and public health. But the high density of cities can bring efficiency gains and technological innovation while reducing resource and energy consumption.Cities have the potential to either dissipate the distribution of energy or optimise their efficiency by reducing energy consumption and adopting green – energy systems. For instance, Rizhao, China has turned itself into a solar – powered city; in its central districts, 99% of households already use solar water heaters.68% of India’s total population lives in rural areas (2013-14).By 2030, India is expected to be home to 6 mega-cities with populations above 10 million. Currently 17% of India’s urban population lives in slums.This map layer is offered by Esri India, for ArcGIS Online subscribers, If you have any questions or comments, please let us know via content@esri.in.

It is estimated that more than 8 billion people live on Earth and the population is likely to hit more than 9 billion by 2050. Approximately 55 percent of Earth’s human population currently live in areas classified as urban. That number is expected to grow by 2050 to 68 percent, according to the United Nations (UN).The largest cities in the world include Tōkyō, Japan; New Delhi, India; Shanghai, China; México City, Mexico; and São Paulo, Brazil. Each of these cities classifies as a megacity, a city with more than 10 million people. The UN estimates the world will have 43 megacities by 2030.Most cities' populations are growing as people move in for greater economic, educational, and healthcare opportunities. But not all cities are expanding. Those cities whose populations are declining may be experiencing declining fertility rates (the number of births is lower than the number of deaths), shrinking economies, emigration, or have experienced a natural disaster that resulted in fatalities or forced people to leave the region.This Global Cities map layer contains data published in 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). It shows urban agglomerations. The UN DESA defines an urban agglomeration as a continuous area where population is classified at urban levels (by the country in which the city resides) regardless of what local government systems manage the area. Since not all places record data the same way, some populations may be calculated using the city population as defined by its boundary and the metropolitan area. If a reliable estimate for the urban agglomeration was unable to be determined, the population of the city or metropolitan area is used.Data Citation: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision. Statistical Papers - United Nations (ser. A), Population and Vital Statistics Report, 2019, https://doi.org/10.18356/b9e995fe-en.

As of September 2024, Mumbai had the highest cost of living among other cities in the country, with an index value of ****. Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital Region (NCR) followed it with an index value of ****.  What is cost of living? The cost of living varies depending on geographical regions and factors that affect the cost of living in an area include housing, food, utilities, clothing, childcare, and fuel among others. The cost of living is calculated based on different measures such as the consumer price index (CPI), living cost indexes, and wage price index. CPI refers to the change in the value of consumer goods and services. The wage price index, on the other hand, measures the change in labor services prices due to market pressures. Lastly, the living cost indexes calculate the impact of changing costs on different households. The relationship between wages and costs determines affordability and shifts in the cost of living. Mumbai tops the list Mumbai usually tops the list of most expensive cities in India. As the financial and entertainment hub of the country, Mumbai offers wide opportunities and attracts talent from all over the country. It is the second-largest city in India and has one of the most expensive real estates in the world.

Many world cities have been going through thermal state intensification induced by the uncertain growth of impervious land. To address this challenge, one of the megacities of South Asia, Bengaluru (India), facing intense urbanization transformation, has been taken up for detailed investigations. Three decadal (1989–2019) patterns and magnitude of natural coverage and its influence on the thermal state are studied in this research for assisting urban planners in adopting mitigation measures to achieve sustainable development in the megacity. The main aim of this research is to monitor the surface urban cool island (SUCI) in Bengaluru city, one of the booming megacities in India, using Landsat data from 1989 to 2019. This study further focused on the analysis of land surface temperature (LST), bare surface (BS), impervious surface (IS), and vegetation surface (VS). The SUCI intensity (SUCII) is examined through the LST difference based on the classified categories of land use/land cover (LU/LC) using urban-rural grid zones. In addition, we have proposed a modified approach in the form of ISBS fraction ratio (ISBS–FR) to cater to the state of urbanization. Furthermore, the relationship between LST and ISBS–FR and the magnitude of the ISBS–FR is also analyzed. The rural zone is assumed based on

Water security, the access to adequate amounts of water of adequate quality, is and will remain a hugely important issue over the next decades as climate change and related hazards, food insecurity, and social instability will exacerbate insecurities. Despite attempts made by researchers and water professionals to study different dimensions of water security in urban areas, there is still an absence of comprehensive water security measurement tools. This study aims to untangle the interrelationship between biophysical and socio-economic dimensions that shape water security in a megacity in the Global South—Kolkata, India. It provides an interdisciplinary understanding of urban water security by extracting and integrating relevant empirical knowledge on urban water issues in the city from physical, environmental, and social sciences approaches. To do so we use intersectional perspectives to analyze urban water security at a micro (respondent) level and associated challenges across and between areas within the city. The study concludes with the recommendation that future studies should make use of comprehensive and inclusive approaches so we can ensure that we leave no one behind.

