In 2010 the urban-dwelling population of China surpassed its rural population, marking a monumental demographic milestone in the history of the country. China looked markedly different just 3 decades before. Just 20 per cent of Chinese citizens lived in urban areas, and many of the metropolises of today were still small villages.
Since then, enormous swaths of the population have moved from farmland into towns, a shift that still causes many urban areas to swell. The case at hand is Guangzhou's growth, which lies just north of Hong Kong. More than 18 million people moved to the city from 1980 until today. A 40-year-old born in Guangzhou will see their small, regional city mushroom as one of Earth's largest urban amalgamations.
infographic by: www.visualcapitalist.com
