The World Migration Report 2015: Migrants and Cities, New Partnerships to Manage Mobility - the eighth report in IOM’s World Migration Report (WMR) series - reveals that nearly one in five of all migrants live in the world’s 20 largest cities and in many of these cities migrants represent over a third or more of the population.

According to the report, over 54 per cent of people across the globe were living in urban areas in 2014. The current urban population of 3.9 billion is expected to grow to some 6.4 billion by 2050. Human mobility and migration play an important part in this but are largely missing from the global debate on urbanization. The report aims to address this gap by considering migration as an important factor in shaping sustainable cities of the future.

The first two chapters of the report set out the main trends in cities and migration flows. Chapter 3 looks at aspects of urban vulnerabilities while Chapter 4 explores how urbanization and new mobility patterns can contribute to urban poverty reduction, growth and development and enhance migrant well-being. Chapter 5 studies some of the urban governance conditions for migrant inclusion and partnerships. Finally, the last chapter draws conclusions and makes recommendations for future initiatives to develop migrant-inclusive urban governance.

The report is available in English, French and Spanish on IOM’s website.