1950 1995 2015 Population Population Population City (millions) City (millions) City (millions) 1. New York 12.3 Tokyo 26.8 Tokyo 28.7 2. London 8.7 So Paulo 16.4 Bombay 27.4 3. Tokyo 6.9 New York 16.3 Lagos 24.4 4. Paris 5.4 Mexico City 15.6 Shanghai 23.4 5. Moscow 5.4 Bombay 15.1 Jakarta 21.2 6. Shanghai 5.3 Shanghai 15.1 So Paulo 20.8 7. Essen 5.3 Los Angeles 12.4 Karachi 20.6 8. Buenos Aires 5.0 Beijing 12.4 Beijing 19.4 9. Chicago 4.9 Calcutta 11.7 Dhaka 19.0 10. Calcutta 4.4 Seoul 11.6 Mexico City 18.8 11. Osaka 4.1 Jakarta 11.5 New York 17.6 12. Los Angeles 4.0 Buenos Aires 11.0 Calcutta 17.6 13. Beijing 3.9 Tianjin 10.7 Delhi 17.6 14. Milan 3.6 Osaka 10.6 Tianjin 17.0 15. Berlin 3.3 Lagos 10.3 Manila 14.7 Source: United Nations (1995), World Urbanization Prospects The 1994 Revision. New York: United Nations. Table. The World Resources Institute (1996), World Resources 1996– 97: The Urban Environment, Oxford University Press. Todaro, Mi In the whole world, Lagos was not among the first fifteen largest cities (in terms of population size) in 1950. In 1995, Lagos had experienced over 100% increase in the population size, which made Lagos to be the fifteenth largest city in the world. By 2015, it is predicted by the United Nations (1995) that Lagos in Nigeria will be the third largest city in the world (See Table 2). The urbanization process of Lagos is tremendous and the highest in Nigeria, which makes Lagos to be the heart of urban problems in Nigeria.
