The United Nations has recently come out with a list of cities that are expected to grow the fastest between 2010 and 2020 in terms of population. For that purpose it looked at cities with a population of at least five million people and came out with the ones talked about below.
Suzhou
Suzhou in China is regarded as the top city in terms of population growth. It has a population of 5.25 million approximately and a growth rate of 5.57% every year. The city is well known for its canals, gardens, and silk. It is also called the Venice of China. The gardens are the main attraction of this city and the earliest of these were built during the Southern Song Era that lasted from twelfth to thirteenth century CE. These gardens are of various sizes. Among the smaller gardens Wang Shi is the prettiest and also functions as a venue for moonlit concerts. All the gardens here are unique and are blessed with their special and distinctive characteristics. Suzhou is actually a place where one can spend a whole day just by exploring the gardens much like in Italy where an entire day can be devoted to art exploration.
Guangzhou
Guangzhou is second on the list with a yearly growth rate of 4.66%. It presently has a population of almost 20.6 million people.
Surat
Surat in Gujarat, India, occupies the third position on the list. It has a population of nearly 5.44 million people and a yearly growth rate of 4.4%.
Luanda
The capital of Angola is fourth on the list. It boasts a population of approximately 5.9 million people and an annual growth rate of 4.25%. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) had analyzed in 2014 that Angola could become a major tourism hotspot by 2024. However, the signs of such growth are yet to be evident come 2016.
Kinshasa
The capital of Democratic Republic of Congo sits fifth on the list of cities that are growing the fastest in the world. It has a yearly growth rate of 4.17% and a population of approximately 11.58 million.
Lagos
The former capital of Nigeria is sixth on the list of fastest growing cities. It has a population of nearly 13.12 million people and its annual growth rate is 4.14%.
Beijing
The capital of China is well known for its scenic beauty and sits seventh on this list. It has a yearly growth rate of 4.1% and a population of almost 21.1 million. This is a city that has been able to reinvent itself in a spectacularly short time and is still full of possibilities going ahead. For people interested in Chinese history this is a magnificent location and it is expected to become a popular tourist destination pretty soon.
Hangzhou
Hangzhou in China is another glorious addition to the said list. It has a population of nearly 7.28 million people and its yearly growth rate is 4.10%. Its importance is much like that of Kyoto in Japan. It is full of temples and forests where the ancient souls of China are said to live. The urban areas of the city are fantastic as well. Hangzhou is the scissors hub of the country and it also has a mind-blowing market of traditional Chinese medicine. West Lake is where you will find the tea plantations and bamboo forests. Longyi is one place famous for its temples as well as the Peak Flying from Afar, which has at least 300 stone images of Buddha. The earliest of these was carved during 376 AD.
Quanzhou
This Chinese city is ninth on the list of cities that are growing the fastest. It has a population of almost 6.71 million and a yearly growth rate of 3.68%.
Bengaluru
The capital of Karnataka, India, is also known as the call centre capital of the world. It presently has a population of approximately 9.81 million people and its annual growth rate is 3.64%. In many ways this city is the face of ‘New India’. Apart from its outsourcing industry, Bengaluru is also known as the fashion capital of India and as India’s answer to Singapore. It also represents the strides taken by the country’s middle class in recent years, when the city has basically witnessed an explosion of growth. This city bears the most prominent evidence of India’s march to modernity at the earliest possible time.
The following table provides the names of other cities that are growing the fastest, as well as important details related to them:
| City | Country | Population in millions (approx.) | Annual growth rate (in per cent) |
| Dhaka | Bangladesh | 15.67 | 3.6 |
| Chengdu | China | 10.38 | 3.47 |
| Nanjing | China | 6.15 | 3.24 |
| Karachi | Pakistan | 22.12 | 3.17 |
| Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | 5.67 | 3.16 |
| Ahmedabad | India | 7.19 | 3.13 |
| Shanghai | China | 23.42 | 3.11 |
| Hyderabad | India | 8.75 | 3.10 |
| Tianjin | China | 10.92 | 3.09 |
| Chongqing | China | 7.22 | 3.08 |
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