Tate Modern on global cities

London’s Tate Modern gallery has a fascinating exhibition on 10 of the world leading global mega-cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Tokyo. It looks at the cities from five perspectives: size, speed, form, density and diversity.

Even the basic statistics on cities are worth knowing. For example, in 1900 only 10% of the world’s population lived in cities, now it is 50% and by 2050 it is expected to be 75%. Also 95% of urban growth in future is expected to be in Africa and Asia.

An earlier version of the exhibition was shown at the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2006 Venice Biennale. Some of the additional exhibits deal with predictably dull topics such as the environment and sustainability. But the bulk of the exhibition gives some insight into a key characteristic of the contemporary world. There are also further resources on the accompanying web pages on the exhibition.

Global Cities is free and runs till 27 August.