Which factors determine whether a city makes it onto the list of the world’s fastest growing cities? In the latest in a series focusing on the transition to a predominantly urban world, David Satterthwaite takes a closer look.

When I compiled a list of the world’s 20 fastest growing cities between 2000 to 2020 (see table 1), measured by population growth rates, I thought I had made a mistake. (I often manage to get the exponential growth rate formula wrong).