According to the United Nations’ latest World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report, Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo to become the world’s largest city, with a population of 41.9 million. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, now ranks second with 36.6 million residents, while Tokyo falls to third with 33.4 million. The report highlights that Asia dominates the global urban landscape, hosting 19 of the world’s 33 megacities, including New Delhi, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Manila, Kolkata, and Seoul. Cairo remains the only non-Asian city in the top ten. Dhaka’s rapid growth is driven by rural migration and climate-related displacement, while Jakarta faces severe flooding risks, with projections suggesting a quarter of the city could be underwater by 2050. Despite Indonesia’s plan to relocate its capital to Nusantara in Borneo, Jakarta’s population is expected to grow by another 10 million. The UN also introduced a new definition of cities to standardize global urbanization data, focusing on contiguous high-density areas with at least 50,000 people.
By Lyndal Rowlands Share A new United Nations report has found that Indonesia’s capital Jakarta is the world’s largest city with 41.9 million people living there, followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh, which is home to 36.6 million. A low-lying coastal cit
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