Childhood is mostly experienced in urban contexts

An estimated 60% of urban residents will be below 18 years old in 2030.¹

Over 90% of urban growth will occur in Asia and Africa.

Photo: Sima Diab / Save the Children

Growing Urban
Inequality

There is a longstanding assumption that children in urban areas are better off than their rural counterparts. But urban areas are growing increasingly unequal.

Average indicators taken over a whole urban area often hide the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable urban residents.

Moreover, the lack of reliable data makes it difficult to estimate the magnitude of the problem.

About 35-50% of the over 1 billion people living in slums are children

Of the over 1 billion people living in slums globally, approximately 350 to 500 million are children.2 A country of this size would be the third biggest in the world. The rate of urban population growth is quickly outpacing the ability of local governments to plan urban settlements to meet demands for housing and infrastructure. As a result increasing numbers of children will be growing up in slums and informal settlements.

Find out how much of your country’s urban population lives in slums

VIEW DATA FOR YOUR COUNTRY

GROWTH OF SLUMS

By 2050, without transformative action, children in slums will triple to 1.5 billion.1

ZERO DOSE CHILDREN IN SLUMS

Children in slums are twice as likely to miss all vaccines (12.6% vs. 6.5%) compared to those from better-off families.6

Low immunisation in slums leads to higher rates of measles, mumps, diphtheria, and typhoid and child mortality.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

Early childhood care is lacking in poorer neighbourhoods

which hurts children’s health and development and prevents many women from working. 

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

In low-income countries in Asia and Africa, less than 40% of urban residents have access to public transport.11

Slums are often overlooked in public transport planning, forcing urban poor families to pay more to reach jobs, schools, and healthcare.

ACCESSIBLE, SAFE & CHILD-FRIENDLY PUBLIC SPACES

Only 44% of the urban population has a public space within a 5-minute walk from their place of residence.13

Lack of safe and clean common spaces in slums limits play and harms children’s health and development.

WASTE

About 45% of global municipal waste is not safely managed; in low-income countries, this is over 90%.17

Slums are often located near dumpsites and lack waste collection, exposing children to contaminated water, air, and food, increasing disease, stigma and social exclusion.

STREET CONNECTED CHILDREN

Millions of children are living and working on the streets, mostly in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.20

Street children face violence, hunger, disease, and exclusion, with little access to education, healthcare, or protection.

DISASTERS & CLIMATE CHANGE

1 in 3 children living in slums around the world are exposed to flooding.24

Floods displace families, spread disease, disrupt schooling, and destroy lives and livelihoods.

WATER, SANITATION & CHILD HEALTH

1/3 of the urban population lacks access to safely managed sanitation services.2

Lack of safe sanitation in dense slums puts children at high risk of diarrhea, a leading cause of death in children under five.

CHILDHOOD OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT

Childhood overweight and obesity are growing in cities. Globally, there are 391 million cases among school-age children and adolescents.7

88% of children with overweight and obesity will be living in low- and middle-income countries by 2035.8
In cities, easily available ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, and a lack of safe, walkable, and cyclable neighbourhoods, are contributing to childhood obesity.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

Urban children are nearly twice as likely as rural children to have access to the internet, but those in slums are still left behind.

Globally, 2.2 billion children and young people aged 25 or less do not have internet connection at home.9

In slums, children and youth often lack access to the internet, devices, electricity, and safe learning spaces, widening the digital divide and limiting opportunities for skills and jobs.

STREETS AND WALKABILITY

Streets are car-dominated and unsafe for pedestrians; 85% of roads with pedestrians and vehicles speeding over 40 km/h lack sidewalks.12

Walkable neighbourhoods enable children to move safely and independently, boosting health, confidence, citizenship and community connection.

GREEN SPACES

Between 2023 and 2024, 344 cities lost 158 million square meters of green space. In crowded slums, green space is often absent.14

Green spaces help children stay healthy and happy, learn better, build friendships, and care for nature. 

CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Most of the world’s 240 million children with disabilities live in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, where cities lack disability-inclusive infrastructure and services.21

In slums, they struggle daily with inaccessible housing, streets and toilets, exclusion from schools and services, and heightened risks of neglect and abuse.

CIVIC PARTICIPATION

Child and Youth participation in city governance is rare. In 2018, about 20% of youth in Commonwealth nations volunteered their time, and only 16% voiced opinions to officials.25

Child and youth participation strengthens democracy, builds skills and confidence, and makes cities more inclusive, creative, and responsive.

MALNUTRITION

In low- and middle-income countries, one in four urban children under the age of five is malnourished. In slums and informal settlements, this often rises to 50–60%.3 4

Undernutrition contributes to nearly half of all deaths among children under five, hinders their growth and development, and can lead to lifelong health problems.5

SCHOOLS & EDUCATION

Schools in slums are often overcrowded and under-resourced.

The number of secondary schools in poor neighbourhoods is limited, forcing children to travel farther and making attendance more difficult.