In 2024, Bangladesh's capital Dhaka had a pollution index score of ****, the highest among megacities in the Asia-Pacific region. In contrast, Japan's capital Tokyo had a pollution index score of **** that year. Megacities on course for growth The United Nations defines megacities as cities with over ten million inhabitants. The population living in megacities has doubled in size in the last twenty years and is expected to rise even more until 2035. Today, the Asia-Pacific region is home to the highest number of megacities, with China and India alone accounting for around half of all megacities worldwide. At the same time, only half of the population in Asia is living in cities. This figure is also expected to rise exponentially over the next years, especially with much of the younger population migrating to larger cities. The growth of megacities and their higher population densities bring along several environmental problems. Exposure to pollution in India The most populated cities in APAC are located in Japan, China and India. As seen above, India's capital also falls among the top three most polluted megacities in the region and ranks second among the most polluted capital cities worldwide with an average PM2.5 concentration. As one of the fastest emerging economies in the world, India's rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to high pollution rates in different areas. The volume of emissions from coal-fired power plants has led to electricity and heat accounting for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in India. The country is also among the nations with the highest population share exposed to hazardous concentrations of air pollution worldwide.

As of 2025, Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest world urban agglomeration, with 37 million people living there. Delhi ranked second with more than 34 million, with Shanghai in third with more than 30 million inhabitants.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainableHalf of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today. By 2030, almost 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas.828 million people live in slums today and the number keeps rising.The world’s cities occupy just 2% of the Earth’s land, but account for 60 – 80% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions. Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure on fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment, and public health. But the high density of cities can bring efficiency gains and technological innovation while reducing resource and energy consumption.Cities have the potential to either dissipate the distribution of energy or optimise their efficiency by reducing energy consumption and adopting green – energy systems. For instance, Rizhao, China has turned itself into a solar – powered city; in its central districts, 99% of households already use solar water heaters.68% of India’s total population lives in rural areas (2013-14).By 2030, India is expected to be home to 6 mega-cities with populations above 10 million. Currently 17% of India’s urban population lives in slums.Data source: https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/SDG-India-Index-2.0_27-Dec.pdfPlease find detailed metadata here.This web layer is offered by Esri India, for ArcGIS Online subscribers, If you have any questions or comments, please let us know via content@esri.in.

The data shows the year-wise statistics for incidence of accidental deaths in different cities of India by natural or unnatural causes between 2009 and 2015.

Note: 1. Vasai Virar, Tiruchirappalli, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, Ranchi, Srinagar, Raipur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kota, Kollam, Kannur, Jodhpur, Gwalior, Ghaziabad, Durg Bhilainagar, Aurangabad and Chandigarh (City) newly emerged Mega Cities as per Population Census 2011. 2. Poisoning includes the incidence due to food poisoning/accidental intake of insects, spurious/poisoning liquor, leakage of poisoning gases etc., snake bite/animal bite and others. 3. Traffic accidents includes Road accidents, Rail road accidents and other railway accidents. 4. Collapse of structure includes House, Building, Dam, Bridge others. 5. Sudden deaths include i) Heart Attacks ii) Epileptic fits/giddiness iii) Abortion/Childbirth iv) Influence of alcohol. 6. Fire includes i) Fireworks/crackers ii) Short-Circuit iii) Cooking Gas Cylinder/Stove burst iv) other fire accidents.

As of 2024, Mumbai had a gross domestic product of *** billion U.S. dollars, the highest among other major cities in India. It was followed by Delhi with a GDP of around *** billion U.S. dollars. India’s megacities also boast the highest GDP among other cities in the country. What drives the GDP of India’s megacities? Mumbai is the financial capital of the country, and its GDP growth is primarily fueled by the financial services sector, port-based trade, and the Hindi film industry or Bollywood. Delhi in addition to being the political hub hosts a significant services sector. The satellite cities of Noida and Gurugram amplify the city's economic status. The southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai have emerged as IT and manufacturing hubs respectively. Hyderabad is a significant player in the pharma and IT industries. Lastly, the western city of Ahmedabad, in addition to its strategic location and ports, is powered by the textile, chemicals, and machinery sectors. Does GDP equal to quality of life? Cities propelling economic growth and generating a major share of GDP is a global phenomenon, as in the case of Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, and others. However, the GDP, which measures the market value of all final goods and services produced in a region, does not always translate to a rise in quality of life. Five of India’s megacities featured in the Global Livability Index, with low ranks among global peers. The Index was based on indicators such as healthcare, political stability, environment and culture, infrastructure, and others.

