What are the key urban challenges in MENA today as opposed to 10 years ago?
The urban setting is under extreme pressure in MENA today, as a result of a very rapid urbanization rate over the past 10 years. Out of a population of 300 million, 170 million reside in urban areas and according to UN projections the MENA population will reach 430 million by 2020, of which 280 million are expected to be urban. That is an urban population increase of over 65%, compared to the projected rural population increase of 8.5%. In addition, the region has two megacities where the population exceeds 10 million: Cairo and Tehran. Indeed, Cairo, Tehran and Baghdad, combined, account for 25% of the urban population of the region. Against this very high rate of urbanization, the provision of adequate infrastructure and public services is clearly the key urban challenge. This is all the more challenging given the backlog of un-serviced and underserviced populations and the increasing pressure on the fragile environment from urbanization. Another major challenge in MENA, is the very