ROAD SAFETY

5-29

Road traffic accidents are the number one cause of death to people aged between 5 and 29.10  Safe school journeys require 30 km/h speed limits, safe crossings, and continuous pavements.

CYCLING

Cycling is a healthy, environmentally friendly and affordable mode of transport. Yet most cities in the world lack safe cycling infrastructure and cycling cultures.

GIRLS AND SAFETY IN CITIES

GIRLS AND SAFETY IN CITIES18

Unsafe cities expose girls and women to violence and abuse, and limit their access to education, services, and jobs.

AIR POLLUTION

99%

of children worldwide breathe unhealthy air, according to the World Health Organization.15

Children in slums often breathe air with particulate matter 10–12 times above the WHO limits due to the use of solid fuels, traffic, industry, and waste burning.16 

MIGRANTS, REFUGEES, AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

Most of the 50 million forcibly displaced children end up in urban slums and informal settlements.19

In urban slums, they often face discrimination, violence, and language barriers on top of existing hardships. Climate change and conflict will further increase the forced displacement of children.

URBAN HEAT

Cities are heating twice as fast as the global average due to urbanisation and the heat island effect.22

Hot, dense and crowded slums without cooling infrastructure put children at risk of illness, missing school, and exposure to violence.23

HOW CAN WE BETTER SHAPE URBANISATION?

Of all areas that will be urban in 2050, an estimated 60-75% are yet to be built. 26 27

Therefore, children’s lives, wellbeing, development and futures will be increasingly determined by the shape of urban planning and development. This gives us the opportunity to include children’s needs as well as their voice on the urban planning agenda.

For a more detailed understanding of the issues faced by children and young people in urban areas visit the knowledge hub.

Sources:

1 UNICEF, 2022, Strategic note on UNICEF’s work for children in urban settings
2 WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, 2023, People using safely managed sanitation services, urban
3 2020 Global Nutrition Report: Action on equity to end malnutrition. Bristol, UK:Development Initiatives (Link) 
4 Fakir, A.M.S., Khan, M.W.R, 2015, Determinants of malnutrition among urban slum children in Bangladesh. Health Econ Rev 5, 22. (Link); De Vita, M., Scolfaro, C., Santini, B. et al., 2019, Malnutrition, morbidity and infection in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya: an epidemiological study. Ital J Pediatr 45, 12. (Link);
5 WHO 2024, Malnutrition Ket Facts
6 Santos TM, Cata-Preta BO, Wendt A, Arroyave L, Blumenberg C, Mengistu T, Hogan DR, Victora CG, Barros AJD. Exploring the “Urban Advantage” in Access to Immunization Services: A Comparison of Zero-Dose Prevalence Between Rural, and Poor and Non-poor Urban Households Across 97 Low- and Middle-Income Countries. J Urban Health. 2024 Jun;101(3):638-647. doi: 10.1007/s11524-024-00859-7. Epub 2024 May 20. PMID: 38767765; PMCID: PMC11189869.
7 UNICEF 2025, Feeding Profit: How food environments are failing children – 2025 Child Nutrition Report
8 World Obesity Atlas 2024: No area of the world is unaffected by the consequences of obesity
9 UNICEF 2020, How Many Children and Young People Have Internet Access at Home?
10 UNICEF. 2015, Keeping children safe on the road.
11 UNDESA, 2024, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024
12 IRAP, 2022, Cycling and walking for people and planet: New reports and PATH COP27 letter to governments and cities draw link
13 UNDESA, 2024, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024
14 HUGSI, 2024, Urban Green Space Report 2024
15 WHO, 2024, Ambient (outdoor) air pollution
16 Majumdar, Roshni, 2022, India: How pollution is affecting people in Delhi’s slums
17 World Bank Group 2025, Clean Cities, Bright Futures: Accelerating Investment and Reforms in Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries
18 Plan International, Safer Cities for Girls
19 UNICEF 2025, Child migration and displacement
20 Advancing the rights of street and working children—The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2025, from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(23)00058-5/fulltext
21 Deluca, M and Nallari, A (2024) Inclusive cities for children with disabilities: A focus on slums and informal settlements. In Sarah Sabry and Anupama Nallari (Eds), Research Series: Cities for Children and Youth. Zurich: Global Alliance – Cities4Children
22 UNEP, 2024, Urban cooling and extreme heat
23 Summers, B, Greenwalt, J, Dede, M and Nosa, P (2025) “Children, Climate Change, and Slums: Risks, Realities, and Resilience in Action.” In Sarah Sabry and Anupama Nallari (Eds), Research Series: Cities for Children and Youth. London: Global Alliance – Cities4Children
24 Li, D., Sun, L., Feng, K. et al., 2025, Disproportionate flood exposure for slum populations of the Global South. Nat Cities 2, 626–638 (2025).
25 The Commonwealth, 2020, Global Youth Development Index and Report 2020
26 UNDRR, 2020, Words into Action guidelines: Implementation guide for land use and urban planning.
27 Global Infrastructure Basel Summit – ECREEE

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