There is an emerging consensus that urbanisation is critically important to international development, but considerable confusion over what urbanisation actually is; whether it is accelerating or slowing; whether it should be encouraged or discouraged; and, more generally, what the responses should be.

This new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers analyses the scale of current infrastructure investment and also assesses the prospects for future investment from now to 2025 across 49 of the world’s largest economies including India. Says that India will add another 500 million to its urban population over the next four decades and will have to spend significantly on infrastructure development in major sectors as energy and telecommunications.

This paper documents a significant impact of climate variation on urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa, primarily in more arid countries. By lowering farm incomes, reduced moisture availability encourages migration to nearby cities, while wetter conditions slow migration. The paper also provides evidence for rural-urban income links.

The present Maharashtra Human Development Report (MHDR) 2012 keeps the spirit of the Eleventh and Twelfth Five Year Plans of ‘faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth’ at the core of its analysis.