Changing World – Major Challenges The world today is facing many challenges. One of these is that the world’s cities will need to accommodate 6 billion people by 2050. This is in 38 years’ time. By 2050 it is estimated that 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This fact alone poses a major challenge for urban planners. Imagine the world’s population now, all living in cities. This is what the figure of 70% in 2050 represents. Rapid urbanisation is one of the world’s major challenges. Natural disasters and the changing climate are the second major challenge facing the world. The effects of climate change, notably as freak weather occurrences, are a recurring global phenomenon. This has enormous impact on mega cities. Earthquakes, tsunamis, major storms and flooding on a massive scale, are threatening the fabric of society and cause massive disruption. Cities need to learn to cope with this challenge and ask themselves how resilient they are to such events.