Housing
Big Cities Are the Future of Global Consumption
A new study shows how the largest cities in Asia and North America will power the worldwide economy in the coming decades.
The 21st century is shaping up to be the century of cities. Billions of people will stream into cities in the coming decades—the great majority of them into the rapidly developing cities of the Global South. Large cities will also power the growth of consumption and global markets over the next decade and a half, according to a new study from the McKinsey Global Institute.
While consumption has typically been tied to population growth, the study finds that just a quarter of global growth between 2015 and 2030 will come from a rise in the number of consumers. Instead, the great bulk of it will come from their increasing incomes and purchasing power.