ObjectiveTuberculosis (TB) is a major source of mortality in urban India, with many structural challenges to optimal care delivery. In the government TB program in Chennai, India’s fourth most populous city, there is a 49% gap between the official number of smear-positive TB patients diagnosed and the official number registered in TB treatment within the city in 2014. We hypothesize that this “urban registration gap” is partly due to rural patients temporarily visiting the city for diagnostic evaluation.MethodsWe collected data for one month (May 2015) from 22 government designated microscopy centers (DMCs) in Chennai where 90% of smear-positive TB patients are diagnosed and coded patient addresses by location. We also analyzed the distribution of chest symptomatics (i.e., patients screened for TB because of pulmonary symptoms) and diagnosed smear-positive TB patients for all of Chennai’s 54 DMCs in 2014.ResultsAt 22 DMCs in May 2015, 565 of 3,543 (15.9%) chest symptomatics and 71 of 412 (17.2%) diagnosed smear-positive patients had an address outside of Chennai. At the city’s four high patient volume DMCs, 54 of 270 (20.0%) smear-positive patients lived out-of-city. At one of these high-volume DMCs, 31 of 59 (52.5%) smear-positive patients lived out-of-city. Out of 6,135 smear-positive patients diagnosed in Chennai in 2014, 3,498 (57%) were diagnosed at the four high-volume DMCs. The 32 DMCs with the lowest patient volume diagnosed 10% of all smear-positive patients.ConclusionsTB case detection in Chennai is centralized, with four high-volume DMCs making most diagnoses. One-sixth of patients are from outside the city, most of whom get evaluated at these high-volume DMCs. This calls for better coordination between high-volume city DMCs and rural TB units where many patients may take TB treatment. Patient mobility only partly explains Chennai’s urban registration gap, suggesting that pretreatment loss to follow-up of patients who live within the city may also be a major problem.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Mumbai, India metro area from 1950 to 2025.

This statistic shows the projected population of the largest urban agglomerations worldwide in 2035. In that year, the population of the New York-Newark agglomeration in the United States is projected to be **** million people.

The statistic shows the built up area of Mumbai in India from 1975 to 2015. In 2015, the built up area of Mumbai amounted to about ****** square kilometers, up from about *** square kilometers in 1975.

Japan’s largest city, greater Tokyo, had a staggering 37.19 million inhabitants in 2023, making it the most populous city across the Asia-Pacific region. India had the second largest city after Japan with a population consisting of approximately 33 million inhabitants. Contrastingly, approximately 410 thousand inhabitants populated Papua New Guinea's largest city in 2023. A megacity regionNot only did Japan and India have the largest cities throughout the Asia-Pacific region but they were among the three most populated cities worldwide in 2023. Interestingly, over half on the world’s megacities were situated in the Asia-Pacific region. However, being home to more than half of the world’s population, it does not seem surprising that by 2025 it is expected that more than two thirds of the megacities across the globe will be located in the Asia Pacific region. Other megacities are also expected to emerge within the Asia-Pacific region throughout the next decade. There have even been suggestions that Indonesia’s Jakarta and its conurbation will overtake Greater Tokyo in terms of population size by 2030. Increasing populationsIncreased populations in megacities can be down to increased economic activity. As more countries across the Asia-Pacific region have made the transition from agriculture to industry, the population has adjusted accordingly. Thus, more regions have experienced higher shares of urban populations. However, as many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul have an aging population, this may have an impact on their future population sizes, with these Asian regions estimated to have significant shares of the population being over 65 years old by 2035.

The statistic shows the built up area of Chennai in India from 1975 to 2015. In 2015, the built up area of Chennai amounted to about *** square kilometers, up from about *** square kilometers in 2000.

The statistic shows the built up area of Hyderabad in India from 1975 to 2015. In 2015, the built up area of Hyderabad amounted to about 364 square kilometers, up from about 317 square kilometers in 2000.